Tribes, Salmon and Culture

‘It’s a fantastic day for Indian Country’: Treaty tribes celebrate Supreme Court victory Supreme Court Affirms Native American Treaty Rights to Harvest Salmon. The decision upholds 19th century promises and should increase the number of fish for everyone. By Terri Hansen The Supreme Court affirmed the treaty rights of tribal nations in Washington state today in …

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‘Nightmare’ Yurok salmon fishery collapse By Terri Hansen Anguish and uncertainty await Yurok Tribe as Klamath River Chinook salmon fishery hits bottom The number of Chinook salmon predicted to return to the Klamath River that runs between California and Oregon this fall fishing season is a mere 11,000 fish — the lowest number in recorded …

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Bonneville’s long history of stiffing the salmon By PAUL KOBERSTEIN Throughout the year, the Columbia River system is carefully operated to help juvenile fish survive passage through the dams and reservoirs, or so Bonneville Power Administration wants you to think. But the agency doesn’t like to talk about the trauma Bonneville is putting fish through …

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California Salmon in Peril By Terri HanseninShare Most of California’s salmon and trout could be gone in coming century if not saved now, study says Salmon are at the heart of tribal cultures up and down the West Coast—their diet, commerce, ceremonies, and spirituality. They appear in cave art of 10,000 or more years ago. …

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Do the legendary “June Hogs” still exist? By PAUL KOBERSTEIN In the lore of Columbia River salmon, the legend of the “June Hogs” stands apart. June Hogs were said to be a line of supersalmon, capable of swimming 1,000 miles up the Columbia River and into Canada. They were reportedly as large as a small …

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Overfishing, dams led to tribal poverty By PAUL KOBERSTEIN Over the decades, tribal access to their usual fishing places was often unenforced, usually disputed, and, since the completion of the hydro system, almost fully blocked, according to a thoroughly researched book published last year, The Si`lailo Way: Indians, Salmon and Law on the Columbia River, …

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The Benefits of Restoring Snake River Salmon By PAUL KOBERSTEIN In 1947, Paul Needham of the Oregon State Game Commission observed that if federal dam-builders followed through with plans to build five new dams, including four on the Lower Snake River and one on the Columbia, the salmon would be lost. “All western fishery biologists …

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The BPA’s attacks on fishery scientists began in the 1980s By PAUL KOBERSTEIN A January 2006 Bonneville Power Administration decision to kill the longstanding agency responsible for counting salmon at the Columbia Basin’s dams is illegal, according to a recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling. Bonneville’s effort to quash the passage center was inspired …

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The Hanford Reach death trap By PAUL KOBERSTEIN The Bonneville Power Administration claims it is maintaining steady streamflows through Hanford Reach near Richland, Washington so that the eggs and emerging baby Chinook salmon are protected in the last free-flowing segment of the Columbia River. The Hanford Reach supports the largest and most productive population of …

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