In 1949 Helge Ingstad flew into a very remote area of northern Alaska where the last surviving group of Nunamiut Eskimos, a highly mobile caribou hunting people, still resided. "Nunamiut: Among Alaska's Inland Eskimos" is Ingstad's richly detailed account of his nine-month stay among this small, 65-person community of hunters and gatherers. He recorded their legends and songs, documented their daily lives in photos and motion pictures, and participated in their caribou hunts and fishing expeditions.
At the conclusion of Ingstad's stay, the Nunamiut extended an exceptional gesture of...