Entangled: People and Ecological Change in Alaska’s Kachemak Bay

294 Pages·2018·2.93 MB·English

by  Marilyn Sigman

Entangled is a profound meditation on how the inhabitants of Kachemak
Bay—human and nonhuman alike—have reckoned with the ebb and
surge of cultural and ecological changes through time. With the curi-
osity of a biologist, the doggedness of a detective, and the eloquence
of a poet, Marilyn Sigman beautifully deciphers a landscape marked by
abundance and scarcity, stability and disruption, loss and resilience,
memory and story. The fascinating result is a scientific whodunit, a
natural and cultural history, a deep map, an elegy, and, above all, a
love letter.
—Sherry Simpson, author of Dominion of Bears, winner of the
2015 John Burroughs Medal for Distinguished Natural
History Book
Marilyn Sigman unites her “science brain” with her naturalist’s heart
and an insatiable curiosity to bring us a beautifully written account of
human and ecological connections. Part memoir, part natural history,
part quest into understanding the nature of change—Entangled will
delight not just readers intrigued with Alaska’s resource and cultural
history but all those concerned with what it means to know and honor
a home place.
—Nancy Lord, former Alaska Writer Laureate, author of
Fishcamp and Beluga Days
Like creatures in an ephemeral tide pool, our lives are shaped by forces
both within and beyond our control. In Entangled, Marilyn Sigman shows
us that life is messy, shift happens, and riding the waves of change is
best done with a steady kayak, muck boots, and an inner compass.
— Amy Gulick, photographer and author of Salmon in the
Trees: Life in Alaska’s Tongass Rain Forest
In these pages Marilyn Sigman sweeps us along a path of personal
discovery. This memoir is steeped in fast-moving, wondrously descriptive
stories centered on the biology and archeology of the Kachemak Bay
region of Alaska within the context of her personal and family history.
Whether it be the investigation of the sea otter and the bidarki’s role
in shaping shoreline ecology, or the chain of environmental fallout
precipitated by a recent ocean warming event (the “Blob”), or her telling
of the spiritual and environmental story of the Kachemak people and their
sudden mysterious disappearance, Sigman constructs a far-reaching
picture of sometimes sudden historic and current environmental
change. With great detail and the personal insight that comes from
looking closely at the world around her, she draws us into the story
behind the changes and their larger implications. Sigman has crafted
a must-read for both local and visitor.
—Craig Matkin, marine mammal scientist and director of the North
Gulf Oceanographic Society
E N T A N G L E D
People and Ecological Change
in Alaska’s Kachemak Bay
“Raven’s-Eye View of Kachemak Bay,” by Mike Sirl.
E N T A N G L E D
People and Ecological Change
in Alaska’s Kachemak Bay
MARILYN SIGMAN
Text © 2018 University of Alaska Press
Published by
University of Alaska Press
P.O. Box 756240
Fairbanks, AK 99775-6240
Cover and interior design by 590 Design.
Image credits:
Part 1: “Bidarki” (aka katy chiton) by Conrad Field
Part 2: “Kachemak lamp” by Kim McNett
Part 3: “Halibut” by Conrad Field
Part 4: “Otter carving” by Kim McNett
Cover art by Conrad Field.
Text by Weeden and Steinbeck printed with permission.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Sigman, Marilyn, author.
Title: Entangled : people and ecological change in Alaska’s Kachemak Bay /
by Marilyn Sigman.
Description: Fairbanks : University of Alaska Press, [2018] | Includes index.
| Identifiers: LCCN 2017031753 (print) | LCCN 2017048212 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781602233492 (ebook) | ISBN 9781602233485 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Climatic changes | Alaska | Kachemak Bay Region.
| Ecology | Alaska | Kachemak Bay Region. | Kachemak Bay (Alaska)
Classification: LCC QC903.2.A37 (ebook) | LCC QC903.2.A37 S54 2018 (print)
| DDC 577.27/6097983dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017031753
Dedicated to the memory of my father,
Leo Sigman,
who took me fishing

All Alaskans must come to terms with the central problem of how a
contemporary society can function harmoniously within arctic and
subarctic environments. Harmonious function implies a deep and true
knowledge of those environments and human interactions with them.
—Robert B. Weeden, Messages from the Earth: Nature and
Human Prospect in Alaska