Book review: Author Olivia Hill documents her 3,000 mile journey from Kansas City to Alaska and her life in tiny Tatitlek starting in the early 1980s.
"Travel North Black Girl: A 3,000 Mile Journey in Search of Love, Peace, and Home" By Olivia HillBy Olivia Hill. Woodneath Press. 2022. 244 pages. $19.95
Chapters in this book shift back and forth between that childhood and Tatitlek. Split in the middle, as Hill alluded. The childhood recollections give readers glimpses into Hill’s life that help place into context her stoicism during her difficult winter in the village. Rare were the times she had sovereignty over her own life, a condition that persisted into early adulthood and followed her into Tatitlek.
It’s in the village that Hill’s memories flow. For most of the year she was without work while Seth slid out of the marriage and into his career. Left mostly to herself, Hill became an observer of and sometimes participant in the life of the community, and events there always drew her back to her origins.
One shouldn’t get the impression that it was all alcohol and abuse in Tatitlek. Far from it. Much as in Kansas City, community life mostly carried on despite the problems, and there was ample warmth. In those pre-internet days, Alaska was far more isolated than now, and residents had only each other. The town had but one phone, and calls could be difficult to place. Hill often called her grandmother, but mostly she was on her own, especially as Seth grew more distant.
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