Excerpt from the book
Niawas-ye shook his rattle, blessing the child. This boy is special. He enters our world just as the first spring salmon comes to us. He will bring a great gift to our people; he will remind us how important it is to respect and honor the salmon. Later, the shaman placed a necklace with a salmon charm around the baby’s neck. When the prince grew older he wore his necklace every year during the season of the First Salmon, and the runs were plentiful. He and his companion, a slave boy whom the chief appointed to stay with him, watched the men fishing and longed to join them. Years went by and life in the village became busier. Some rituals were performed less often or not at all. Gradually, the prince forgot to wear his necklace, until one day he couldn’t even remember where he had put it. That year, he and his companion were finally old enough to catch spring salmon with the men, but almost no fish swam by the village.
