Tollef Monson
West Side Stories
These oral histories chart the personal stories of individuals with a longtime connection to the west side of Kodiak Island, defined for the scope of this project as the area buffeted by the Shelikof Strait that stretches from Kupreanof Strait south to the village of Karluk. The project endeavored to create historical primary source material for a region that lacks substantive documentation and engage west side individuals in the creation of that material.
Tollef Monson was interviewed by Anjuli Grantham in Uganik Bay, Alaska, on June 19, 2015 as part of the Kodiak Historical Society’s West Side Stories project. Tollef was born in Minneapolis, in 1979 and moved to Alaska at the age of 20 for a winter job handling sled dogs, and soon began seasonal fishing on the west side of Kodiak. He describes the work ethic that was instilled in him by locals and the working in Kodiak as a style of life different from a job, and his decision to buy a site in 2007. He describes the skillset needed, the changing infrastructure at his site, his relationship with the canneries, and the tightness of the community in Uganik. He also touches on the impact of a landslide, good and bad years in fishing, and changes in gear and equipment in the fishery.
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