Arctic crossing

the long version

"The Arctic - with its twenty-four-hour daylight, surprisingly curious animals and inexplicable humming noises - is a world of constant danger and limitless possibility. This unforgiving landscape is home to the Inuit (the name they prefer to "Eskimos"), whose complex and little-studied society is fascinating in its divergence from as well as its assimilation into Western culture.". "Jonathan Waterman's 2,200-mile journey across the roof of North America took him through Inuit communities in Alaska to Nunavut, Canada's new, 770,000-square-mile, self-governed territory. His story, at once illuminating and alarming, offers firsthand observations of their life, language and beliefs; records their reactions to global modernization; documents their centuries of unjust treatment at the hands of Kabloona (bushy-eyebrowed whites); and witnesses unemployment, teen suicide and such persistent plagues as spousal violence and substance abuse. From the perspective of his 1997-1999 voyage - as the Inuit stand on the brink of a more hopeful, independent future - he also looks into a past marked by famous (or infamous) Arctic explorers, government cover-ups and environmental destruction."--BOOK JACKET.