This is a short film about changes to Eskimos' contemporary life in Shungnak, a village on the Kobuk River in northwestern Alaska, 75 miles north of the Arctic Circle. In 1977, George Cleaveland and his wife, Sophie, were filmed giving a firsthand account of how life looks to them now, as opposed to when they were younger. The couple was filmed in a way as to represent how they visualize their community and lifestyle. It begins with the river flowing by their village. You sense the importance of this water way for the length of time spent photographing it against the noise of village life in the background. Once George and Sophie begin to speak, they share their feelings about having the luxuries of electricity, coffee pots, radios, and snowmachines. The younger generation is not spared in their opinions of how little they understand about survival in their environment. In the background are two children playing cowboys. These are the ones Sophie and George say would freeze to death if they had to spend the night outside. You sense their shared loss of tradition through the modernization that has taken its place.
Picture Caption: This video preview is from the Alaskan Eskimo series by Sarah Elder and Leonard Kamerling, Documentary Educational Resources, 1977. It is called "From the First People".
