Rampart artist's smokehouse sculptures go on display at Fairbanks health center

Two sculptures depicting a Yukon River fish camp are now on display at Chief Andrew Isaac Health Center in Fairbanks. Patients, families and staff walking the campus pass a smokehouse rendered in moose antler, driftwood and salvaged tin.

The works are by Ramy Brooks, an artist from Rampart, according to a Tanana Chiefs Conference release published Friday.

"Tending to Salmon in the Smokehouse" sits in the Cultural Gallery. Salmon carved from moose antler carry copper tails, textured scales and epoxy finishes made to look like drying king salmon. Weathered driftwood, Yukon River beach rocks and an old fishing net fill out the scene.

"Starting the Fire" is installed between Buildings A and B. It adds a smoke barrel with glowing flames inside, representing the cottonwood smoke used to preserve fish.

Brooks grew up along the Yukon at Rampart and at fish camp, where he learned hunting, fishing, trapping, dog mushing and gathering from his Elders and family, the release said. He served in the US Navy, competed for years in the Iditarod and Yukon Quest, and earned bachelor's degrees in geological engineering and geology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

For Brooks, the works stand for more than the act of preparing food, according to the release. They honor the lessons of fish camp: families working together, knowledge passed from one generation to the next, responsibility and a strong work ethic, and care for the land and its resources. The displays are meant as a reminder that salmon are woven into the identity, culture and well-being of Interior Alaska Native people.

A Run in Trouble

The installations arrive amid continued low Yukon River salmon returns and fishing restrictions. Alaska News previously covered Alaska Department of Fish and Game data showing 2026 Yukon Chinook passage at Pilot Station sonar at 59% of the historic average and summer chum at 27% of the historical median through June 22. Closures have cut off subsistence and personal use fishing across the drainage. Emergency orders have closed the entire drainage to sport fishing for king and chum salmon through 2026.

Brooks said he hopes the work prompts conversation about protecting the fishery.

"Through action now it is my hope that this display is not just a memory, but a vision of what our future could look like," Brooks said.

Details of the installations come from the Tanana Chiefs Conference release. The salmon-run figures come from Alaska Department of Fish and Game data and Alaska News' previous reporting.