“Run of the Salmon People”

“Each year for countless generations the salmon people have returned to the river to provide food for the villages along its shore. Ungrateful for the offering, a young boy without respect wastes the gift. Later, captured by the salmon, the boy must learn the ways of their people by becoming one of them. The mask on the side of the fish: Thus trapped inside the fish’s body, his spirit now leads the great migration. Totem designs on the side of the wave. The water is filled with their spirits. Salmon Chief sits in the back of the boat holding his son in his arms. The open mouths of the paddles cry out the name of the river. With swift and powerful strokes the salmon propel their boats filled with the precious salmon roe. Cresting the waves, the salmon are returning once again to give life to the river of their birth.”