On Saturday, August 16, 2025, 1:30–2:30 pm, as part of a series of events presented by the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA), attendees will—for a moment—experience a time that has passed. Through a reading and book signing, they will get a glimpse of the world of Alita and Emilian Berikoff in a story that weaves together the wild beauty of the Aleutian Islands, and the enduring cultural legacy of the Unangax̂ people.
Beverly Wright-Morris (Unangax̂), Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Board of Trustees Chair and Charles D. Jones, master printmaker and illustrator, achieve this in “Alita’s Curse” (Stephen F. Austin State University Press), a richly imagined and sumptuously illustrated work that vividly portrays the traditions and lives of the Unangax̂ people from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. The duo printed and bound forty fine press volumes. During the reading, the book and fifteen woodblock images from the book will be on display, along with a 10-minute video.
Ray Hudson, author of “Moments Rightly Placed,” describes “Alita’s Curse:”
“As beautiful to hold and see as it is to read. The story centers on an Unangax̂ husband and wife at the beginning of the twentieth century, a time of great change for the people of the Aleutian Islands. Based on the lives of the author’s great-grandparents, the story combines the rugged grandeur of this vast island arc with the deep cultural history of Unangax̂ people. Emilian Berikoff supervises an expedition of sea otter hunters hundreds of miles away from home as they confront the dangers and challenges of introduced technologies. Back in the village, Alita has her own complex relationship with the sea to resolve. Alita’s Curse depicts a community that is centered in its Orthodox church with ties to a recent Russian past, even as it reaches into a more ancient culture of Elders and the natural world. Beverly Morris writes with a natural grace. The cultural details are never imposed on the story but help to illuminate the characters and propel the action.
The woodcuts and wood engravings by Charles D. Jones are striking. They have the immediacy and vigor that woodcuts at their best convey. The original book was designed by Jones and Morris and printed by hand.
It is a joy for the heart and the eye.”
Morris, a documentary filmmaker, does not miss the story’s cinematic texture. “It is a very visual story, told with memorable images.” The vibrant culture of the Unangax̂ people and mighty cantankerous sea are central to the story of a couple facing the changing world in the early twentieth century.
A Q&A and a book signing will follow the reading.
https://iaia.edu/event/beverly-wright-morris-offers-a-rare-glimpse-of-unangax%cc%82-tradition-at-reading/
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