Seven Foot Tall - Swinomish Memories

Mike Cladoosby and Governor Gregoire

I’ll never forget the first time I sat with Mike Cladoosby while he cooked fish.  I walked into his smoky little cook shack and he looked up from the fire telling me, “You white guys always try to ruin good fish with all them onions, lemons and pepper – all you need is salt!”  Mike is famous for his barbecue salmon, so I took his advice to heart. 

     
In 1998, I was asked to cook fish for a class reunion in Concrete.  All I had was some really fresh chum, so I cooked it up over a smoky fire with some salt.  Person after person came up and told me that was the best king salmon they’d ever had and I just smiled and told them thanks.  Later, a lady came up with a pencil and scrap of paper wanting me to write down my secret recipe, so I took that paper and wrote one word on it, “Salt.”  She got mad and stomped off thinking I wasn’t telling the truth.

     
Cooking good fish is a little bit more than just salt.  It’s also about family and giving a piece of fish for those who’ve passed on.  It’s about a love and respect of the salmon who feed us.  These things are just as important as salt.  These are things I’ve learned while sitting with Mike cooking fish, it’s why my fish always turns out well and I guess I wasn’t telling that lady from Concrete the whole truth, but I’m not sure she would have understood the spiritual part of cooking salmon.

     
I always look up to Mike Cladoosby and sometimes I think he is seven foot tall.  Mike is a born teacher and if you pay good attention to what he’s doing, you can learn a lot from him.  He often works behind the scenes with a good word here and there when it matters.  Sometimes people mention Mike’s past, but that just makes me respect him all the more because he had the courage to change.  He lives a good life, he cares about his family and Swinomish, and I am proud to claim him as a very dear friend.