Setting the Wheel

My son Chris and I have had the good fortune to help our friends Mike Jackson and Keith build their fish wheel this summer. Today we set it in place about eight miles upriver from the village and finished building its basket supports. Monstrous flies pestered us but the mosquitoes were quiet. Black bear tracks crisscrossed the muddy bank and we sighted geese and ducks. It was a hard, hot day with temperatures reaching 90 F. Whenever we overheated, we soaked our hats and shirts in the cold Yukon waters and went for a boat ride. At the end of the day we were very tired and a bit cranky but very glad that the wheel was turning. The salmon run is a few weeks away, but tomorrow we expect a catch of whitefish awaiting us, if that black bear hasn’t helped himself to a meal!

Hard Work

Local fishermen use both fish wheels and nets to fish for salmon, whitefish, she fish and grayling. The river and sloughs teem with northern pike, too. Fishing here is a matter of survival rather than a commercial venture and the fish wheel can do the work of  many men. The families who still practice subsistence depend heavily on fish and cache away hundreds of pounds for the cold winter that is never far away. Below are a few pictures of us setting the wheel today.

Our friend Mike pilots us out to the wheel in his boat.

On the way out my neighbor Keith explains how we will complete the basket supports today.

I thought Chris was born for the city but I was mistaken. The Yukon has won his heart.

We get to work straight away. There is much to do. Here you can see the two baskets attached to the central axle. They are blocked so they cannot turn.

Chris is more daring than I. I used a pole for balance to get to the shore.

Hard work indeed. Ernie augers holes on each side of the axle to hold vertical pins made of spruce. They will hold the axle in place.

Keith hammers home the spruce pins.

Chris fastens the basket supports. The frame and baskets of the fish wheel are made entirely of spruce with chicken wire lining the baskets. Spruce pins, bailing wire, and nails fasten it all together. With help, a skilled fisherman can build one in a day.

Ernie ponders ways to slake his thirst.

Homeward bound. Chris rests after a good day’s work.

Merry Christmas, Uncle Frank!

For Uncle Frank, who I think will always be with us somehow. I have very early memories of him and as a child he appeared to me as larger than life. I loved his cheerfulness and his mildness and he was always kind and interested in me even though we did not see each other as often as I would have liked. I posted this first as a note written to him, but thought I’d better change that before somebody tried to commit me to a hospital. But to me, Frank will always be among the living.