In October of 2001, the Leggatt Inquiry into salmon farming traveled to four small communities (Port Hardy, Tofino, Alert Bay, and Campbell River) close to the centers of operation for the finfish aquaculture industry in British Columbia. In doing so, it gave local people, particularly First Nations people, an opportunity to speak about salmon farming using their own vocabularies, styles of speaking, and forms of knowledge. Their testimony, however, was about much more than salmon farming. In fact, most of the talk at the inquiry focused upon people's sense of place and community, and their understandings of their way of life. In particular, the inquiry brought to light the legal and political context in which the salmon farming industry operates. This paper focuses on narratives that in technical and scientific circles would probably be considered rambling, anecdotal, and off the subject. The author's analysis of the Leggatt Inquiry tries to give voice to the Native people who appeared at the inquiry by showing that, while they are certainly the victims of continued intrusions into their territories and ways of life, they are not passive bystanders in the process. Instead, the aboriginal people who spoke about salmon farming at the inquiry creatively and strategically employed a variety of devices that would help others see the controversy over salmon farming as they themselves did. (Contains 1 figure and 52 notes.)