I stumbled onto this tiny gem in the book club section of my local library, and am SO glad I did.  The indigenous Alaskan author tells the story (she admits to adding some of her literary embellishments) as she heard it from her mother.  The mother remembered and told it during a conversation about aging and mortality, and the daughter/author internalized it as reflective advice about how to find internal resources and choose responsibly when and where to invest them.  The whole book takes a couple of hours to read, so I won't spend time summarizing the plot here.  But its simply-told, no-nonsense tone is softened by relationships grown into, lively connections with the harsh, subsistence ecology that is nevertheless teeming with sustainable ways to be comfortable and enjoy pleasure.  

Loved this.