Abstract

In 1968, Glendon Brunk moved to Alaska to pursue his childhood dream of living in the wilds of the last American frontier. He built his own log cabin, hunted and fished, worked with the native Inuit, and became one of the world's top sled-dog racers. But he also watched the land he loved being destroyed by the tools of the very society he represented. Disgusted and distraught, Brunk left Alaska and hitchhiked across Africa, Asia, and North America, where he witnessed continuing destruction from the hands of humans. He returned to Alaska, committed to fight to save what is left of the wilderness. This personal story explores the deeply American contradictions that make up modern Alaska and questions our cultural inability to both love and protect the land.