The Great Death

The roots of this story lie in one of modern history’s ethnic tragedies. At the beginning of the twentieth century Americans of European origin settled in Alaska, introducing their own endemic diseases such as measles and smallpox into Native communities which had no natural immunity to them. One such infection strikes a small and isolated Alaskan village when two white photographers arrive. The telltale red spots have already signalled the onset of fatal illness for communities further downriver. All the people of the village die of the illness, except two young sisters, thirteen-year-old Millie and ten-year-old Maura. Their subsequent ordeal has two stages. First they must face the physical death and decay of their family and neighbours, a gruelling experience which ends as they dutifully bury their parents. Then, having no option but to leave and seek for living helpers, they must walk a great distance alongside a frozen river as the fierce Alaskan winter sets in, enduring many perils before they finally reach a peopled settlement.

This is a survival story, realistic and unsparing in its graphic detail, especially in the early stages. But it also has a tone and quality of myth and folktale, as Millie and Maura, who comfort each other by telling traditional stories (one of which provides head notes for each chapter), come to realise that their own adventure of survival is adding to the communal storehouse of myth and wisdom. The storytelling skilfully combines these two elements of realism and folktale, becoming both a practical and spiritual handbook of survival. It has much to offer children of nine to thirteen. Remote as it may seem from their own lives, its core experiences are universal.