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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 2013)
Lane continues fishing aboard Kiska Sea, lands spot on Deadliest Catch By Tiffany Stuart Nolan Lane grew up in Siletz with his dad and mom, Buster and Kristy Lane. He graduated from Toledo High school and went into the Army. Then he started to fish. This lifelong career has landed him on the TV show Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Chan- nel. Here is an interview with Nolan Lane. How long have you been fishing? I started around 2000-2001; took a couple years off and worked at the paper mill and then went back fishing. It’s one of those jobs where it gets in your blood and that’s all you think about when you are not doing it, yet when you are doing it, you think about doing something else. How did you get your start on a boat? Growing up around here, you know, a fishing community, I had a lot of bud- dies that were doing it. Crab fisherman in Alaska make good money. I asked a buddy of mine, hear about any openings to throw my name around. Right away said he had a spot on the boat. Took off that summer to do tender season and cod season. Do you receive training before you go on the boat? No, you have to learn really quick. It’s a fast-paced job. what is a greenhorn? A greenhorn is somebody new to the fishing game. They might have had experience somewhere else, but new to a different type of fisheries. what does a deckhand do? Basically all the responsibilities of the job. On the Kiska, we all rotate through jobs, so everyone is trained on everything. Jobs are from throwing a hook to running the hydros to clearing the galley. If it’s your cook night, you are cooking for the crew. what do you cook? We cook everything. We load up when we are down south here. We’ll have about $40,000 worth of groceries on. We go from steaks, ground beef, chicken to prime ribs. We get it all. We have two ovens, big stand-up freezer and refrigera- tor, two big tables. You know, you could probably seat 12 people down. Courtesy photos Nolan Lane and the Kiska Sea. “2001, my first king crab season, there were 45-foot seas” is how Lane describes the worst storm he’s experienced. Watch the Deadliest Catch on Tuesdays on the Discovery Channel or visit dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/deadliest-catch. Do you ever cook crab or fish? Not too often. what hours do you work and sleep? It all depends on generally how well you are doing fishing. If we are catching a lot of crab especially for opes (opilio or snow crab) because our season is so long. We have such a massive quota, we had 2.6 million pounds to catch. We try to get on a good schedule. Shut down at midnight and then hauling again at 6 or so in the morning. A lot of times if the crab slow down, we try to find them again. We keep going and going. In the old days, derby days, there were no quotas. Generally for the king crab sea- son three days was all you were going to get out of it. Back then, there was really no sleep going on. Now for the most part, we will generally get a few hours (of sleep) a night. Are there laws that govern the boat? There are standards from the Coast Guard that we keep up for safety. You got to keep a federal log book on what you are catching. If we got a fine, it would be all split up. Ultimately the fine goes to the captain. It is overall responsibility that everything is up to code. Like even your pots have to be a certain way. You have to have proper escapement, where it lets the small crabs out and keeps the big ones in. There is a cot mate put on the pots called bio that you change out every 30 days. They are designed if you lose a pot, the cot breaks and after 30 days whatever you caught has a chance to survive and get out. what have you learned from being on a commercial fishing boat? Hard work and a good work ethic. This is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. Brotherhood - you watch each other’s back. It’s an adventure. You see wild animals in Alaska - killer whales, bears, eagles, foxes. what is the hardest part of the job? How long are you gone for? It is a hard life to live because we are gone a lot, half our year we spend up there. I miss out on a lot. My daughter is a freshman. Her freshman year flew by. The job, the wear and tear on your body. Crab pots could weigh over 1,000 pounds. what is the easiest part of the job? Sorting crab. what is on the boat? Galley (two tables/fridge/pantry), mini-kitchen with pots and pans, boot dryer room, locker area, gear room with washer and dryer, bathrooms, stateroom where there is TV with Blue Ray, lounge area with a big screen, captain’s room, wheel house (where you drive the boat). Did you join the crew before it was on TV? Yes, last summer 2012. Commercial fishing has been part of the Siletz Tribal people’s lives for many years. Robbie Jay, Justin Mason, Zeb Payne, Joe Lane, Marcus Butler, Chris Vandaam, Gary Hutchinson, Terry Mason, Terry Mason (grandson), Todd Mason, Scott Mason, Tad Mason, Jerry Howell, Stuart Whitehead and Hank Kentta are just some of the Tribal people who have done commercial fishing. Fishing has been a part of the Tribe and will always be. Tribal canoes plan ceremony as they paddle Siletz River during pow-wow By Willie Towner Illahee Xing Native Arts/shwa’la ni’illi dene’ canoe family has invited several of our relative Tribal canoe families to come and enjoy our annual pow-wow and in an addition for this year’s event, a canoe paddle upon our beautiful Siletz River. We all will participate in the parade on Saturday morning, showing the community that the canoes are back to the Siletz rez! Following up in the afternoon around 2 p.m., we will have a canoe naming ceremony at the plankhouse. Then our canoe family and Logan relatives plan to donate this new tradi- tional vessel to the Tribe’s programs, with Rusty Butler receiving the honor. Our family wants to give back to our Tribe and refresh that “river people image” and the healings the canoe brings. We are canoe N.D.N.s! Then around 3, we plan to hit the waters down at the Hee Hee Illahee city park boat ramp. All the Tribal canoes will do a purification ceremony upon the river, together as one, unity and healing. Then around 4, we will open the waters for all to enjoy while paddling the variety of Tribal canoes. We will have fun canoe racing and simply enjoying the healing experience of being in union with others as well as paddling the canoes, the beautiful virtual tradition and healing of our peoples for thousands of years. We will enjoy the waters until around 6, then grand entry preparations. Sunday morning, we will have the Tribal canoes upon the plankhouse lawn in a circle at 9 a.m. Then we plan to feather dance within the circled canoes for a couple hours right next to our Elders housing, making it easier for them to enjoy watching us carry on traditions, all together, all Tribes as one. And please an FYI - all dancers are welcome on our line. No “no’s” to anyone! But do have your own regalia, please. Let’s dance and bring healing to our sacred grounds and suffering relatives. We will then walk up the hill (those who can) and dance grand entry, all together! Unity presented for all to witness! Our traditions of nocali/soregon cannot be forgotten. We strive to keep traditions alive with no divisions. We are all related! Noch.nos.sia/culture savage for keeping traditions alive and skipper of Dene’ Tuth-din. August 2013 • SiletzNews • 5
