Smokin' Fish

Cory Mann (Tlingit).

Image courtesy of Luke Griswold-Tergis and Cory Mann.

A young Tlingit makes a pilgrimage to his ancestral home and is forced to confront the dichotomy between his history and the world he lives in.

Cory Mann's personal life story parallels his culture's heart-wrenching disintegration and struggle to revitalize itself in Smokin' Fish, airing Monday, November 13 at 7 p.m. on WXXI World. He is a quirky Tlingit businessman hustling to make a dollar in Juneau, Alaska. He gets hungry for smoked salmon, nostalgic for his childhood, and decides to spend a summer smoking fish at his family's traditional fish camp. The unusual story of his life and the untold history of his people interweave with the process of preparing the food as he struggles to pay his bills, keep the IRS off his back, and keep his business afloat. By turns tragic, bizarre, or just plain ridiculous, Smokin' Fish tells the story of one man's attempts to navigate the messy collision between the modern world and an ancient culture.

In honor of Native American History Month, WXXI-TV and Radio will broadcast a variety of programs featuring the men and women who shaped the Native American experience.