Wood in the Aleutians has always been gathered off the beaches. Driftwood. It has drifted here from somewhere else; somewhere that has trees. Because we don’t have trees. And we really don’t miss them. They tend to block the view. They are slightly claustrophobic. They blow down in the wind. Considering the fact that we have no trees, wood held a prominent position in our traditional culture. The most mathematically engineered boat ever constructed was made out of found wood. Our iqyan (kayaks) are considered second to none. The bentwood hunting visor was made out of found wood. Masks for ceremony, dancing, and storytelling were made out of wood. Tool handles were made out of found wood. Bowls and utensils were made out of wood. If you wanted to waste a good, huge piece of found wood, you could have used it for building part of your semi-subterranean dwelling; otherwise you could use a whale rib.
We scour the beaches for cottonwood. It is the only wood my family supposedly uses for making smoked salmon. I say supposedly because my mother and I say to each other “Yes, that’s cottonwood. Well, I’m pretty sure that is cottonwood. Hmmm…maybe that is cottonwood.” Anyway the fish is good. As times change and our town becomes more populated, of course more people are going after the wood resource. It’s becoming harder and harder to find found wood. That is when having a husband who works for the airlines and having a sister who lives in Anchorage where they have trees comes in handy. We have had a couple of lovely shipments of cottonwood from Barbara. We, of course, share the smoked fish with her. Her latest shipment was a couple of chunks of birch. Considering that my husband, Caleb, bought my mom a new wood carving set for Christmas, and my mother and father bought Caleb a new wood carving set for Christmas, I think we will see some magnificent pieces coming to life from this newly found wood.
Unalaska From My Point of View 
You’re so lucky to have the salmon….and the knowledge and ability of smoking the salmon. The price of salmon here in the lower 48 keeps gowing up. They do serve some pretty good smoked salmon at the local sushi restaurant, but you have to pay up the ying yang for it. LOL! In Texas the local wood is mesquite. It makes excellent BBQ and smoking of brisket.
Mesquite. I’ve never seen a mesquite tree. Is it a tree? I wonder if you would recognize mesquite after it had rolled riotously around in the ocean for several years before landing on a deserted beach somewhere? I wonder if I’ve actually picked up a piece and said “Heck no! This is NOT cottonwood”!!
It’s a tree. I know those, too, having lived in West Texas for many years. We had some in our yard and I agree with Lyle that they were great for smoking brisket and making BBQ. You could even buy mesquite chips at the store if you didn’t have any wood of your own. 🙂
Good to know Jane. I suppose I could have googled it! But this is much easier.
But I doubt I’d be able to pick it out after it rode the ocean for awhile!
Thank you for changing the way i look at trees and it’s uses.
I just came from visiting your site. You have lots of trees! I guess when we don’t have something, we make the most of it when we get it. Wood is definitely a precious commodity.