Abstract

This chapter examines an ethnographic fieldwork conducted in 2009–2010, and in particular interview data, which consists of interviews with 23 salmon fishermen living along and near the Kemijoki and Iijoki rivers in northern Finland. Salmon were the biggest, strongest, and economically most significant fish, even though whitefish were even more plentiful in some locations. Due to the lack of a shared element and other known features of the fish, salmon were considered a mysterious creature, sometimes believed to possess supernatural powers. There is a connection between salmon and traditional beliefs and spirituality, as well as animism, as defined by Tim Ingold. The fact that salmon return annually to their birth river to breed was well known among the people along the rivers. It was considered a deeply human characteristic; fish were perceived to express appreciation for their birthplace. During the last decade, several migrant fish restoration projects have taken place on these rivers.