Village Science Alan Dick Alaska Native Knowledge Network Alaska Native Knowledge Network University of Alaska Fairbanks P.O. Box 756730 Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-6730 ©1997 by Alan Dick All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America Previous pilot edition printed April, 1997 First printing August, 1999 I thoughtfully dedicate this book to my mentor of many years, Sinka Zaukar of Sleetmute, Alaska. He was one of the most articulate and intelligent people I have ever met, yet his name can be found in no school records. As I have written this book, I have heard his voice many times in my head and heart, and have recalled the same images that were present when we talked and did so many things together. Without him and his perceptions, this book would not exist in any form, nor would my life be remotely the same. To the Students I wrote this book to share with you some of the things I have learned over the years. If I were to teach you in person, we wouldn’t follow the format of this book, but this is the best I can do from here. I have lived in the Alaska bush since 1966. My wife, Helen, is from Lime Village, a small place with only forty to forty-five people. We are both over fifty now and have five children, Anna, Elizabeth, William, Rachel, and Wayne. You might know them, or your older brothers or sisters might have played basketball with them. They played their high school years in McGrath. We have eight grandchildren, the oldest is ten and the youngest is almost one. We have lived mostly on the Kuskokwim River from Bethel and Aniak upriver to Sleetmute, Red Devil, Lime Village, McGrath, and Telida. I have always loved science because it has made the world less threat- ening. While the world is certainly filled with mysteries that I will never fathom, the basic physical principles by which it works have remained the same for thousands of years. The same principles that keep the earth in orbit around the sun operate in the clutch of a chainsaw. I like that. It makes the physical world more predictable. Understanding science has kept me from being stuck in out in the woods lots of times. I can figure things out. I have shared my ideas in this book as simply as possible. In my next book, I will show you the thinking skills I used along the way. This book is mainly facts and activities. I hope you enjoy reading and doing it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Thanks for using my book. Sincerely, Alan Dick v Skills, Tools & Craftsmanship Chapter 1: Cutting & Drying Fish 1 Chapter 2: Sharpening Tools 11 Chapter 3: Nails, Pegs, & Lashings 21 Chapter 4: Falling Trees & Small-Scale Logging 29 Chapter 5: Guns 35 Chapter 6: Chainsaw Clutch & Chain 47 Chapter 7: Ice pick 53 Chapter 1 Cutting & Drying Fish Traditionally, fishing has been the core of subsistence life throughout most of Alaska. Oldtimers always said, “Fish as if you wouldn’t catch any animals all winter. Then if you do catch something, you will do well. If you don’t catch any animals, you will get tired of fish, but you won’t starve.” Until recently, there were no freezers and people had to find ways to preserve the fish they caught. Oldtimers made drying fish an art form. Some families made better fish than others, but all families recognized the life and death issues involved in putting fish away for the winter. Many of the same principles involved in drying fish also apply to drying moose, caribou, seal, and other meat. The Opposition There is opposition to those who attempt to dry fish: • Bacteria that cause rotting • Blowflies that lay eggs that turn to maggots • Ravens and seagulls One of nature’s purposes for blowflies is to consume spawned out salmon so their dead bodies won’t contaminate the river for the whole summer. Blow- flies and the resulting maggots can remove a whole fish in only a few days. Standards There are more blowflies upriver than downriver because their purpose is naturally fulfilled at or near the spawning ground. Downriver people have A 2, 14, 15 much less problems with blowflies than upriver people. B 1, 3 C 3 Many people on the coast of Alaska don’t use a smokehouse. There are D 1, 3 fewer flies and more wind. However, fish hung in the open must be protected from seagulls and ravens. Concepts Objectives Leverage Our objective is to put food away when there is an abundance so we Evaporation Friction might eat in times of lack. Surface area 10 PART 1: SKILLS, TOOLS, & CRAFTSMANSHIP There are three ways of preserving fish: • Freezing solidifies the water in the fish and lowers the temperature below which bacteria are active. • Salting in a barrel removes much of the moisture and creates an inhos- pitable environment for the bacteria. • Drying fish in the presence of cool, dry smoke removes the moisture necessary for bacterial growth. Conditions There are a couple of conditions necessary for fish to rot: • There must be enough moisture for the bacteria to grow. Drying re- moves the necessary moisture. • The temperature must be above freezing for bacteria to flourish. As the temperature goes up, bacteria become more active. However, fish oil can chemically decompose apart from bacteria at temperatures well below freezing. Blowflies There are two conditions necessary for blowflies to reproduce on the fish. • There must be moist places on the fish. Once a crust is formed, the blowfly eggs cannot mature. The first few days of drying are critical to preventing maggots. • There must be a healthy environment for the blowflies to thrive. Smokehouses are constructed to create an environment that the flies cannot stand. They have an excellent sense of smell and easily find the fish, but cannot penetrate the smoke to lay their eggs. We often put the freshly cut fish closest to the smudge pot. Once a crust is formed, those fish can be moved to make room for fresh fish. Some people leave their fish outside for the first day or two to get a good dry crust on them and then bring them inside the smokehouse. Other people bring their fish straight to the smokehouse. Many people soak the fish in salt and/or sprinkle them with pepper to keep the flies off the fish. Salt and pep- per add to the taste after the fish is dry. Compromise There is a delicate balance between smoke and fresh air. Many smokehouses have doors and vents that can be opened or closed to control that balance. There is a tradeoff. If there is a lot of fresh air around the fish in the smokehouse, they dry fast, but it is hard to keep smoke around the fish with a strong breeze blowing. Rotting is slow. Blowflies are fast. I tend to err on the side of slower drying with adequate smoke. Chapter 1: Cutting & Drying Fish 11 Smokehouse Roof Smokehouse roofs often have a rather shallow pitch to hold smoke down around the fish. Since blowflies need wet or damp fish to lay their eggs, a good smokehouse roof is most important. A leaky roof brings them a banquet. Days later the sun might be shining, but inside the smokehouse it could be raining maggots! Even fish that were once dry can become maggot infested if rained upon. Once they have infested a fish, it is not likely to dry. Smoke repels mature blowflies but not maggots. People have tried screening in their smokehouses to keep the flies out. This helps a little, but blowflies have an amazing ability to crawl through cracks. Few people who have screened once, try it again. Temperature and Materials Fish need to be kept cool or they will rot. A hot smokehouse creates sour fish. Steel siding absorbs and conducts heat, making the smokehouse very hot in the sun. Much better are plywood, lumber, spruce-bark slabs, or spruce- bark sides. Spruce bark is wonderful. It is cool, and allows a gentle flow of air through the knot holes and other cracks. It is not very durable and definitely not bear proof. Skill is required to remove the bark from the tree in usable pieces. Ask the local elders how it is done. Brush When oldtimers were trying a new place to fish, they didn’t want to spend a lot of energy building a smokehouse until they found out if the location was good for fishing. For a temporary smokehouse, they put poles on the sides of the smokehouse and wove brush in and out of those poles. This is an easy and effective way to keep smoke in, but after the brush dries, it is a real fire hazard. I made a smokehouse with brush sides once and was very satisfied. However, the second year, when the brush had dried, it became a firetrap. Location Fish cannot become drier than their surroundings. Damp ground makes damp fish. Most smokehouses are on top of a bank so they can catch a gentle breeze as it blows up and down the river. If the smokehouse is by a creek in a narrow valley, the fish will be damp because of the closeness to the creek. The drier the ground, the better the fish will be. Some oldtimers located their smokehouses on small hills beside the fishing site so the fish could dry well. This meant carrying each fish up the hill, but it was worth the effort.