Dominion of Bears

"A series of illuminating essays on the brown, black, and polar bears of Alaska, and their behavior across a wide range of interactions with each other, their environment, and especially human society. Combining field research, interviews, and a host of up-to-date secondary sources, Alaskan native Simpson blends scientific understanding with lucidly polished prose to reveal how complex, mystifying, and somehow essential bears are for those who live in the 49th state and a great many of us who don't"-- "Long ago we invited bears into our stories, our dreams, our nightmares, our lives. We have always sought them out where they live, for their hides, their meat, their beauty, their knowingness. Human country and bear country exist side by side. As Sherry Simpson suggests, the relationship between bears and humans is ancient and ongoing and, in Alaska, profoundly and often uncomfortably close. A huge number of North America's bears live in Alaska: including at least 31,000 brown bears, 100,000 black bears, and 3,500 polar bears. And nearly every aspect of Alaskan society reflects their presence, from hunting to tourism marketing to wildlife management to urban planning. A long-time Ala