The Kings of The Yukon Podcast: Recent Episodes
Chip Warren
The river that has provided for the Yupik People of the Lower Yukon for millennia is suddenly in changing. Over the last ten years, the King salmon fishery has collapsed, bringing their local economy to a standstill. And now they are existentially threatened by a global pandemic that, if it reaches their village, could devastate their elder population, taking with it the firmest roots of Yupik culture, language, and traditional ecological knowledge. We've been tracking life in this village since 2013 and this podcast is an effort to document this tenuous time when an ominous uncertainty looms over the community.
In November, the river is freezing up and that means snow machine travel will be opening up soon and with that comes greater freedom of mobility, but also some perils. We talk about the Native delicacy of black fish, a small freshwater fish that the town is named after, and a few other interesting things about the Native diet.
One of our first interviews for the documentary project was with Bernadette Redfox. Her generation has seen extraordinary changes come across the YK Delta and perspectives like hers are among the most vital, so it was a privilege to capture one tiny bit of her story.
Dispatches from the Yukon Delta. This week, we talk about Matt's new place, my new place, what people do to numb their worries, connectivity on the Delta, plus a little update about COVID and the fishery.
Alaska was a late bloomer with COVID, but now the numbers are rising. As remote as Emmonak is, it has a natural buffer between it and the hot spots of Alaska's urban areas. For now, the community remains hopeful that they'll escape the brunt of it, because things are bad enough with the collapse of this year's commercial fishing season.
Our story and the way of life in Emmonak revolves around salmon. This episode will give you a baseline understanding about what makes Yukon salmon special and how it's disappearance is such a troubling development for the people of the Yukon Delta.