The Eskimo village of Anaktuvuk Pass in Alaska's desolate Brooks Range north of the Arctic Circle has a post office, a school and an airplane landing strip. But for all its modern trimmings, Anaktuvuk is barely out of the Stone Age. Its 15 families (averaging five children and 12 dogs each) are remnants of the nomadic Nunamiuts. Their lives are devoted to hunting the Arctic caribou, which supplies 90% of their food as well as most of their clothing. Merely to stay alive, one Nunamiut family must kill 90 caribou a year.
Fortunately, caribou are still plentiful near Anaktuvuk Pass, and...