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Minnie Salmon

Minnie Salmon was a Gwich'in elder born in 1932 to Julia and Ben Thomas at Salmon Village, Alaska (now Chalkyitsik) on the Black River. Minnie grew up living a traditional subsistence lifestyle based upon hunting, fishing, trapping, and berry picking and movement between seasonal camps. In 1954, she married William Salmon, Sr. and together they raised five children according to this same traditional subsistence lifestyle. Minnie focused much of her adult life on working to revitalize the Gwich'in language. She was a bilingual instructor and helped create a Gwich'in curriculum for the Yukon Flats School District. She also taught Athabascan fiddle dancing to her students and helped establish a children's summer culture camp. For many years, she also was a community health aide in Chalkyitsik and a prevention worker. Minnie also was known for her beadwork artistry, cooking, and strong faith. Minnie Salmon passed away in 2014 at age 87. For more about Minnie Salmon, see her obituary in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner newspaper.

Date of Birth:

Jul 3, 1932

Date of Death:

Sep 17, 2014

Minnie Salmon appears in the following new Jukebox projects:

Stakeholders and Climate Change

Interview Title	Abstract	Archive #: Oral History	Project	Date of Interview
Willam and Minnie Salmon	William and Minnie Salmon were interviewed on September 8, 2009 by William Schneider at their home in Chalkyitsik, Alaska. Their daughter Patricia (Patty) was cooking dinner during the recording and she also helped during the interview by asking about specific places she had heard her parents mention in the past. In this interview, the Salmons talk about environmental changes they have observed in their lifetimes of living off of and traveling on the land, including the effect of fire on the land, the lakes drying up, changes in weather and how this affects animals.	2009-11-05	Stakeholders and Climate Change	Sep 8, 2009