The Late Mary Olympic

Revered Elder, Mayuu-Mayuu, also known as Mary Ann Gregory Olympic, was born on November 21, 1931, to Alexie and Marsha Wassillie Gregory at Kukaklek Lake, which is now Katmai National Park and Preserve. Coming from a background of reindeer herding and a subsistence lifestyle, Mary led a vibrant and active life.

Engaging in various crafts such as basket weaving, beading, skin sewing, hunting, trapping, berry picking, and preserving traditional foods, she had a deep connection to the land and nature. Mary loved nothing more than processing salmon. Her smokehouse was always full, and she guarded it with her life! She once shot and killed a brown bear that broke into her smokehouse with a 223 Ruger mini14! Even in her later years, she fought hard to keep lifelong protections for Bristol Bay salmon, passing on her knowledge to her family and community.

Among her many attributes, Mary possessed a remarkable talent for teaching, imparting knowledge to individuals of all ages who were eager to learn.

Mary enjoyed taking long, hot maqiis and was always down for a game of Snertz. Her outdoor experiences served as her form of education. Mary dedicated herself to serving her community in multiple roles, including as a cook and janitor at Igiugig School. She contributed to the local school board, Igiugig Native Corporation, and Igiugig Village Council with unwavering positivity and dedication. Mary’s enduring legacy and leadership in governance were vital to ensuring the success of both present and future generations.

Tim Troll

Tim Troll is the Executive Director of the Bristol Bay Heritage Land Trust. He moved from Kansas to Alaska in 1978 as a VISTA volunteer attorney for Alaska Legal Services in Bethel. Since then, he has served as city manager for the cities of St. Mary’s and Sand Point, practiced law in Anchorage, worked for the State of Alaska in Dillingham as a Local Government Specialist, and as Southwest Alaska Program Director for The Nature Conservancy.

From 1994 to 2001, he was the CEO of Choggiung Limited, the ANCSA village corporation for the Alaska Native people from Dillingham, Ekuk, and Portage Creek. With the encouragement of the Choggiung Board of Directors, he launched the creation of the Bristol Bay Heritage Land Trust in 2000. Since then, the Land Trust has helped secure conservation protections for nearly 80,000 acres of salmon habitat in Bristol Bay and added 1,350 stream miles to Alaska’s Anadromous Waters Catalog.

The Land Trust launched the Bristol Bay Fly Fishing & Guide Academy in 2008, and in 2024, the program graduated its 187th participant. The Land Trust, with support from BBNC and Tyonek Native Corporation, also initiated the effort to secure an enhanced federal tax benefit for land conservation by ANCSA corporations that was approved by Congress in 2015.

Triston Chaney

Born and raised in Dillingham and a member for the Curyung Tribe, Triston Chaney is a son of the Nushagak River and Bristol Bay watershed. Triston was born in April and spent his first summer and every summer since putting up fish from the family subsistence sites at Kanakanak Beach. He learned to split kings, cut fish, and fill the smoke house and now shares those skills with his younger siblings.

Triston was three years old when he caught his first grayling on a fly rod on the Nushagak River. Fly fishing has been his passion ever since. Triston is a professional guide and one of the few Native guides in Bristol Bay. The clients he takes out get a world-class fishing experience and learn to appreciate the land and waters from an Indigenous perspective.

Triston owns and operates the F/V Robyn Darleen, a 32’ commercial fishing vessel, in the Bristol Bay commercial fishery. He began commercial fishing when he was 10 years old and has 15 seasons in the Nushagak under his belt. He now owns his own small business and captains a crew of three, including two brothers and a cousin.

Fishing is truly in Triston’s blood. Through his years of guiding and now instructing at the Bristol Bay Fly Fishing & Guide Academy, he’s raised the visibility of sport fishing as a real opportunity for Native youth. Triston has been featured in short films by Filson and Orvis highlighting fishing in Bristol Bay that have educated viewers from around the globe. Triston was born into a commercial fishing family that spans back to the sailboat days. From generations of subsistence fishers, he’s learned to respect the land and water and prepare and preserve fish for his family. Triston has grown up versed in fish politics and began fighting for Bristol Bay in the political arena at 12 years old, testifying at home and in Washington, D.C.

Triston represents a new generation of fishers that continue the fight to protect the waters and fish of Bristol Bay in modern ways. Triston is also a culture bearer for the generations of knowledge of the land and waters that he carries and shares.