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Salmon Day mourns the loss of food security, nutrition and culture due to salmon scarcity

Monday, 22 January 2024 at 10:51

CODE REDD: Brandy Mayes, second from left, leads her team as Kwanlin Dün First Nation's Fish and Wildlife Manager

First Nations from both Alaska and Yukon shared the community impacts of losing salmon

Salmon Day was both successful and sad. Participants and panelists, which included Elders, and First Nation leaders from both Yukon and Alaska on Saturday, January 20, at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre, shared their experiences of life with salmon, and life without.

The day-long conference heard that the lack of salmon among Yukon and Alaska First Nations communities is "hurting the soul" and that "Elders bones are calling for it"; even the children were asking for Chinook from Santa Claus this past Christmas.

The nutritional value of salmon is also hurting people, and that can be seen in the increased restlessness and low spirits in winter due to a deprivation of vitamins unique to salmon.

The conference also heard that it's tough to educate young people about the cultural and nutritional importance of salmon without the annual harvests, and that the inter-generational interaction with salmon is being lost.

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