Nikolai’s Fish Wheel & The Legacy of the Upper Kuskokwim

Along the banks of the upper Kuskokwim River in the summer of 2013, residents of the small community of Nikolai, Alaska received a grant from the National Park Service that made it possible to fund the creation of a fish wheel. A fish wheel, also known as a salmon wheel, is a device used to catch fish by way of paddles and wire baskets, which then carry the fish to a holding tank. The devices have also been used for centuries by indigenous Athabaskan people. One major hope for the project was that it would make fresh food accessible to anyone in the community that wanted it. The project not only provided food, but it also allowed the youth of Nikolai to learn about a tradition passed down to them by their elders.

“When my generation is gone, then our language and our way of life will be gone with us. So we want to teach the kids how it used to be. It is important to know where you come from and your identity and how our ancestors got to be who they are. They should learn to survive in case something happens in the world. It keeps people together, friendly to each other” - Nick Alexia, First Chief of Edzeno’ Village Council

A mile high view of the curvy Kuskokwim River in a remote part of Alaska.
A person uses a chainsaw to gather wood in a forest in Alaska.
A group of young people talking around a Four Wheeler in a remote part of Alaska, surrounded by trees.
Three people, two young men and an elder, sit around wood posts and use a tool with a river in the background.
Two people stand in the foreground, one holding coffee cups and another pouring tea from a teapot with trees the Kuskokwim river in the background.
A close up of an older man with wrinkles, wearing a baseball hat and sunglasses, while holding up a cigarette to his mouth.
Two young men, smile at one another while holding tools while working on a wooden fishwheel.
Three men, two standing and one sitting on a fishing boat, talk with one another, with the Kuskokwim river and remote Alaskan wilderness in the background.
A man uses his hand to cup river water that he is standing in to pour it over his head while holding a hammer in his other hand.
A fish is partially illuminated by sunlight while it is held up by a hand while swimming in a white bucket.
A group of three men work together to tie up a log with rope while it sits in a river.
Two elders, one man and one woman, sit on a four wheeler under a blue sky with trees and a house in the background.
A young man stands barefoot on a log, wearing a bright orange sweatshirt, watches two other young men nail a wooden board onto a log while standing in a river.
A close up of eyes of an elder from the village of Nikolai while blurry, in the foreground, he holds a hammer in one hand and a nail in the other.
A wide perspective showing the alaskan wilderness while a group people work on a fishwheel. Four men work together to assemble logs onto the fish wheel while standing in a river, while two young men wait next to them, holding wooden posts.
Two men smile with one another while holding wooden posts together to construct a fish wheel, while standing in a river with trees in the background.
A tilted perspective with feet walking on logs and a man pushes logs together while standing in a river.
Two men use wooden poles to push logs together while standing in a river in the remote Alaskan wilderness..
A young girl smiles in a bright purple dress stands on logs in a river while being held by a young man, who holds her up.
An elder wearing a baseball and green plaid shirt sits cross legged while holding a hammer in one hand and uses his other hand to wrap metal netting around a pole.
A young man stands on the muddy shoreline of the Kuskokwim river while holding lots of rope.
A group of young men and a young woman stand in a river while holding a fish wheel, a large wooden device with baskets that is used to catch fish.
A group of four young men smile at one another after helping launch a fishwheel in the river, while a boat tows the fish wheel to its spot in the Kuskokwim River.
The sun sets through pine trees, illuminating a distant mountain in the remote Alaskan wilderness.
A four wheeler drives away on a dirt road during a golden sunset in the remote Alaskan wilderness.