Fish Skin Doll

The importance of fish to people of the Chugach Region dates back thousands of years. Dr. Frederica de Laguna believed that fish, especially salmon, were just as important in pre-historic times as they were in the twentieth century (and remain today). To the Sugpiaq people, harvesting fish and marine animals have been essential as a food resource and for sourcing raw materials for clothing and other creations, such as this doll. 

The dried fish in the doll's hands also represents an important part of Chugachmiut diet. According to Crowell and Steffian, Sugpiaq people have traditionally been careful to return the fish intestines to the water they came from. In older times it was believed that the fish intestines were home to the animal's soul and that returning the intestines to the water represented returning the fish's soul to its home.  (Looking Both Ways, 176)

Yarborough, Michael R., and Linda Finn Yarborough. "Prehistoric Maritime Adaptations of Prince William Sound and the Pacific Coast of the Kenai Peninsula." Arctic Anthropology 35, no. 1 (1998): 139. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40316460.

Crowell, Aron L, Amy F. Steffian, and Gordon L. Pullar. Looking Both Ways: Heritage and Identity of the Alutiiq People. Fairbanks: Univ. of Alaska Press, 2001. Pg 176