Cultural Writing. Travel. American Indian Studies. Abandoning her sojourn in Paris's literary culture in her late 20s, Katherine McNamara traveled to Alaska in 1976 'to learn how to live. The oil industry was ravaging Alaska's vast spaces... and] as an iternant poetry teacher in the school districts of Alaska's interior, McNamara both witnessed and participated in the heartbreaking efforts of the Athabaskan] people to fend off the destruction of their culture... McNamara's story centers in part on her brief...relationship with a Dena'ina Athabaskan man...Whether writing about intimate relationships, poetry or the intricacies of village life, her approach is full of grace and equanimity -- Publishers Weekly. This is the closest any Wasichu of our time will come to understanding the religion of Native nations... -- Larry Woiwode.