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"Throughout [their years at Wales, Tom and Ellen Lopp] retain hope while struggling to impart their worldview without disrupting that of Native culture…. That these letters and diaries survive is a wonder; that Kathleen Lopp Smith has done such an admirable job of bringing them to light is a revelation." |
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-- Publishers Weekly, January 7, 2002 |
The Citation: The Pathfinder Award is for an individual or
several individuals who have indexed or prepared
guides or published materials that have not been
accessible. This year the recipients of the award
are Kathleen Lopp Smith and Verbeck Smith for
Ice Window: Letters from a Bering Strait
Village, 1892-1902. The book is a compilation
of the letters written by Ellen Lopp who, with her
husband Tom, served as missionaries and teachers at
Cape Prince of Wales in northwest Alaska. Dorothy
Jean Ray wrote "It takes an unusual combination of
letter writer and recipients to amass a collection
of letters as interesting and valuable as this one
. . . Ellen wrote about everyday Native life and
celebrations; about visitors from trading and
whaling ships and the Revenue Marine cutter Bear;
and about the school children. She described the
environment, the subsistence quest, and the
reindeer herd." This book is a valuable resource
for understanding western and northwestern
Alaska--the place and the people, Native and
non-native--during the late 1800s."
