The book is drawn from the history, creation and uses of parkas, and who provided personal memories and legends that enhance our understanding of their roles in an ancient culture.
Updated: 16 minutes agoParka-clad children at play in Children playing in Kwigillingok in the 1940s. By Ann Fineup-Riordan, Alice Reardon and Marie Meade; University of Washington Press, 2023; 320 pages; $45.
“The Flying Parka” is drawn from several meetings with Yup’ik Elders who discussed the history, creation and uses of parkas, and who provided personal memories and legends that enhance our understanding of their roles in an ancient culture. The book is a joint effort by Fineup-Riordan, an anthropologist who has worked in Southwest Alaska for over 35 years, along with Alice Reardon and Marie Meade, who provided transcriptions and translations.
The book opens and closes with personal memories of the contributors, and with stories long passed down through oral telling among peoples of the region, including this the book’s namesake legend, “The Flying Parka.” In between lies an account encompassing the purposes of parkas, the making of them and the differing styles that arose locally depending on resources and group cultures.
Upon reaching maturity and marriage, a young woman would learn to not simply sew parkas, but to infuse them and other items with meaning. Family designs can be found on parkas, boots, tools, dishware and more. Parkas can also, within the details of their outward appearances, have stories woven into their furs and fabric. Regarding modern parkas, however, Elder Elana Charles noted, “People in the old days didn’t make too many decorations. Today some people go over the limit.
Theresa John, born and raised on Nelson Island, wearing her squirrel-skin parka made by her mother, Martina John, following a family design that her own mother, Frances Usugan, had used before her.
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