The Molly Hootch Act, a little known (outside Alaska) law, had a profound effect on the education of native Alaskan children. Mandating that every village have a public high school, Alaska scrambled to erect buildings and recruit
teachers from the lower 48. Bob and Julie Bolkan answered the call and set off for the remote bush village of Akiak.

Among the first outsiders to live and work with the Yup'ik in their small villages, this book tells Julie’s story of how she survived the culture clashes, isolation, weather, and her struggles with honey buckets–a candid and often funny account of one gussock woman’s 12 years in the Alaskan bush.