John Smelcer

[4] Smelcer was appointed as a professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage as part of an effort to increase the number of ethnic minority faculty.

[5][6] However, his credibility was subsequently called into question as details of claimed publications in the New Yorker and elsewhere turned out to be incorrect.

[10] The Wisconsin State Journal called the book a "spare and lyrical" story about a boy and his grandfather facing up to challenges in a remote part of Alaska.

"[12] First Nation author Terese Marie Mailhot (Seabird Island First Nation) subsequently wrote that "I resent people with dubious stories, who benefit from white privilege and refuse to be accountable to hardworking Natives who have to struggle against oppression and stigma every day.

[14][15] Rich Smith in The Stranger described him as "Native American Literature's living con job," though confirming that Smelcer is an enrolled Tazlina village citizen.