Two Saint Paul Island artists have written a book inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s “The White Seal,” which will premier at the 2026 Arctic Arts Summit this summer in Sweden.
Co-authors Garrett Iĝayux̂ Pletnikoff and Hannah Atsaq Zimmerman are the founders of Tukuuludaa Bering Sea-Based Design and Education Center. The nonprofit focuses on, among other things, promoting traditional and modern artistry from the Bering Sea region. Pletnikoff and Zimmerman’s adaptation — a young adult novel renamed “Sergie and the White Seal” — gives meanings and pronunciations to 60-plus Unangam Tunuu (the Indigenous language of St. Paul Island and its Unangan people) words, as well as phrases that appear in the chapter book.
“[Rudyard Kipling] never came [to Saint Paul],” Zimmerman said. “He’s never seen this island. He’s never met the people here, so everything he wrote was just a racist figment of his imagination.” Garrett and I got to thinking, what if you could retell this story in a way that shares the magic of this island with audiences all over the world?”
The Jungle Book was originally written in 1893 by Kipling; all of the stories in the book are set in India, except for “The White Seal,” which takes place on Saint Paul Island. The villains of Kipling’s story are the “Aleut” hunters who slaughter seals for sport.
The Indigenous retelling focuses on the white seal finding his way, and an Unangan boy who discovers he has shamanistic powers that he can use to save his environment. Instead of the Unangan people being the enemy in the book, Pletnikoff and Zimmerman ultimately decided the white seal and Unangan boy should come together to fight overfishing in the Bering Sea.
“There is some over harvesting of fish, overfishing, and decreasing fish populations,” Pletnikoff said. “There’s even a really low northern fur seal population on our island right now, which is kind of scary. Hopefully this book brings more attention to that as well.”
DreamWorks Animation had plans in the 2000s to create their own adaptation of “The White Seal,” but ultimately scratched the idea for “Kung-Fu Panda.”
Tourists visit Saint Paul Island every summer. Garrett makes stuffed animal-fur seals out of local northern fur seal furs he harvests and tans himself, which he sells during their visits. While Pletnikoff was selling his plush animals, he and Zimmerman thought to name them after all the seals in “The Jungle Book.” The tourists ate it up, and his plush animals sold out. That got both of them thinking about how they could retell the popular story in a way that doesn’t depict Unangan people in a negative light.
“Thinking about Harry Potter, thinking about these young adult fantasy novels — what if the kids here have their own superhero, their own Alaska Native superhero?” Zimmerman said. “What if Desi [the female protagonist in Pletnikoff and Zimmerman’s novel] could become the first Alaska Native Disney princess? How can we make this a positive story that benefits Unangan and Alaska Native communities? That was how the story then came together.”
The Alaska Native Language Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks is publishing Pletnikoff and Zimmerman’s story. Lillian Maassen, Editor from the Alaska Native Language Center said she is delighted to help bring this story to audiences throughout Alaska and beyond.
Kipling found the United States’ record of “Resident Natives of St. Paul” from 1870 and used their real names, despite never having any contact with any of the people he names in his story. The original chief in “The White Seal” is the brother of Pletnikoff’s great-great-great-grandfather.
“We sent [The Kipling Society] a letter. At first I was like, ‘They’re not going to respond.’ The very next day, we got an email back with a response,” Pletnikoff said.
Secretary Mike Kipling wrote the introduction to “Sergie and the White Seal” and talks about the imperialism engrained in his relative’s work. The society is also planning to advertise the book in the Kipling Journal, and preorder copies for the Kipling Library in England.
Rebecca Tornberg Båanta drew the illustrations for “Sergie and the White Seal.” After finishing up the book at the end of next month, Pletnikoff and Zimmerman plan on recording the audio book version, supported by The Ursa Major Fund and produced by Midnight Sound Studios. Zimmerman says that they are currently casting for voice actors.
An animated short film is currently being produced by Mikael Berglund, and will premiere at the Arctic Arts Summit. Zimmerman says there will also be an art installation of soft sculptures that Pletnikoff made from local and naturally harvested St. Paul Island materials to highlight the characters in the book.
“We do pay homage to Kipling and his descriptions of the seal, and we kept all the animal character names in our book,” Zimmerman said. “That’s totally the same… We just changed the human part.”
Pre-orders are open now for “Sergie and the White Seal.”
People interested in being a voice actors for the full-cast audiobook edition of “Sergie and the White Seal” can email info@tukuuludaa.design
Sam Davenport is a writer residing in Anchorage. She's a leo and a plant-person, and loves spending quality time with her dog, Aspen. She is a Real Housewives fan and has been called a Bravo historian.
