Reading the North

Edited by Sven Haakanson Jr. and Amy Steffian (University of Alaska Press, $26.95)

The blurb: Masks are an ancient tradition of the Alutiiq people on the southern coast of Alaska. Alutiiq artists carved the masks from wood or bark into the images of ancestors, animal spirits, and other mythological forces; these creations have been an essential too for communicating with the spirit world and have played an important role in dances and hunting festivities for centuries.

Excerpt: "The bodies of whale hunters, considered powerful and very important, were kept in secret caves where they mummified. These mummies were provided offerings, including the "first berries, oil, and fish of the season." The bodies were removed from the caves prior to a whale hunt and placed in streams from which the living whale hunters then drank to develop a success in their upcoming hunt."

Captain "Hell Roaring" Mike Healy

By Dennis L. Noble and Truman R. Strobridge (University Press of N. Florida, $34.95)

The blurb: In the late 1880s, many lives in northern and western maritime Alaska rested in the capable hands of Michael A. Healy (1839 - 1904). Healy was a captain with the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, a precursor to the modern day Coast Gaurd. He arrested lawbreakers, put down mutinies aboard merchant ships, fought the smuggling of illegal liquor and firearms, and rescued shipwrecked sailors from a harsh and unforgiving sea. Captain Healy's dramatic feats in the far north were so widely reported that a New York newspaper once declared him the "most famous man in America." But Healy hid a secret that contributed to his legacy as a lonely, tragic figure. In 1971, the U.S. Coast Guard learned that Healy was born a slave in Georgia who ran away to sea at age 15 and spent the rest of his life passing for white."

Excerpt: "What drove Healy to sea, however would weigh on his mind and remain a fundamental part of his identity for the rest of his life. Healy craved the recognition of his older, scholarly brothers. He never fully received this recognition, no matter how hard he tried. Ultimately, Healy's brothers looked upon him, at best, as a mere sailor, complete with all the negative connotations associated with that nautical stereotype. To compensate for his brothers' lack of respect for his chosen profession, Healy constantly tried to demonstrate his importance and, indeed, from time to time, he did not hesitate to embellish the stories that catalogued his exploits."

-- Compiled by Gretchen Weiss, Anchorage Daily News