ESKIMO Cookbook, Prepared by Students of Shishmaref Day School, Shishmaref, Alaska. Anchorage, AK: Published by Alaska Crippled Children’s Association, 1952.

Approx. 4 x 5.5 in. The first pages give the story of this little cook book. A class discussion of food needed for good health brought up foods that were available in Alaska and how they were stored, gathered, prepared, etc. At first the young people had minimal interest because cook books were a totally foreign concept for them. Their teacher explained that Europeans did not have cook books centuries ago, either. After a few of the kids brought in their favorite recipes, more and more started showing up until they had enough for a little cookbook -along the lines of those that used to be popular with Ladies’ Associations at churches, etc. for fund-raising. The school was approached about using their profits to benefit the Alaska Crippled Children’s Association, which is what was ultimately done.

There are a few plants, mainly berries, and a few recipes dealing with these. But many more are added to other foods. As an example: Lincod Eskimo Ice Cream: First cook and boil the lincod with water in the pot and no salt. Remove all the bones from the fish and break the fish into small pieces. Dry the pieces for a while and mix these with Eskimo ice-cream. Add seal oil once in a while and as much water as you need. (Augustine Tocktoo).

Eskimo Ice Cream: Grate reindeer tallow into small pieces. Add seal oil slowly while beating with hand. After some seal oil has been used, then add a little water while whipping. Continue adding seal oil and water until white and fluffy. Ay berries can be added to it.

Sue’wok (dried salmon eggs) and berries: when the salmon eggs have dried, put in a dish and mash them. Mix with cold water and seal oil until smooth. Add black berries when you are ready to serve.

Frozen flounders: After the flounders are caught, let them freeze. Eat as much as you want of it. (Marion Olanna)

Pick’niek (mouse food): Some people dig Pick’niek. They are of a plant. They wash them first. We eat them with seal oil. They are good. They taste like sugar. They are very good with seal oil. Maybe the white men don’t like them.

As expected, most recipes are for meat: Seal meat, flippers, outside of oogruk (bearded seal) small intestine, seal heads, white whale, walrus stew, caribou and gravy, Oogruk intestine soup, white fish soup, reindeer soup, clam soup, duck soup, ptarmigan soup, baby birds, loon, rabbits, squirrels, owl, ducks, and many more.