GRAND FORKS - "The Way of Kinship," North Dakota Quarterly's latest special issue, won recognition on an international level this fall. Evdokia Gayer, a member of the United Nations representing Russia, honored editors of NDQ's issue as "Friends of Native Peoples" for their work on the issue.

The issue was "an exceptional contribution to the preservation of the literature and culture of the native peoples of Siberia," said Galina Shoporenkova of the Professional Education Institute of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region in Siberia.

"The Way of Kinship," published in July, provides a unique insight into the Siberian culture - its history, literature, people, and legacy. Poems, essays, stories, and a portfolio of ten drawings depicting traditional Native Siberian life enrich the issue. All the work is based on the deeply rooted oral tradition and gives readers a powerful understanding of an exotic yet familiar way of life. In the introduction Pulitzer Prize-winner Scott Momaday writes:

The writings here, while altogether modern in one sense, are based upon literature, albeit oral, that existed for thousands of years. They are reflections of people who have lived long on the earth, on their own terms, in harmony with the powers of nature. They are invaluable to us who have so much to learn from them.

Alexandr Vaschenko, chair of Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture at Moscow State University and translator of "The Way of Kinship," wrote that just as we strive to save endangered species, we need to see that "Native literatures, no matter where they originate, belong to the same endangered domain. They are of the environment, part and parcel of the original family of man to which many of the children of civilization no longer belong."

The bear is a powerful totem beast for many of the Native Siberians and is memorialized by one of the authors, Yuri Vaella, in "The Bear Feast" that includes these stanzas:

"After your paw was shot off,
Didn't Nature become one-handed?
Didn't Nature become half-handed?"

"Through the muzzle of the rifle
Aimed at you,
Looking back at the taiga forest
Attentively,
Do you think us improved?"

North Dakota Quarterly is published by the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. "The Way of Kinship" is $12 and is available in the North Dakota Museum of Art gift shop and the University Barnes and Noble Bookstore. For more information about "The Way of Kinship," other NDQ issues, or subscription and submission information, please contact NDQ at 701-777-3322, e-mail: ndq@und.nodak.edu, or go to www.und.edu/org/ndq.

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