Winner of the Inaugural Mohn Prize (2017)
Winner of the William Mills Prize for nonfiction Polar Books (2014)

The Meaning of Ice celebrates Arctic sea ice as it is seen and experienced by the Inuit, Iupiat, and Inughuit, who for generations have lived with it and thrived on what it offers. With extensive details offered through their own drawings and writings, this book describes the great depth of Inuit, Iupiat, and Inughuit knowledge of sea ice and the critical and complex role it plays in their relationships with their environment and with one another. Over forty Inuit, Iupiat, and Inughuit from three different Arctic communities contributed stories, original artwork, hand-drawn illustrations, maps, family photos, and even recipes to this book. Professional and historical photographs, children's artwork, and innovative graphics add more to the story of The Meaning of Ice.

The Meaning of Ice is an important contribution to understanding the Arctic and its people at a time when the region is undergoing profound change, not least in terms of sea ice. It takes readers beyond what sea ice is, to broaden our appreciation of what sea ice means.
About the Author: SHARI FOX GEARHEARD is originally from southern Ontario, Canada. She is a geographer and researcher with NSIDC, University of Colorado Boulder, and lives full time in Kangiqtugaapik, Nunavut. LENE KIELSEN HOLM is from Qaqortoq, south Greenland. She is a researcher and project leader with the Greenland Climate Research Centre, at Pinngortitaleriffik, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, in Nuuk. HENRY HUNTINGTON grew up on the east coast of the United States. He lives now in Eagle River, Alaska, and studies human- environment interactions in the Arctic. JOE MELLO LEAVITT is a whaling captain and subsistence hunter from Barrow, Alaska. He is a well-respected expert on sea ice and frequent collaborator with other researchers on sea ice projects. ANDY MAHONEY, originally from Devon, England, is an assistant professor of geophysics at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, specializing in sea ice. MARGARET OPIE is a whaler and subsistence hunter from Barrow, Alaska. She is retired from a professional career with the local government, the North Slope Borough. TOKU OSHIMA is a full time hunter, fisherwoman, and sewer from Qaanaaq, Greenland. She is also a trained electrician. JOELIE SANGUYA is a hunter, qimuksiqti (dog teamer), experienced researcher, and filmmaker from Kangiqtugaapik, Nunavut.