The titular character in Ood-Le-Uk the Wanderer by Alice Lide and Margaret Johansen (published 1930) is an Eskimo boy who is separated from his tribe and wanders unintentionally via sea into Siberia, where he learns about Russian ways of living in the Arctic. His adventures help him grow from being a boy to being a man as he faces life-or-death situations and otherwise deals with the struggles of living in a world of ice, both in the Alaskan Arctic as well as the Siberian side of the sea.
As is often the case with these old books, there are many now derogatory terms (such as Eskimo rather than Inuit) in the book that don’t reflect modern sensibilities. There are also racist undertones and stereotypical white Saviorism. No matter that the book is about Arctic people, the authors still refer to their brown faces and uncultured lifestyles. A Siberian shaman wants to sacrifice Ood-le-uk in order to avenge their god and bring food to them. When Ood-le-uk travels to a Siberian marketplace, he is entranced by the church of the white man and learns of the loving God of Christianity, a concept that rescues him at times when his cross amulet is seen by others or he faces dire circumstances. In these subtle ways, the native ways of the people of the Arctic is reduced to uncultured stereotype while the Christian religion is triumphant. Even as Ood-le-uk travels yet more to reunite with his family, it is the Christian amulet that seems to guide him and bring curiosity and joy to his family.
Other than dated language and terms and the racist undertones and even despite them, I did like Ood-le-uk’s story. It was exciting at times as he escaped danger and used his resourcefulness to rescue himself from the icy wilderness. He and his friend fled robbers and witchcraft and navigated icy caves and frozen tundra. Unfortunately, as did many books from the era in which it was written, a lot of the story was “told” and not “shown.” Also, what would Inuit people feel about the characterizations and stereotype about their people in this book? Is “Ood-le-uk” even a real name?
But in the end, I did like reading the book. It is not a book I’d recommended to children today, but it is adventuresome. Ood-le-uk the Wanderer won a Newbery Honor in 1931. In comparison to some Newbery Honor books, it stands in the okay category.
