Abstract

Salmon learn the scent of the stream into which they are born, journey for sometimes thousands of miles, and, if they survive the sojourn, return home to spawn and die, leaving traces that enrich ecological relationships. In the homing practices of the Pacific salmon, we find not only a critical portent of ecological health, but also an exemplar of olfactic memory and a model of practical wisdom that moves us toward multi-species flourishing. The homing practices of salmon are instructive for rhetoric, offering a biotrope that challenges us to engage in deep ecological change in order to honor and restore relationships with place.