July 28, 2014
Monday

(SitNews) - Audrey Armstrong of Galena remembers the day she was first inspired to make beautiful things from salmon skins. It was September 4, 2002 and she was mesmerized by a king salmon she had caught.

“The colors were so beautiful, and I said to myself, I know a long time ago they used to make garments and baskets and different containers out of fish skin. I wonder if I could make something out of this skin. And that is how I started,” Armstrong said in a phone interview.

It was difficult to learn the traditional techniques, as the history for the old ways was lost.

“There was nothing really written. And I think the oldest piece I saw from my culture was from 1849. It was a child’s mittens made out of fish skins. They are so beautiful. So now the majority of us working with fish skin it is all by trial and error, and by talking to other people who are working with fish skin and trying to bring it back. We are all learning from each other,” she said.

Armstrong uses an ulu to clean and scrape any fat from the skins which keeps them from spoiling. She cleans and freezes the skins and hand sews each piece as it is pulled from a cooler.

“Because it will dry out real fast as you are sewing, so you have to keep putting it back in the cooler. And then you put it over your mold and it becomes a basket, or a vase or a bag. It becomes whatever you are making. So my baskets have this hard surface to the skin and then I decorate them with beads, abalone shells, and dentalia shells, which represent the status of our Athabascan chiefs.”

Armstrong’s favorite fish skin to work with is king salmon. She has won numerous art awards for her work, which is displayed across Alaska and elsewhere. She also shares her skill at workshops all over the state.

This year marks the 24th year for this weekly column that focuses on Alaska’s seafood industry. It began in 1991 in the Anchorage Daily News, and now appears in over 20 newspapers and web sites. A daily spin off – Fish Radio – airs weekdays on 30 radio stations in Alaska. My goal is to make all people aware of the economic, social and cultural importance of Alaska’s fishing industry to our state, the nation and the world. 

Laine Welch ©2014

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