Project Announcement: the white seal

Tukuuludaa to transform Rudyard Kipling’s  “White Seal” St. Paul Island-based Jungle Book story into the world’s first Unangan Young Adult novel for premiere at the 2026 Arctic Arts Summit in Umeå, Sweden. The premiere will also include an animated short film and an art installation based on the retelling. 

Read more about the 2026 Arctic Arts Summit: https://arcticartssummit.com/

Tukuuludaa will retell Rudyard Kipling’s “White Seal” St. Paul Island-based Jungle Book story from a modern, Unangan, and Unangan fishermen's perspective. Through an art installation, young adult novel publication, and short animated film, we will premiere our work as the headliner of the 2026 Arctic Arts Summit in Umeå, Sweden.

St. Paul Island has been associated with Rudyard Kipling and Disney’s The Jungle Book since its original publication in 1893, as it is the setting of the only story from the book that is not in India. The story tells of an albino fur seal who, after witnessing Unangan seal hunters kill a group of seals, decides the practice is barbaric and must find a new home for his species. The story positions Unangan seal hunters as villains. 

Rather than just abandoning the story, we are retelling it from the perspective of local Unangan. Instead of the seal and Unangan hunter being enemies, this story will paint us as allies in the fight against destructive fishing practices that are destroying our homeland. With this project, we are publishing one of the world’s first big-kids’/young adult Unangan-themed novels (aimed for ages 8+). 

To tell the story, and in addition to the book, we are creating a corresponding art installation that showcases characters from the retelling as soft sculptures crafted from local St. Paul Island materials using traditional methods. This project fosters international collaboration among Indigenous artists in Sápmi and Unangam Tanangin. The Sámi artists Rebecca Tornberg and Mikael Berglund will illustrate our book and adapt it into a short animated film to premiere at the Arctic Arts Summit in June 2026.

The first draft of the novel was completed last month and will be workshopped in the coming months with youth and students in the Bering Sea region. Do you want us to come to your school? Send us a message or email us tukuuludax@gmail.com! 

The first (International) published version of the novel will be available for sale at the Arctic Arts Summit. After the summit, the book will remain available through Tráhppie Ume Sámi Culture Center in Umeå, Sweden. We will then adapt the book into a US-domestic version and audiobook for sale through a local Alaskan publisher (to be announced). 

Project Sponsors to be announced at a later date. To be notified about the project's progress and when copies of the book will be available, please fill out this form.