Textbooks and other resources that describe traditional Alaska Native cultures usually use information written by anthropologists. Their descriptions are third person accounts, meaning that the anthropologist wrote descriptively, usually as someone who is 'outside' the culture. While these descriptions are often very rich and informative, it is important to remember that an outsider will never understand a culture in the same way as an'insider'. Individuals from outside groups have different degrees of insight, sympathy, understanding and talents, which will color their observations. From anthropologists we often learn more about the arguments and ideas of anthropology than we learn about a particular Alaska Native group being studied. After all, anthropologists can only explain what they see by using concepts, words, evidence, and vocabulary that comes from their own culture.

Another way to think about anthropologists' descriptions is to imagine a telescope examining the moon. If the telescope is pulled back too far, important details are missed. If the telescope is focused too closely, the observation is limited to a particular detail like a crater, and the larger perspective is completely missed. Different telescopes have strengths and weaknesses; no one is better than the others. Its important to keep in mind their different functions and their limitations. This same point needs to be kept in mind as you read outsider accounts of Alaska Native societies.

A danger for outsiders observing a group is that a group may change its behavior if it knows it is being watched. Here is one example. This story is called the Komukmuit.

How the anthropologist wrote about this behavior is not known. The person who told this story was a young adult at the time and a member of the first boat. He remembered that the anthropologist asked lots of questions. "How do you go to the bathroom?" "What do you eat?" When was this tool invented and how do you use it?" In this person's mind the anthropologist was an individual who didn't know even simple things like how to find fresh water on sea ice. The questions were not all harmful, just a little distracting. That is why the name "komukmuit" was used - "Komukmuit" means head lice. Head lice are not deadly, but they are distracting. They are there always bothering you. That was his opinion of the anthropologist. It is a good reminder to us that there are always two sides to a story. The story told by the insider may be different than the story told by the outsider.

The perspective from those inside the culture must be considered in order to gain a more complete understanding of a society. Luckily, there are some sources of information that came from people who were 'inside' the culture. Folk tales are stories, myths, and legends that were told by insiders and handed down over hundreds of years. Traditional Alaska Native cultures had rich oral traditions that were passed from generation to generation. Some of these stories survive to the present day.

The stories, as told and retold by the people provide direct information about beliefs, customs and world views. The ways that beliefs are communicated in stories through symbols, characters, plot and action is very different than the way a description is written in third person. Insider stories allow us to hear the voices of the people. They build images and connect to people, places, and events. We need both inside and outside points of view to better understand Native Alaska cultures through history.

There are many mouse stories. They are told to children.

This is a very short story, but it says so much. This "simple" event is rooted in a view of the world and a view of society. It is remarkable to be able to visit that world through the adventure of the mice.

Reading literature like this from traditional Alaska Native cultures is a window with another view. Through this window we can be drawn across cultural borders into the beliefs, customs, and world views of people who lived long ago.