I read this for a class on native women, after reading Wallis' "Two Old Women". Reading the fable first, you get a clear sense of how that tale relates to her own life, as relayed in "Raising Ourselves". Wallis shares with readers her unflinching portrayal of native life in the Yukon in the 1960's -- the glorious and the gritty. By framing her own life-tale through the story of her relations, her grandmother, her parents, and her siblings, Wallis is relating to readers in true native style, which is as telling as the stories she writes. The pace of the book is a little clumsy at times, and it seems a bit slow towards the middle, but I never once wanted to put it down. If you want to read about a fascinating family, a talented and resilient woman, surviving in the Yukon, or you desire to know more about native life as Western hegemony bleeds in (through both forced indoctrination, governmental policy and personal desire), then you will enjoy this book.

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Wonderful read. This book is by the author who wrote Two Old Women, which i also very much enjoyed. Reading this is like sitting in the kitchen having a conversation with the author. You feel like she is talking only to you. This is Ms Wallis's true story of growing up in Alaska, one of 14 children in a two room house. It is very interesting, i could not put the book down, i stayed up late in order to finish in one day.

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