When offered dried fish with seal oil at camp in Old Harbor, a little girl visiting from Nebraska squirmed and hesitated. Melissa Berns’s nine-year-old niece quickly set her straight.
“Fish is LIFE!” she exclaimed with confidence and strength. “If you’re going to be here, you need to learn this!”
Melissa laughs while telling this story. As a young leader in her home of Old Harbor, Melissa knows how important fish are to her people.