Review by Alexander Ketzler

The Girl Who Swam With the Fish
Alaska Northwest Books, 1999
Retold by Michelle Renner
Illustrated by Christine Cox
Ages 7 and up

Is this a fiction or non-fiction story?
This story is based on a Kuskokwim Athabaskan legend, that is retold by the author who got the story from a published collection of stories told by an elder of the area Miska Deaphon of Nikolai, Alaska entitled Nikolai Hwch'ihwzoya', 1980. The story would be considered fiction by westerner's standards, but most likely a real life event by the reporter of the story.

Is the story based upon cultural, and/or Indigenous knowledge(s)?
Yes it is, because the material was first collected and produced by the National Bilingual Materials Development center. The stories were then translated by Betty Petruska and edited and proofread by Ray Collins an anthropologists that resides in the area.

Is the story an infringement on cultural intellectual knowledge(s)?
Yes, I believe that this is the case because when I read the introduction to the book Nikolai Hwch'ihwzoya', there was a concern that oral story telling was disappearing in their village and they wanted to preserve them by documenting them in a printed form both in the Kuskokwim dialect and in English. There is also a mission statement in the introduction that reads, "Now-a-days story telling is rarely done in the village of Nikolai. There are still a few people that remember the stories, such as those recorded in this book, but they do not tell them. It is, therefore, the hope of all the people who assisted in the preparation of this book that the people of Nikolai will once again find a renewed interest in the telling of their stories." The introduction further states: "The old need for entertainment and remembrance. The young need them for education and the improvement of their understanding of their cultural heritage. To allow these stories, and others which are yet to be collected and preserve, to disappear, would be to facilitate the great cultural erosion that is currently plaguing all the Native villages of the state. We must not allow this to happen, for the saddest story any one could ever tell any group of people who lived on this, or any other planet, would be that there are no more stories to tell. Hopefully, this collection and its study guide will help to preserve the stories of the Nikolai people."

Who is the author?
According to the short bio at the back of the book it states, "Writer Michelle Renner has taught elementary school in Alaska in a small village, Kongiganak, as well as in Kenai and Anchorage. The Girl Who Swam With The Fish is her first children's book. She lives with her husband and two sons in Eagle River, Alaska."

What is the author's background, i.e.: reliability, credibility?
Other than her introduction in the back of the book, the only credibility is that she has taught in a remote village. To answer this question to the best of my ability I searched the web and found reviews of the book. One such site claimed this story was "based upon a Yupik story." For another point of view there is a review that reads in amazon.com:

"Grade 2-4?In this retelling of an Athabascan legend, a girl waiting for the salmon to return slips by accident into the river, and, changing into a salmon herself, is swept to sea. Living with the ocean kings for years, she learns about their preferences: the salmon will return only to families with clean racks, sharp cutting knives, and proper drying methods. When she has matured enough to journey up the river, she rejoins her family and tells them what she has learned, and they always have fish. The cultural importance of this story does not, alas, guarantee an exciting plot. The moment of the girl's return to human form is passed over in an anticlimax, and the narrative ends weakly. It is hard for non-Athabascans to see the point. The illustrations, competent and sometimes clever (e.g. the girl's salmon-shaped shadow in the last picture), also lack excitement. The artist's palette is limited to the palest hints of ochre, blue, and green. The quasi-woodcut style provides strong linear interest, but also accentuates faults of draftsmanship. This well-meaning but dull effort demonstrates that not every native legend offers transcultural wisdom? Patricia (Dooley) Lothrop Green, St. George's School, Newport, RI
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc."

What are the character(s) theme(s) and plot(s) of the story?
The story by Michelle Renner is about a girl who got to close to the river bank, fell in, and turned into a fish that went to the ocean for four years and then returned. In doing so she reported to her people that the fish would only return to rivers where the people kept their camps clean and knifes sharp. But when comparing this story to the original text it looses subtle nuances of the original story.

What was the purpose of the story?
In the original story as compared with the children's book, the purpose of the story is to be respectful of the salmon keeping fish camps clean and knifes sharp. Also, there is a certain way to preserve the cut salmon by placing them on the drying racks skin side out so that they dry correctly.

Are the characters in the story real people?
As I have mentioned before they probably are as to the perspective of the original story teller, but not to the people of this dominant western society.

Are the illustrations/photographs accurate and/or appropriate?
For the most part yes, the clothing was pretty much appropriate to the times as far as the moose skin clothing. But there was beadwork on them that seems out of place for the story timeline. As for the illustrations of the King Salmon and the salmon that she turned into, they did not look like any salmon I have ever seen before. They looked more like trout or Dolly Varden to me.

Are there stereotypical and demeaning portrayals in the story?
For the most part no, other than the stereotypical ‘Athabaskan beadwork' was on clothing where at that time it would have been more appropriate to have quill work on the clothing. Also I would mention that the dentalium shells on her person were basically indistinguishable

What was your overall feeling of this book? Did you like/dislike the book?
I really enjoyed the original story by Miska Deaphon; the story by Renner was not all that bad. I could tell she took great pains not to copy, or infringe on the original story.

How did this story make you feel?
Mad, to coin a phrase by Annie Pavilla, "It's just another cultural rip off!" When comparing the original to the published story it leaves a lot of information and story lines out of the published works. It seems that writers like this were not the intentions of the originators of the collected materials from the elder's interviews and publications.

Was the story respectful of its subjects?
Yes.

Was the language, vocabulary, used correctly?
To fit the story line, yes.

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