Book review: Written by Connie and Bud Helmericks, self-described “explorers” of Alaska’s Arctic regions, “We Live in the Arctic,” “Our Summer with the Eskimos” and “Our Alaskan Winter” have been newly reissued.
“We Live in the Arctic,” “Our Summer with the Eskimos” and “Our Alaskan Winter”Connie and Bud Helmericks, self-described “explorers” of Alaska’s Arctic regions, spent 26 months from 1944 to 1946 first overwintering alone above the Arctic Circle and then canoeing to the Arctic coast where they spent another winter and finally traveled eastward to the Mackenzie River in Canada.
There is no question that the Helmerickses were a remarkable couple. Judging from their books, at least, they fully embraced life in the north, including living under extreme conditions that often threatened their survival. They traveled in a 14-foot homemade canoe with a bare minimum of equipment and supplies, lived on meat and fish, sheltered in tents, and gloried in their surroundings as true romantics and wilderness lovers.
Of course the adventure-authors belonged to their time, and their language and expressed attitudes could be considered insensitive and even racist today. The words “primitive” and “civilized” are used throughout to apply to ways of life. Although the Helmerickses admired Native people for their skills, they also sometimes characterized them as child-like and criticized what they considered the lack of a work ethic.
“Our Summer with the Eskimos” continues the story, as the Helmerickses amended their plan to somehow cross the Arctic divide on their own power and managed to get on a supply flight to Umiat, on the Colville River. The Navy had just begun exploring the National Petroleum Reserve, and the Seabee camp there was bustling. The Helmerickses reassembled their small canoe and took off down the unexplored Colville.
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