Ernest Sipes

Ernest Sipes is an author and researcher living in Fairbanks, Alaska who has made peer reviewed, internationally published contributions in the area of First Nations scholarly research focusing on Indigenous Peoples of the United States, Canada, Russia and the Brazilian Amazon Basin [http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/getdocument.aspx?logid=5&id=A44E9F01-2633-4B23-83DB-C23FAC573FE3] Sipes' published work additionally focuses on the impact of progressive Napoleonic era French political and social reforms as reproduced by Russia in Alaska.

Biography

Ernest Sipes was born in Fairbanks, Alaska on October 14, 1957. He was raised in North Pole, Alaska and his childhood was by all accounts normal, with the exception of the passing of his mother in 1967. Sipes' father served in World War II as a Drill Instructor in the United States Army. His father remarried in 1969 and he enjoyed a good relationship with his father and stepmother. Sipes has travelled extensively in Alaska, Brasil, North Africa and the Republic of Congo. He was married in 2000 but was divorced in 2008. He currently lives in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Education

Sipes graduated from High School in 1976. He attended both the University of Alaska and Brigham Young University. Ernest Sipes graduated from college with a B.A. in British Literature from Brigham Young University in 1991. Sipes completed a teaching degree while attending Brigham Young and taught high school English Literature courses in Hawaii and was a substitute teacher in Alaska during the 1990s.

Publications

Ernest Sipes has several publications in the United States, Canada, Brazil and the United Kingdom. [ [http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-21031907.html Traders and soldiers in Russian America.(the Russian-American Company instituted enlightenment ideals in dealings with Alaskan Native Americans) - History Today | Encyclopedia... ] ] These include "History Today" magazine (UK), "Brazzil" magazine (Brazil and U.S.) and a book in publication with Hancock House publishers, Canada. His written work is varied but at this time the majority of the published work focuses on Native Americans and South American Indians. Sipes has been researching the ancient caravan routes of northwest Egypt since 2001. He has visited Egypt in 2001, 2003, 2004 and in March 2008. While in Egypt Sipes led approximately ten overland expeditions from Siwa to the various abandoned oases in the western desert documenting the sites for publication. In May 2004 he is reported to have walked alone from the Egyptian border several miles into Libya following a camel track while searching for an unnamed abandoned oasis after his Bedouin guide refused to accompany him due the possibility of arrest.

Notability of author's works

Sipes' published materials are worthy of note in that he has pioneered several areas of research focusing on Indigenous Peoples. Additionally, Sipes spent a short period of time in Moscow, Russia in 2001, which cemented his interest in Russian history. His past work expanded academic knowledge of the impact of the institution of serfdom as applied to Alaskan Natives by the Russians. His insight into First Nations peoples began with his birth in the Territory of Alaska in 1957. Sipes grew to manhood with Athabascans and Inuit Natives. He is known as one of a very few non G'wichin Indians to have lived on the Venetie Indian Reservation in the 1990s. While living on the reservation he was noted as having some abilities as a hunter, as he often successfully harvested bear and moose with tribesmen from the village. His marriage to a member of the Wai-Wai tribe from NE Brasil expanded his understanding of Indigenous Peoples. Sipes published original research in 1998 and 2007 which documented the impact the Russian American Company had on the culture of both Indians and Inuit of Alaska. Additionally, Ernest Sipes produced the first scholarly account of the current living conditions and conducted limited anthropological fieldwork with the Poticru Tribe of the Xingu River in 2003. His work has been cited in scholarly journals in the United States, Brazil and Russia.

Expeditions

Sipes' first expedition is difficult to determine. He states he worked drilling water wells on the island of Oahu in 1988 while attending Brigham Young University, which involved field work. While surveying in the Makaha Valley he discovered several burial mounds of ancient Hawaiians which were reported to the University of Hawaii Manoa. In February, 1998 he transported a FOLBOT collapsible kayak to Rio Negro in the Brazilian Amazon and ascended the river 200 miles. On this expedition, Sipes was by all accounts the first outsider to paddle up the Camanai River, where after contacting the Waimiri-Atroari Indians he was forced to leave the tribal area. In March, 1999 Sipes made the first documented attempt to walk overland between the two major rivers of South America, namely the Amazonas (Solimoes) and Rio Negro river systems. After six days and walking thirty miles, east of the Japura River he contracted Dengue Fever in a swamp and abandoned the trek. In May, 2000 he and his Wai Wai wife Marineth (Natchee)and a two man crew attempted to enter Guiana from the south by traveling north on the Mapura River, but were stopped by waterfalls when the boat swamped near the equator. In February, 2002 he contacted the Pacaja Indians off the Xingu River which was documented in "Brazzil" magazine in 2004. Sipes made four trips between 2001 to 2008 to Egypt preparing materials on the ancient caravan routes for future publication. In December, 2005 Sipes made the first ascent by kayak in the Likouala District of the Ubangui River and the Ibenga River in the Republic of Congo. At the time of this trip several different factions of rebels were active along the Ubangui River, which constitutes the border between the Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic. Little information is available about this remote area which is not accessible by road. In November, 2006 Sipes returned to the Republic of Congo but his reasons for this visit are unknown.Over August-September 2008, Mr. Sipes traveled to the Republic of Georgia during the period of the Russian invasion of the South Ossetian War. While in the country he was in the town of Gori at the time of the pull-out of the Russian army and wrote an article documenting the event for Georgia Today, Georgia's largest circulation English language journal.=Footnotes=

References

*James, David. "British Sailor's Journal Gives Fascination Look at Alaska History". Rev. of "Into the Savage Land". Newsminer, 26 August, 2007.
*Sipes, Ernest. "Into the Savage Land". Hancock House Publishers, Surrey B.C., Canada, 2007. http://www.hancockhouse.com/products/savlan.htm
*"Traders and Soldiers in Russian America". History Today (UK), August,1998: 38-44. http://www.historytoday.com/MainArticle.aspx?m=10565&amid=10565
*"Brazilian Indians: What FUNAI Won't Tell You". Brazzil Magazine (Brazil and U.S.) August, 2003.http://www.brazzillog.com/2003/html/news/articles/aug03/p118aug03.htm
*"Is the Russian Bear Back in Georgia?". Georgia Today, Republic of Georgia, 29 August, 2008.http://www.georgiatoday.ge/article_details.php?id=5633