Sharing Salmon and Salmon Rituals

Our fourth episode of Salmonfest Radio season 2 highlights long-time Anchorage based band Super Saturated Sugar Strings and returning Salmon Champion Sam Schimmel. From opposite ends of the festival grounds, both Sam and the Sugar Strings infused Salmonfest 2021 with salmon love and joy, Sugars Strings from the stage and Sam from the workshop barn where he spent the weekend smoking and sharing fish. In Inletkeeper’s recording lounge, we chatted with Sam about the importance of recognizing humans as part of a larger ecosystem and ensuring that within our movements to protect salmon the traditional access for subsistence endures. Sam is the team lead for a project called Operation Fish Drop which distributes donated sockeye salmon to Native Alaskans in the Anchorage area who no longer have access to their traditional fishing grounds. When Super Saturated Sugar Strings joined us in the backstage lounge, our conversation wandered from salmon rituals, to the gifting economy, to our civic duty to salmon. This heartfelt Alaskan band reminds us what Salmonfest is really all about and the magic that brings us in- we let the podcast version of this show run a touch longer than an hour to capture all of this great conversation.

 

If you'd like to connect with us send an email to SalmonfestRadio@inletkeeper.org