Made of Salmon: Alaska Stories from the Salmon Project

All over the world, salmon populations are in trouble, as overfishing and habitat loss have combined to put the once-great Atlantic and Pacific Northwest runs at serious risk. Alaska, however, stands out as a rare success story: its salmon populations remain strong and healthy, the result of years of careful management and conservation programs that are rooted in a shared understanding of the importance of the fish to the life, culture, and history of the state. Made of Salmon brings together more than fifty diverse Alaska voices to celebrate the salmon and its place in Alaska life. A mix of words and images, the book interweaves longer works by some of Alaska’s finest writers with shorter, more anecdotal accounts and stunning photographs of Alaskans fishing for, catching, preserving, and eating salmon throughout the state. A love letter to a fish that has been central to Alaska life for centuries, Made of Salmon is a reminder of the stakes of this great, ongoing conservation battle.

Table of Contents:
Foreword by Bella Hammond The Salmon Project by Erin Harrington Introduction by Nancy Lord Salmon Invictus by Lynn Schooler Dustin Connor Chantelle Pence Iqalugruaq: Chum Salmon and the Inuit World by William L. Iggiagruk Hensley Les Palmer The Story Continues by Sara Loewen Heidi Hurley Juanita Dwyer Family Business by Carol Sturgulewski Melanie Brown The Way of the Real Human Being: A Way of Life for Alaska Native Peoples by Ilarion “Larry” Merculieff Thomasina Anderson Maija Lukin Barbara Njaa I am Now the Age She Was by Dan O’Neill Karen Maskarinec George Gatter The King and I by Richard Chiappone Laurie Bassett Thank You. Swimmer by Emma Teal Laukitis Sarah Harrington Matthew Boline Stone Fish. Living Mirrors by Hank Lentfer Renamary Rauchenstein Salmon Are Worth More Than Money by Charles Wohlforth Susan Harvey Mark Witteveen What Happens in the Arctic? by Debby Dahl Edwardson Alice Aga The Right Kind of Hungry by Julia O’Malley Sonja Barger Martha Anelon Seasons by Ernestine Hayes Christopher Orman Bethany Neubarth Size Matters by Charlie Campbell Mi’chelle McCoy Adaline Pete Here on the Rocks by Seth Kantner Leona Gottschalk Riversong by Kirsten Dixon Jenny Fast Danika Simpson Bristol Bay Youth Doing Their Part by Verner Wilson III Christy Everett Let Nothing Be Wasted by Leslie Leyland Fields Mary Sattler The One That Got Away by Don Rearden Tatiana Petticrew Paul Ivanoff My Salmon Project by Michael Raudzis Dinkel Eva O’Malley Jerre Wills Give Me a Life Jacket and a Paddle by Heather Lende

About the Author :
Nancy Lord is a longtime resident of Homer, Alaska, and a former commercial salmon fisherman. She teaches creative writing at the University of Alaska Anchorage and science writing at Johns Hopkins University. Her books include Fishcamp, Beluga Days, and Early Warming.

Review :
“Ask almost anyone in our nation, or perhaps even the world, what they think of after the world salmon. ‘Alaska’ is the most likely response. . . . Mixed in with stories of growing up with the annual salmon returns, or of learning about these fish and their multiple connections to the ecosystem, are facts about the rapidly changing environment for salon and the people who harvest them.”