When Penelope Easton, a young, vigorous, sensible WWII veteran with a Masters in Public Health Nutrition, embarked on a journey to Territorial Alaska to serve as the dietary consultant for the Alaskan Health Department, she could not anticipate the deplorable health-related conditions that she would find. The author observed the effects of measles and tuberculosis epidemics, educational philosophies that opted to teach Native children only in English, a scarcity of imported food supplies, and the derision of native foodways. Fascinated by the foods of indigenous Alaskans, such as muktuk,...