Han, People of the River
Han Hwëch’in
"Very few ethnographers or anthropologists are willing or able to take the time to do the kind of careful work that David and Tom did together over the years and there are very few elders anywhere in the Athabascan area who have David's range of knowledge. . . This is a story that needed to be told."
—S. Craig Gerlach, University of Alaska Fairbanks
"Immensely interesting and insightful, Gwich’in Athabascan Implements is a core addition to any world history and anthropology collection."
—Midwest Book Review
"The book contains the wealth of [Reverend David] Salmon's detailed information, insights, and stories in Salmon's own voice without filtering them through disciplinary jargon or theory, allowing him to continue to teach future generations about how men survived in the Arctic.This exemplary book's maps, photographs, and drawings are superb and illustrate the craftsmanship and ingenuity of the toolmakers. Important for anyone working in material culture studies, indigenous studies, or anthropology. . . . Highly recommended."
—Choice
The most detailed and well-illustrated study of material culture for any northern Athabascan language group to date, Gwich’in Athabascan Implements reproduces pre- and early postcontact tools that are historically important to the Athabascan people. A long-term collaboration between anthropologist Thomas A. O’Brien and Athabascan elder David Salmon, this volume provides more than forty one-to-one sketches of a wide variety of implements, many of which are no longer commonly in use.
