Eight Gwich’in children’s storybooks now available

A collage of the eight Gwich’in children’s storybook covers. Gwich’in artist Linda Wright created the illustrations.
A collage of the eight Gwich’in children’s storybook covers. Gwich’in artist Linda Wright created the illustrations.

Feb. 20, 2026

Professor and Curator of UAF’s Oral History Program Leslie McCartney, along with colleagues from the Gwich’in Tribal Council Department of Culture and Heritage, have now published eight Gwich’in children’s storybooks. Gwich’in language teachers selected which Elders’ stories would be featured from the award-winning book Our Whole Gwich’in Way of Life Has Changed / Gwich’in K’yuu Gwiidandài’ Tthak Ejuk Gòonlih Stories from the People of the Land by Leslie McCartney and Gwich'in Tribal Council.

Working with three translators, the books were written in Dinjii Zhuh (Gwich’in) and English. Aimed at 6-12-year-old students, these books are used by Gwich’in teachers as language learning materials. An audio track accompanies each book so language learners can ‘hear’ the language. Gwich’in artist Linda Wright created the beautiful illustrations. Four books are in the Teetł’it Gwich’in dialect; four in the Gwichya Gwich’in dialect.

Hard copies of the books will be delivered soon to the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library and the Alaska Native Language Archive. PDFs of the books, along with audio tracks, can be found online in three places:

  1. Through ScholarWorks@UA Home. (Search for Leslie McCartney).
  2. Through the Alaska Native Language Archive. (Put Leslie McCartney in the contributor field).
  3. On the Gwich'in Tribal Council website, under the Gwich'in Social & Cultural Institute webpage for Publications