Sea Change-14

Once, the Inupiaq would have sledded away from this autumn storm and built a new village far from the waves. Now they live in more permanent housing, and traverse a no man's land between a traditional way of life and modernity. The transition is treacherous—the suicide rate among native Alaskans is three times that of nonnatives, and five times the national rate. Young men shoulder the highest risk. Thomas Eningowuk, Andrew Ningealook, and James Kakoona are bound for college on the mainland. They hope that one day they'll be able to return to a rebuilt Shishmaref.