Really good article. I recall the family curing, smoking, and sometimes a combo of both for the hams as a young lad. I still crave that salt cured taste of the Smithfield hams of yesteryear.
I have had the good fortune of being able to partake in subsistence fishing and the subsequent smoking of many hundreds of salmon on several occasions. This involves a salt brine and then about 24-36 hours of smoking with almost no heat and modest smoke compared to typical western barbeque methods.
The permafrost is about 3-4 feet down, and making a "refrigerator" out of this was pretty common up here back in the day. Dig down to the permafrost, put a layer of moss on top of the permafrost, then put your food in. Then cover that with another layer of moss. Then place plywood across the hole and then a lawyer of moss on top and you have a 38 degree (plus or minus) refrigerator all summer.