Fish Camp

Bugs on the River! We went out on the river to set fish nets. It looks worse than it really is, I think the light caught every bug on the river that day

This past week we took the teenage girls I work with to fish camp. Many of the local First Nations hear still harvest most of there food from the land as the have been for hundreds of years. It was a great opportunity for these girls to learn about there culture and take pride in who they are.
We went to Brooks Brook, it is close to a small in land Tlingit Village. When the salmon start running the people move to fish camp the same fish camp there Grandmothers Grandmother went to. It is a lot of work and a lot of carnage but for them there is nothing that makes them happier than to be on the land harvesting food for there families.
When your out on the land with the kids there hurts seem to come up a lot. There is nowhere to run from themselves out there. It is as if the land itself pushes all that is out of balance searching for it's own peace and connectedness. The old people always say how important it is to be on the land, how it heals you.

Young Native girl with wild strawberries she picked

Salmon drying in the smoke house. Traditionally every part of the animal is used, many camps still abide by this value. Fish head soup is considered a delicacy. No one is ever aloud to make a rude comment about a fish. If children say "yuck" to a fish they are scolded and told not to disrespect something that's life was taken so we could eat.

The kids found a spider in a web at night. They were really fascinated with it and took several pictures with my camera. They watched it catch a bug and wrap it up like a cocoon. I was surprises at how enthralled they were.