This is a story about a young Eskimo girl
named Miyax who runs away from her life and
marriage in civilized Alaska.
On the brink of death, she befriends a wolf
pack led by a black wolf named Amaroq, and
they accept her as one of the family.
As she struggles to stay alive in the tundra,
she recalls all that her father has taught
her about surviving in nature before he presumably
died at sea.
To keep appearances that she is a member of
the wolf pack, she crawls on all fours and
even mimics the behavior of a wolf.
She forms a special friendship with Kapu,
a friendly pup who is being groomed to lead
the pack, and a lost bird, which she names
Tornait.
The wolf pack, keeping their distance, protect
Miyax from danger and provide her with meat.
Although initially lost, Miyax travels in
the direction of the nearest city so that
she can eventually move to San Francisco to
visit her pen pal, Amy.
On the way, she sees a plane with hunters
who open fire.
They kill Amaroq and wound Kapu.
Miyax watches over Kapu and nurses his wounds
until he can fully walk.
Miyax builds an ice house and is soon visited
by a travelling family.
Miyax lets the family stay with her and they
reveal that her father is still alive and
that he helped to save their struggling town.
Miyax walks to the town where her father is
and they meet.
She discovers that he assisted in Amaroq's
death and despises him and his new family.
Miyax ventures back into the tundra, hoping
to live away from the civilized world.
In the end, after Tornait dies, she decides
to live with her father.
Because most of this story takes place in
the wilderness, readers see the relationship
between nature and man.
Initially, as Miyax is acclimating to her
new environment and integrating with the wolves,
readers see how close nature and man are.
There is a rhythm and season to how things
move in the Arctic and Miyax is very aware
of these occurrences.
However, as the story continues and Miyax
approaches the civilized world, readers also
begin to sense the separation of nature and
man.
Physically, civilized territory is marked
by the oil barrels and they serve as boundaries
of separation between cultured and uncultured.
This separation also signifies the cultural
border between the Western and Eskimo ways.
As with any culturally rich place that is
overtaken by Western culture, there is a struggle,
or negotiation, between which culture is dominant.
By the way Miyax speaks of her Eskimo heritage,
readers initially see that Eskimo is the dominant
drive in Miyax's life.
In fact, she points out how weak she's becomes
by relying on Western tools, like matches
and electricity, to survive.
However, through the backstory and Miyax's
ultimate surrender at the end, the Western
way of life is more prominent.
Miyax will presumably change her name to Julie
and exclusively read, write, and speak in
English.
But the ending isn't all that sad.
It's a conceded surrender with no ill feelings
or anger.
