Tatiana is a tale about a remarkable Aleut woman (known as Chief of all the Aleuts), as she her family, and her village struggle against the erosion of their culture, including their World War II internment in an abandoned salmon cannery. The book is set in an Aleut village with a small but powerful population of whites from 1938-1945, a period when change accelerated at rapid speed. The drama of the interactions with each other and the whites reveals not only the external aspects but also intimate parts of their lives, their thoughts, beliefs, tensions, conflicts, and aspirations. Tatiana, poetic voice highlights the powerful but oft-hidden role of Native American women. We learn how she helps to hold her family and village together during this historically significant and tense time.