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 This unit on "Dog Salmon" is a small part of what could develop into a huge thematic unit just on salmon. We have chosen only a few ideas to share. The unit is based on the theme of the Alaska Indigenous People's Academy held in Nulato, Alaska this summer. The academic focus of the unit is math/science, but we have also incorporated language arts and technology.

To help make this a fun and practical learning experience, we have the following suggestions for teachers:

1. The teacher should have some knowledge of how salmon is utilized in the local area where they live;

2. This unit is only a sample of what can be done with a salmon unit, teachers should revise and adapt the lessons to fit the community they live in;

3. An Athabascan Elder or someone who speaks the local language should be contacted in advance and be in residence for the entire unit. This person will help with the stories and terminology of salmon;

4. This person in residence may also be able to prepare in advance the fish skins that will be used in the unit; and

5. The teacher must ask three to four local people for permission to visit their "smoke houses".

The teacher will need 3-4 dog salmon, 12-15 whitefish or grayling, and a detailed local river map. We hope you have success in teaching the unit. We have included the Alaska State Standards as well as the Alaska Cultural Standards for your convenience.

Velma Schafer

Joy Simon

Unit: Dog Salmon

Unit Objective: the students will learn the modern and traditional utilization of the Dog Salmon as well as the Athabascan terminology.

Content Areas: the focus of the unit will be on Math and Science, but language arts and technology will be incorporated into the unit.

Students: 6-8 grade students in a village setting.

Time: 1 to 1 1/2 hour time slots.

Rationale of the Unit: the salmon is an integral part of village life in interior Alaska. The students should know the modern utilization of the salmon as well as the traditional Athabascan uses.

Supplies: 3-4 Dog Salmon, 12-15 white fish or grayling, a detailed local river map.

ALASKA STANDARDS

Math Standards
A. A student should understand mathematical facts, concepts, principles, and theories.
2. select and use appropriate systems, units, and tools of measurement, including estimation;
3. perform basic arithmetic functions, make reasoned estimates, and select and use appropriate methods or tools for computation or estimation including mental arithmetic, paper and pencil, a calculator, and a computer;

C. A student should understand and be able to form and use appropriate methods to define and explain mathematical relationships.
1. express and represent mathematical ideas using oral and written presentations, physical materials, pictures, graphs, charts, and algebraic expressions;
4. clarify mathematical ideas through discussion with others.

D. A student should be able to use logic and reason to solve mathematical problems.
1. analyze situations;
2. draw logical conclusions;
3. use models, known facts, and relationships to explain the student's reasoning;

E. A student should be able to apply mathematical concepts and processes to situations within and outside of school.
2. use mathematics in daily life; and
3. use mathematics in other curriculum areas.

Science Standards
A. A student should understand scientific facts, concepts, principles, and theories.
15. use science to understand and describe the local environment (Local Knowledge); and

B. A student should possess and understand the skills of scientific inquiry.
1. use the processes of science; these processes include observing, classifying, measuring, interpreting data, inferring, communicating, controlling variables, developing models and theories, hypothesizing, predicting, and experimenting;
2. design and conduct scientific investigations using appropriate instruments;
5. employ ethical standards, including unbiased data collection and factual reporting of results; and
6. employ strict adherence to safety procedures in conducting scientific investigations.

D. A student should be able to apply scientific knowledge and skills to make reasoned decisions about the use of science and scientific innovations.
1. apply scientific knowledge and skills to understand issues and everyday events;
2. understand that scientific innovations may affect our economy, safety, environment, health, and society and that these effects may be long or short term, positive or negative, and expected or unexpected;

Language Arts
A. A student should be able to speak and write well for a variety of purposes and audiences.
1. apply elements of effective writing and speaking; these elements include ideas, organization, vocabulary, sentence structure, and personal style;
2. in writing, demonstrate skills in sentence and paragraph structure, including grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation;
3. in speaking, demonstrate skills in volume, intonation, and clarity;
7. communicate ideas using varied tools of electronic technology; and
8. evaluate the student's own speaking and writing and that of others using high standards.

B. A student should be a competent and thoughtful reader, listener, and viewer of literature, technical materials, and a variety of other information.
3. relate what the student views, reads, and hears to practical purposes in the student's own life, to the world outside, and to other texts and experiences.

C. A student should understand and respect the perspectives of others in order to communicate effectively.
1. use information, both oral and written, and literature of many types and cultures to understand self and others;
3. recognize bias in all forms of communication; and recognize the communication styles of different cultures and their possible effects on others.

Technology Standards
A. A student should be able to operate technology-based tools.
1. use a computer to enter and retrieve information;
2. use technological tools for learning, communications, and productivity;

B. A student should be able to use technology to locate, select, and manage information.
1. identify and locate information sources using technology;

D. A student should be able to use technology to express ideas and exchange information.
1. convey ideas to a variety of audiences using publishing, multi- media, and communications tools;

E. A student should be able to use technology responsibly and understand its impact on individuals and society.
3. respect others' rights of privacy in electronic environments;
6. evaluate ways that technology impacts culture and the environment;

CULTURAL STANDARDS:
A. A culturally -responsive curriculum reinforces the integrity of the cultural knowledge that students bring with them.
1. recognizes that all knowledge is imbedded in a larger system of cultural beliefs, values, and practices, each wit its own integrity and interconnectedness;
2. insures that students acquire not only the surface knowledge of their culture, but are also well rounded in the deeper aspects of the associated beliefs and practice;
3. incorporates contemporary adaptations along with historical and traditional aspects of the local culture;

B. A culturally-responsive curriculum recognizes cultural knowledge as part of a living and constantly adapting system that is grounded in the past, but continues to grow through the present and into the future.
1. recognizes the contemporary validity of much of the traditional cultural knowledge, values and beliefs, and ground students learning in the principles and practices associated with that knowledge;
2. provides students with an understanding of the dynamics of cultural systems as they change over time, and as they are impacted by external forces;

C. A culturally-responsive curriculum uses the local language and cultural knowledge as a foundation for the rest of the curriculum.
1. utilizes the local language as a base from which to learn the deeper meaning of the local cultural knowledge, values, beliefs and practices;
2. recognizes the depth of knowledge that is associated with the long inhabitation of a particular place and utilizes the study of "place" as a basis for the comparative analysis of contemporary social, political and economic systems;
3. incorporates language and cultural immersion experiences wherever in-depth cultural understanding is necessary;
4. views all community members as potential teachers and all events in the community as potential learning opportunities;
5. treats local cultural knowledge as a means to acquire the conventional curriculum content as outlined in state standards, as well as an end in itself;
6. makes appropriate use of modern tools and technology to help document and transmit traditional cultural knowledge;
7. is sensitive to traditional cultural protocol, including role of spirituality, as it relates to appropriate uses of local knowledge.

Materials: whole salmon, detailed river maps, journals, bulletin board paper, pencils, markers, and chalkboard.

Objective: the students will be able to name the outside parts of the salmon in English and Athabascan. The students will learn the life cycle of the Dog Salmon.

Alaska Standards: Science A15, B1, B5, B6, D1, and D2. Language Arts A1, A2, B3, C1, and C2.

Cultural Standards: A3, B1, B2, C1, C2, C3, C4, and C5.

Procedures: The teacher will bring a whole dog salmon into the classroom and discuss the lifecycle. This includes the modern cycle of life as well as the local history of using the salmon for a subsistence lifestyle. The teacher will write on the board the modern local names for the outer parts of the salmon as well as the Athabascan names according to the Elder in residence. The students will touch the fish and feel the different textures of the salmon parts. Each student will take notes on the lesson in their salmon unit journal. The students must adhere to the sample journal that will be provided and include today's lesson on the lifecycle of the salmon.

Evaluation: The students will write the Athabascan terms for the salmon parts in their journals. The students must include the modern and local history lifecycle of the salmon in their journals. The teacher will evaluate the journals every two to three days for correct procedures.

Materials: Whole salmon, old newspapers, knife, journals, pencils, weight scale, paper towels and rubber gloves if needed.

Objective: the students will learn the names of the inside parts of the dog salmon in English and Athabascan. The students will learn the weight of each part of the salmon and draw a percentage value for each part compared to the whole salmon.

Alaska Standards: Science A15, B1, B5, B6, D1, and D2. Language Arts A1, A2, B3, C1, and C2. Math A2, C1, C4, D1, D2, D3, E2, and E3.

Cultural Standards: A3, B1, B2, C1, C2, C3, C4, and C5.

Procedures: The teacher will dissect the salmon with the students while explaining and naming the different parts in modern terms as well as Athabascan. The teacher and students will estimate the weight of the inner parts of the salmon and estimate the percentage of each part compared to the whole salmon. The teacher will also point out the purposes for each part. The students will weigh each part as it is taken off the fish and write down the information in their journal. The students will have to draw a chart to explain the weight of each part and figure out what percentage of the whole salmon that part is. The teacher and students will discuss the estimation and the final weights/percentages.

Evaluation: Each student will write the Athabascan terms in his or her journal. Each student will record the weight of each part and it's purpose in his or her journal. Each student must turn in a chart of the estimated guesses and the completed weights/percentages. The teacher will evaluate the journals every two to three days for correct procedures.

Materials: white construction paper, tempera paint, bowls for paint, computers, paint brushes, salmon skin, whole salmon, scrapers, cardboard papers for scrapping, journals and pencils.

Objective: The students will learn that there are patterns on the salmon skin and there are different sizes of scales. The students will practice the Athabascan terms for the salmon parts. The students will learn the process for tanning salmon skins.

Alaska Standards: Science A15, B1, B2, B5, B6, D1, and D2. Language Arts A1, A2, B3, C1, and C2. Math C1, C4, D1, D2, D3, E2, and E3. Technology A1,A2,B1,D1,E3, and E6.

Cultural Standards: A3,B1, B2, C1, C3, C4, C5, C6, and C7.

Procedures: The teacher will gather the group around one salmon and count the number of small, medium, and large scales found on the 2"x 2" piece of salmon skin. The students will make a graph in their journals of the different sizes of salmon scales. The teacher will then demonstrate the art of making a salmon print using tempera paint and white construction paper. Each student will complete a salmon print with their favorite colors. As a closure for the day, the teacher will explain the tanning process for salmon skins and write the information on the blackboard. Each student will write the process of tanning a salmon skin in their journals. The computers will be used to make the graphs of the sizes of the salmon scales.

Evaluation: Each student will have a complete salmon print and will have recorded the tanning process they observed. The student will also make a graph on the computer of the salmon scales found on a 2" x 2" piece of salmon skin. The teacher will evaluate the journals every two to three days for correct procedures.

Materials: journals, questionnaires, 2 digital cameras, discs, permission slips, and pencils/pens.

Objectives: The students will learn the traditional process of tanning the salmon from village Elders. The students will practice the Athabascan terms for the salmon parts.

Alaska Standards: Science A15, B5, B6, D1, and D2. Language Arts A1, A2, A3, B3, C1, and C2. Math A2, A3, C4, E2, and E3. Technology A2, D1,E3, and E6.

Cultural Standards: A1, A2, A3,B1, B2, C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, and C7.

Procedures: The teacher will explain the questionnaire and field trip rules. (The teacher should have made appointments with villagers around town for the visit to the "smoke houses"). Each of the students will take three salmon tanning pictures using the digital camera as they observe and participate in the field trip. The pictures will be placed in their journal. The students must take turns asking questions from the questionnaire as the group moves from one "smoke house" to the next.

Evaluation: the students will turn in the questionnaire from the field trip and each student will have recorded pertinent information regarding the salmon tanning process in their journals. The three digital pictures will have to be printed and included in the journal. The teacher will evaluate the journals every two to three days for correct procedures.

Materials: quiz 1, journals, salmon purse pattern for girls, shell bag pattern for boys, pencils/permanent markers, scissors, scrapers, white fish or grayling skins, gloves, gallon size Ziploc bags, and newspapers.

Objectives: the students will be tested on the vocabulary and information learned thus far in the unit. The students will learn the skills needed to copy a pattern onto the salmon skin and cut it out. The students will practice the Athabascan terms for the salmon parts.

Alaska Standards: Science A15, B1, B2, D1, and D2. Language Arts A1, A2, and B3. Math A2, C1, C4, D1, D2, D3, E2, and E3.

Cultural Standards: C1, C3, C5, C6, and C7.

Procedures: The teacher will hand out the tests for the first week of information learned in the unit. Students may not use their notes for the quiz. After all the students are done with the test, discuss the fish skin project you will require for the boys and the girls. The students can work in pairs for the math problem. Have the male students scale down a 7" x 5" bag pattern by 20%. Have the female students scale down a 8" x 5" bag pattern by 20%. The students will have to sign out that they have completed the math problem before they start to tan the fish skin assigned to them. The students must adhere to the strict safety precautions discussed and to the local customs of handling the fish skins.

Evaluation: the students will pass the quiz with a score of 70% or better. The students will successfully complete the math problem of scaling down the fish bag pattern. The students will start the process of tanning the fish skins. The students will review the skills in their journals. The teacher will evaluate the journals every two to three days for correct procedures.

Materials: fish skins, fish skin scrapers, Ziploc bags, patterns, scissors, glue gun, glue sticks, beads, thread, needles, pencils/markers, and journals.

Objectives: the students will apply the skills learned to start a salmon skin bag. The students will practice the Athabascan terms for the salmon parts.

Alaska Standards: Science A15, B2, D1, and D2. Language Arts B3, C1, and C3.

Cultural Standards: A2, A3, B2, C1, C3, C4, C5, C6, and C7.

Procedures: After the students have tanned their fish skin, they must use the fish bag pattern they have to draw the pattern on the fish skin using a permanent marker. The students will cut out the pattern on the fish skin and start sewing the fish skin bag together with the help of the Elder and teacher. Each student must have a Ziploc bag or cubby for all the materials needed for their project. The more energetic students may also do a beadwork design on the fish skin before sewing it together.

Evaluation: each student will review the process of salmon skin bags in their journals. The students will compile all the materials needed to start the salmon skin bag. The teacher will evaluate the journals every two to three days for correct procedures.

Materials: salmon skin bag materials, chalk board, journals, and pencils.

Objectives: the students will record the stories of the spiritual and nutritional values of the Dog Salmon. The students will practice the Athabascan terms for the salmon parts.

Alaska Standards: Science A15, B2, D1, and D2. Language Arts B3, C1, and C3. Technology A1,A2,B1,D1,E3, and E6.

Cultural Standards: A1, A2, A3,B1, B2, C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, and C7.

Procedures: The teacher will invite 2-3 local Elders prior to this day. The teacher must prepare the Elders for the day by explaining that the students want to hear traditional stories(Salmon stories would be great, but any traditional story would be good). The students may listen to the stories as they work on completing their fish skin bags or they may take notes as the Elders speak.

Evaluation: each student will complete the salmon skin bag. The students will record the stories in their journals . The students will type up one of the stories and enter it into a local newsletter or newspaper. The teacher will evaluate the journals every two to three days for correct procedures.

Materials: chalk board, Salmon or fish tails, knives, cutting boards, yarn, computers, journals, and pencils.

Objectives: the students will record the spiritual values of the Dog Salmon on the computer. The students will practice the Athabascan terms for the salmon parts.

Alaska Standards: Science A15, B2, D1, and D2. Language Arts B3, C1, and C3.

Cultural Standards: C1, C3, C5, C6, and C7.

Procedures: The Elder in residence will explain the spiritual use of the fish tail in the Athabascan tradition. For example,

The students may ask questions or discuss their own experiences of having or not having the fish tail in their homes. The students will then make a fish tail to hang in their homes or to make as gifts for others.

Evaluation: each student will complete a fish tail for spiritual purposes. The students will record the spiritual uses of the fish tail in their journals. The teacher will evaluate the journals every two to three days for correct procedures.

Materials: computers, discs, pencils, journals, any handouts, and the salmon display.

Objectives: the students will each write a one page paper on their reflections and experience with the Dog Salmon Unit. The students will relate this experience to their own lives. The students will practice the Athabascan terms for the salmon parts.

Alaska Standards: Science A15, B2, D1, and D2. Language Arts B3, C1, and C3. Technology A1,A2,B1,D1,E3, and E6.

Cultural Standards: C1, C3, C5, C6, and C7.

Procedures: the students will assemble in a circle to discuss the Dog Salmon Unit, they will reflect on their experiences with the unit and discuss how the unit relates to their lives. The students can use their journals and the salmon display to recall the events of the unit.

The students will type up a one page paper on their reflections and how this unit is useful to them today. The students will also include the three digital photos taken during the field trip to the "smoke houses".

Evaluation: each student will turn in a one page typed paper. The teacher will evaluate the journals every two to three days for correct procedures.

Materials: quiz 2, completed student projects, journals, tables, chairs, potluck food, coffee, tea, table cloths, table decorations, music(local fiddle music), microphone, and condiments.

Objectives: the students will be tested on the whole unit for math, science, technology, and language arts skills. The students will present the Dog Salmon projects to the community members. The students will practice the Athabascan terms for the salmon parts.

Alaska Standards: Science A15, B1, B2, D1, and D2. Language Arts A1, A2, A3, B3, C1, and C3. Math A2, C1, C4, D1, D2, D3, E2, and E3.

Cultural Standards: A1, A2, A3,B1, B2, C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, and C7.

Procedures: The students will complete quiz 2. The group will prepare the classroom for the "afternoon tea". As the guests arrive, the students will serve coffee and tea. The students will use the microphone and stand in front of the group to present a project they learned during the two weeks. The students will clean the classroom and dispose of trash immediately after the guests depart.

Evaluation: the students will pass quiz 2 with a score of 70% or better. Each student will present to the community a project he/she completed during the two-week unit. The teacher will evaluate the journals for a final time.

August 22, 2000

Today, we watched the teacher demonstrate how to cut the salmon. She started by giving us the names of the salmon terms in English and Athabascan.

Salmon eggs-kk'oonh

Fish slime-k'itl'isga'

Flesh-minot

Salmon gills-mikk'usga'

Salmon scales-migholga'

Salmon fins on the bottom-k'kaal ghogga'

Salmon fin on the back-yahaa kk'oeedimaay

The teacher cut the fish down the middle of the belly lengthwise. She removed the guts and scraped the inside of debris. She cut the head off and the top back fin. The backbone of the salmon was cut on both sides to remove most of the flesh off of it. The flesh was cut horizontally to make it easier to dry. The teacher said the backbone is sometimes cut off and dried by itself for half-dried fish or for dog food. The part with the most flesh is dried for eating.

 

(The students must include as much detail as possible in the daily journals. Questions: Where did the event take place, what time, who was there, what was demonstrated, what was said, draw any charts or graphs, and write anything that was written on the board.)

Chum Salmon

 

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game Wildlife Series

Chum salmon(Oncorhynchus keta)have the widest distribution of any of the Pacific salmon. They range south to the Sacramento River in California and the island of Kyushu in the Sea of Japan. In the north they range east in the Arctic Ocean to the Mackenzie River in Canada and west to the Lena River in Siberia. Chum salmon are the most abundant commercially harvested salmon species in arctic, northwestern, and Interior Alaska, but are of relatively less importance in other areas of the state. There they are known locally as "dog salmon" and are a traditional source of dried fish for winter use.

General description: Ocean fresh chum salmon are metallic greenish-blue on the dorsal surface (top) with fine black speckles. They are difficult to distinguish from sockeye and coho salmon without examining their gills or caudal fin scale patterns. Chum have fewer but larger gillrakers than other salmon. After nearing fresh water, however, the chum salmon changes color-particularly noticeable are vertical bars of green and purple, which give them the common name, calico salmon. The males develop the typical hooked snout of Pacific salmon and very large teeth which partially account for their other name of dog salmon. The females have a dark horizontal band along the lateral line; their green and purple vertical bars are not so obvious.

Life history: Chum salmon often spawn in small side channels and other areas of large rivers where upwelling springs provide excellent conditions for egg survival. They also spawn in many of the same places as do pink salmon, i.e., small streams and intertidal zones. Some chum in the Yukon River travel over 2,000 miles to spawn in the Yukon Territory. These have the brightest color and possess the highest oil content of any chum salmon when they begin their upstream journey. Chum salmon spawning is typical of Pacific salmon with the eggs deposited in redds located primarily in upwelling spring areas of streams. Female chum may lay as many as 4,000 eggs, but fecundity typically ranges between 2,400 and 3,100 eggs.

Chum do not have a period of freshwater residence after emergence of the fry as do chinook, coho, and sockeye salmon. Chums are similar to pink salmon in this respect, except that chum fry do not move out into the ocean in the spring as quickly as pink fry. Chum fry feed on small insects in the stream and estuary before forming into schools in salt water where their diet usually consists of zooplankton. By fall they move out into the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska where they spend one or more of the winters of their 3- to 6-year lives. In southeastern Alaska most chum salmon mature at 4 years of age, although there is considerable variation in age at maturity between streams. There is also a higher percentage of chums in the northern areas of the state. Chum vary in size from 4 to over 30 pounds, but usually range from 7 to 18 pounds, with females usually smaller than males.

Noncommercial fishery: In arctic, northwestern and Interior Alaska, chum salmon remain an important year-round source of fresh and dried fish for subsistence and personal use purposes. Sport fishers generally capture chum salmon incidental to fishing for other Pacific salmon in either fresh or salt water. Statewide sport harvest usually totals fewer than 25,000 chums. After entering fresh water, chums are most often prepared as a smoked product.

Commercial fishery: In the last few years an average of 11 million chum salmon, worth over $32 million, have been caught in Alaska. Most chum are caught by purse seines and drift gillnets, but fishwheels and set gillnets harvest a portion of the catch. In many areas they have been harvested incidental to the catch of pink salmon. The development of markets for fresh and frozen chum in Japan and northern Europe has increased their demand, especially in the last decade. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has built several hatcheries primarily for chum salmon products.

Text: Lawrence S. Buklis
Illustration: Detlef Buettner
Revised and reprinted 1994
adfgweb@fishgame.state.ak.us

Write two words a day on the board for the students to pronounce aloud and to memorize. The terms and definitions will be written in English and Athabascan. The students will be quizzed at the end of both weeks on the vocabulary.

Salmon Fishing Terms 

1. fishnet - tameel

2. king salmon net - gaal tameel white fish net - lookka' tameel

3. grayling net - tlogulmaay tameel chum net - nulagha tameel

4. cache - duhtsil

5. cache for half dried fish - mi kk'as ki'kkun dighun

6. smoke house - saan yah

7. fish poles for the drying rack - mak'asdokilya

8. fish cutting knife - mahandinee

9. Native cut fish, eating fish smoked - tl'eeygha hokk'aa ghaditlol dliyh

10. half dried fish - k'iyoga'

11. sun dried fish - nolaagha ts'idza'

12. also yokk'aamagha huts'i' nikoy andoteelyon nilkk'aa midigee ooy

13. salmon eggs - kk'oonh

14. fish slime - k'itl'isga'

15. salmon tail - k'ikaala'l

16. salmon flesh - minot

17. cottonwood - t'aaghal

18. patterns - migho kk'o nokidilkkoniyh

19. river - yookkan

1. Who built the smoke house?

2. Who uses the smoke house?

3. What do you use the smoke house for?

4. How many days does the fish have to be smoked?

5. What kind of wood is used to smoke the fish?

6. How often do you have to check on the fire in the smoke house?

7. What do you do with the smoked items after it is done in the smoke house?

8. How many cut fish can you fit in the smoke house at one time?

9. Do you have different ways of processing the different fish?

10. What are the difficulties of running a smoke house?

Name of student__________________________Date________________

Name of person interviewed___________________________

1. What is the Athabascan name for the Dog Salmon?

2. Label the parts of the salmon in English and Athabascan. (use arrows to point to the parts)

 

3. What type of water way is best for salmon to spawn in?

4. How many eggs does a typical Dog Salmon lay?

5. Why are these salmon called "Dog Salmon"?

6. Where do the salmon go during the winters?

7. What is the average life span of the Dog Salmon?

8. When does the village prepare for the salmon run?

9. What are the traditional uses of the Dog Salmon in the village?

10. Figure out what percentage each part of the salmon is based on the following information.

Whole salmon 16 pounds

Eggs 1__________

Water weight 1__________

Fins 1__________

Head 2__________

Backbone 3 pounds __________

Tail 1 pound __________

Two fleshed salmon bellies 7 __________

11. Name four steps in the salmon skin tanning process.

a.

b.

c.

d.

12. Draw a chart depicting the following information.

Large scales 14

Medium scales 12

Small scales 22

1. What is the Athabascan name for the Dog Salmon? Noolaaghe

2. Label the parts of the salmon in English and Athabascan. (use arrows to point to the parts)

3. What type of water way is best for salmon to spawn in? small side streams

4. How many eggs does a typical Dog Salmon lay? 2400-3100

5. Why are these salmon called "Dog Salmon"? very large dog-like teeth

6. Where do the salmon go during the winters? Most Alaskan salmon winter in the Bering Sea or Gulf of Alaska.

7. What is the average life span of the Dog Salmon? 4-6 years

8. When does the village prepare for the salmon run? Third week in June

9. What are the traditional uses of the Dog Salmon in the village? Used for human consumption/dog food/clothing

10. Figure out what percentage each part of the salmon is based on the following information.

Whole salmon 16 pounds

Eggs 1_____1/16_____

Water weight 1___1/16_______

Fins 1____1/16______

Head 2_____2/16_____

Backbone 3 pounds ____3/16______

Tail 1 pound ____1/16______

Two fleshed salmon bellies 7 ____7/16______

11. Name four steps in the salmon skin tanning process.

a. Smoke dry the salmon

b. cut the flesh off

c. Scrape the oil off

d. soften the skin by wringing it

12. Draw a graph depicting the following information. 

Scales	2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22
Small	x x x x x x x x x x x
Medium	x x x x x x
Large	x x x x x x x

 1. Define the following Athabascan terms.

a. tlaabaas-

b. k'itl'isga'-

c. lookka' lil kkaakin-

d. mikkideetol kkoli-

e. tl'aah-

f. tt'aadikonh-

g. migho kk'o nokidilkkoniyh-

h. neelotlaah-

 2. Scale down the following patterns by 20%.

a. 4" x 6" bag_________

b. 3" x 5" bag_________

 

3. Name three items needed to start sewing a fish skin bag.

a.

b.

c.

 

4. Name two spiritual beliefs about salmon.

a.

b.

 

5. Name two nutritional values of the salmon.

a.

b.

 

6. Write a short essay describing the importance of salmon in the lives of the community.

 1. Define the following Athabascan terms.

a. tlaabaas-fish cutting knife shaped like a half-moon.

b. k'itl'isga'-fish slime.

c. lookka' lil kkaakin-fish skin boots.

d. mikkideetol kkoli-sole of the boot.

e. tl'aah-thread.

f. tt'aadikonh-needle.

g. migho kk'o nokidilkkoniyh-patterns.

h. neelotlaah-thimble.

 2. Scale down the following patterns by 20%.

a. 4" x 6" bag___3.2" x 4.8"_

b. 3" x 5" bag___2.4" x 4"__

3. Name three items needed to start sewing a fish skin bag.

a. (thread, needle, fish skins, scissors, thimble)

b.

c.

4. Name two spiritual beliefs about salmon.

a. (wards off bad spirits, treat it good so it will return, throw the bones back in the water so the fish will return, don't waste the salmon or it will not be plentiful next time)

b.

 5. Name two nutritional values of the salmon.

a. (the salmon is strong in protein, calcium, fat, iron)

b.

 6. Write a short essay describing the importance of salmon in the lives of the community.

(answers will vary)

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