Dan Salmon

Originally from Penfield, New York, Dan Salmon moved to Alaska in 1983 to attend the University of Alaska, Fairbanks where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Biology. He discovered Igiugig when he was stationed on the Kvichak River while working for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. He spent the winter of 1984 trapping along the Kvichak River and learning the subsistence lifestyle, and in 1985 married an Igiugig Native, Julia Olympic, and began raising a family. Dan dedicated the next twenty-two years of his life to Igiugig and the people of Bristol Bay, and continued to hunt, fish, and trap in the surrounding countryside. He was the Tribal Administrator of the Igiugig Village Council (1986-2008), a Lake and Peninsula Borough Assemblyman, served on the Iliamna Lake Fish and Game Advisory Committee, and was Operations Manager for the Iliamna Lake Contractors. He helped Igiugig Native Corporation institute a Land Use Program, devoted himself to the education of Igiugig’s youth, fished commercially in Bristol Bay, and oversaw many community projects. In 2004, Dan received a Denali Commission award for his exceptional commitment to wise resource allocation and for founding a sustainable community. In February of 2008, Dan Salmon died in an airplane crash, while flying his Cessna 170 home from Anchorage.