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Title: Wisdom Keeper

Subtitle: One Man's Journey to Honor the Untold History of the Unangan People

Author: Ilarion Merculieff, Nina Simons - foreword

Narrator: Darren Roebuck

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-29-17

Publisher: North Atlantic Books

Genres: Nonfiction, Social Sciences

Publisher's Summary:

Ilarion Merculieff weaves the remarkable strands of his life and culture into a fascinating account that begins with his traditional Unangan (Aleut) upbringing on a remote island in the Bering Sea, through his immersion in both the Russian Orthodox Church and his tribe's holistic spiritual beliefs. He recounts his developing consciousness and call to leadership and describes his work of the past 30 years bringing together Western science and indigenous peoples' traditional knowledge and wisdom to address the most pressing issues of our time.

Tracing the extraordinary history of his ancestors - who mummified their dead in a way very similar to the Egyptians, constructed one of the most sophisticated high seas kayaks in the world, and densely populated shorelines in North America for 10,000 years - Merculieff describes the rich traditions of spirituality, art, dance, music, storytelling, science, and technology that enabled them to survive their harsh conditions. The Unangan people of the Aleutian Islands endured slavery at the hands of the US government and were placed in an internment camp during WWII, where they suffered malnutrition and disease that decimated 10 percent of their population.

Merculieff movingly describes how the compassion of indigenous elders has guided him in his work and life, which has been rife with struggle and hardship. He explains that environmental degradation, the extinction of species, pollution, war, and failing public institutions are all reflections of our relationships with ourselves. In order to deal with these critical challenges, he argues, we must reenter the chaos of the natural world, rediscover our balance of the masculine and the sacred feminine, and heal ourselves. Then, perhaps, we can heal the world.

Critic Reviews:

"This is a powerful tale about growing into a wisdom that is one's birthright. It is a call to return to a life where the heart tells the mind what to do." (Anna Jedrziewski, Retailing Insight)

Members Reviews:

deeply inspiring

responsibility for the salvation of nature lies within our individual wholeness. the authors deeply inspiring story returns us to recognize our individual responsibility in the most deeply human way

Excellent valid understanding needed for our time

Chapter 32 and 33 explain the difference of the "native" outlook versus the "non native" as a summary that clarifies what the author has shown since Chapter 1.

A 5 Star read

Few people know the history that Mercilieff tells so eloquently. I look forward to sharing this book with family and friends.

A strong voice from my own people!

I am a Yup'ik and Unangan person. My paternal grandmother was born on Sanak Island--the Native people were removed by Russian American administrators in a grab for the seal hunting grounds. My father had his language beaten out of him in school. My family has been shaped by these terrible events in a similar fashion to what Ilarion Merculieff writes about in this book.

I was pleased and somewhat surprised to see this book offered on Amazon. There is not much written about the Unangan people and very few of our own voices have made it into print. Since there isn't much written about us, it's important that our few examples be done thoroughly and well. Mr. Merculieff met that challenge.