I think it's time to go back in time for a milestone review…read more
A long time ago,160,00 years ago, humans, as we know, emerged in an evolutionary epic from Africa. They traveled on foot, and later by boat, crossing the Bering, to our Northwest area about 50,000-15,000 years ago.
That is 1,500 to 5,000 generations of regional knowledge!
That 'here' would later be named the United States of America, Canada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and British Columbia; all of our mountains, rivers, cities, neighborhoods and streets.
The original people were named by new arrivers from Europe, who spread from Africa on their own Descartian epic. Those 'Native Americans', 'Indians', and 'First Peoples' in Canada, lived in balance with the land. One of their most beautiful traditions was the Potlatch.
What we call religion, economics and politics were one. Food was sacred. Berries, roots, game and salmon were considered sacred foods: First Foods. Gathering and eating them were a religious ceremony.
They are considered sacred foods today, and they are a religious ceremony. They will continue to be for generations. The Columbia Intertribal Fish Commission is their voice.
I was fortunate to meet a leader from the Commission and know individuals who founded it. I know a little about the rivers and the fish. But I have to say I did not understand until I heard that leader speak just recently. And I have to say it brought tears.
Salmon, an anadromous fish, are fish that are born on small streams in shaded gravel. They swim downstream over as much as 1200 miles to the ocean. There they grow. At the end of their life cycle, about three years, they return up those miles to their specific birthplace, spawn, laying eggs, and pass away to the great fish heaven.
I have been very thankful to experience the fish swimming upstream to mate on a small river in the Washington Cascades off the Snohomish that flows undammed. It is intense survival of the fittest. It's real. And beautiful. Can't really describe it.
Salmon only live in colder climates. They have been fished out in the Atlantic Oceans, Scotland, Norway, Eastern Canada. Almost all Atlantic salmon your buy in a store are farmed. Salmon are surviving in Alaska, the Russian peninsula.
But we do not take care, they will be driven to extinction here.
In 1932, President Franklin Roosevelt was elected. He created a hydroelectric dam building program on the Columbia River. His intent was to create jobs (did) and provide cheap, inexpensive, sustainable power (did).
Fish, passing dams, swimming up to mate, and down, to grow, to the ocean, have suffered.
The number of fish swimming up the Columbia River and tributaries to mate has declined since from sixteen million a year to around one million.
Generally Indian treaties have been tragic. But a few treaty words in the Northwest promising a few, named, of the many tribes, the opportunity to catch salmon in their usual and customary places has saved those fish, so far, from extinction. (Just a note, most native people in British Columbia, the First Nations, are unrecognized and rights under law are lacking.)
Do I advocate dam removal on the Columbia and Snake? No! But I would favor universal fish passage where spawning habitats can be restored, including high dams. Especially restoring fish passage into Canada. And I would advocate maximum habitat restoration.
We can afford it.
The Columbia Intertribal Fish Commission is the advocate for a balanced approach for fish in our region.
Under their advocacy and interpreting treaties, native fishers can fish the Columbia. They sell fish locally and I always recommend buying from them.
They are a repository of that knowledge, and a great source for Northwest school teachers or speakers for your event.
The Intertribal Fish Commission collects the deep knowledge of thousands of generations of fish in our rivers. They are a voice for that knowledge for us new arrivers of only 6 generations. If you eat fish, especially salmon, they are a great resource.
