Art and Eskimo Power

The Life and Times of Alaskan Howard Rock

Morgan Lael

At Howard Rock's birth, a shaman predicted that he would become a great man. Born in 1911 in a sod igloo in Point Hope, an ancient Eskimo village, Howard became an accomplished artist and crusading newspaper editor who helped to defend his people from a controversial Atomic Energy Commission proposal to excavate a harbor near his native village with an atomic blast".Art and Eskimo Power" chronicles the life of this influential and artist, editor, and founder of the Tundra Times – under whose leadership the newspaper helped to organize Alaska's native people to press their aboriginal land claims before Congress, which ultimately led to their being awarded over $1 billion and 40 million acres.

Contents:

1. A Puzzling Prophesy
2. The Aristocrats of the Arctic
3. A Change of Heart
4. Child at Odds
5. The Cold War
6. Adopted
7. Better Luck
8. A Place in the World
9. The Beginnings of Eskimo Power
10. Evening the Score
11. Direction at Last
12. The Makings of an Artist
13. University Days
14. Big Money and Big Trouble
15. Love in Tunisia
16. Au Revoir
17. Marriage
18. A Downhill Slide
19. Home Again
20. Eskimo Versus Edward Teller
21. Fresh Start
22. Inupiat Paitot
23. Success
24. Tundra Times
25. The Search for Leadership
26. Victory in View
27. Epilogue

Notes
Index

About the Author

Lael Morgan met Howard Rock in Skagway, Alaska in 1965 while she was on assignment for the "Juneau Alaska Empire" and he was taking the only real vacation he ever had from the "Tundra Times". In addition to working for Rock under an Alicia Patterson Fellowship, she traveled the bush as a roving editor for "National Geographic", continuing to fill in at the "Tundra Times" in emergencies.

Reviews

"By working with Howard Rock, through excellent research and conversations with those who knew him intimately, Lael Morgan brings to life the Inupiaq hero who provided a voice for Native Alaskans when there was none" – William L. Iggiagruk Hensley, author of "Fifty Miles from Tomorrow"

"As editor of the first statewide Native newspaper, Howard Rock was critical to Alaska Natives' fight for their rights and fair settlement for their land claims. Lael Morgan can write a story well. Alaska historians have selected 'Art and Eskimo Power' for inclusion in 'The Alaska 67: A Guide to Alaska's Best History Books (2006)'" – Joan M. Antonson, Alaska State Historian

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