Ann Fienup-Riordan is an independent scholar/anthologist. She was named Alaska History of the Year for The Real People and Children of Thunder: The Yup?ik Eskimo Encounter with Moravian Missionaries John and Edith Kilbuck, also published by the University of Oklahoma Press.

The cosmology and ritual cycle of the Yup'ik are much more sophisticated than most people ever imagined, and they are documented here in superb detail. Boundaries and Passages: Rule and Ritual in Yup'ik Eskimo Oral Tradition is an enormous contribution to Eskimo studies and a major contribution to anthropology. It will be a required source on Eskimo societies and on Alaskan Eskimos for years to come."" - Ernest S. Burch, Jr., author of Social Life in Northwest Alaska: The Structure of Iñupiaq Eskimo Nations