Alaska No.4 - Evansville - Tobuk : Frank Tobuk - A Biography

The life and times of Native Eskimo Frank Tobuk of Evansville, Alaska. Frank Tobuk Sr. - Evansville is the fourth book in a series of biographies of people who live in the eleven villages serviced by the Yukon-Koyukuk School District. These books are designed for upper level elementary students living in rural Alaska although they may well captivate readers of any age. The series is meant to fill the void created by school materials that all come from outside and carry that bias. Alaska need not be described as a barren wasteland on the periphery of the real world. This is the center of a rich and varied and, unfortunately, neglected culture. We hope to bring home some relevance of curriculum through this series. Frank Tobuk Sr., and many other of the people in this series, is familiar to the students in rural Interior Alaska. This story and others like it offer students the opportunity to take a look closer to home and to study some of the changes that have taken place in a historically short period of time. The story of Frank Tobuk is written in five chapters. This offers teachers easy breaking points for discussion and activities. The material in chapter one is presented as an introduction, then each succeeding chapter covers one season. This book is by no means a definitive work. It should be viewed as a beginning point for teachers in classrooms throughout the Interior. This book has been written in the language style of the story teller. As his speech is that of many students, it may allow easy reading. For others it is an introduction to the language that has evolved since the recent coming of outside people to Native Alaskan land.