SSBMI Nisenan Storytelling Collection - Book 2
May 
Salmon
Thank you for reading May (Salmon), which is the second book in the SSBMI Nisenan Storytelling Collection, a collaboration between the SSBMI Language Department and the SSBMI Exhibits & Collections Center's Lólmen Publications.
This book is based on a story told by Nisenan speaker Tom Cleanso (a.k.a. "Blind Tom") to anthropologist Alfred L. Kroeber. Kroeber published an English summary of Tom's story under the title "Salmon" in the book "The Valley Nisenan" in 1929. Here, we have translated the story back into Nisenan and presented it alongside illustrations created by SSBMI Community artists.
Tom Cleanso was a Nisenan man from Pusúune (also spelled "Pusune", "Pushune"), an important Nisenan village site located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers. Tom was one of the brothers of SSBMI Matriarch Pamela Cleanso Adams, and he told Kroeber that he and Pamela spoke Nisenan with one another throughout their lives.
Watch the video below to hear the story read aloud in Nisenan and English. Scroll down to read the digital storybook, which includes additional information about Tom Cleanso, this story, and the Nisenan language. We hope you enjoy reconnecting with this traditional Nisenan story!
