American Indian Solutions to Environmental Challenges

Basketmaking is an important traditional art form that has been practiced in Akwesasne for generations. At the turn of the last century, women and some men made and sold baskets to help support their families. Today, elders still teach children how to harvest black ash and make baskets. c.1900

This basket was made by Mohawk artist Mary Adams in 1985. It is called a “fancy” or ornamental basket because it was designed for sale, not for use. Note the many curls and miniature sweetgrass baskets on the sides. These unique details are considered the “mark” or signature of the basketmaker. 1985

This burden or pack basket by Jake Arquette is designed with thick splints strong enough to carry heavy items like tools, food, or branches. Hunters, trappers, and snowshoers often wore these on their backs to haul important gear into the woods. 1979

Black ash trees grow slowly. This stand of saplings in a wetland on the Akwesasne reservation will need 40 or 50 years to fully mature. c. 2000

“A lot of basketmakers in Akwesasne are still making baskets, and it’s part of their livelihood and it’s a continuing part of our culture.”

“You have got to take responsibility. It doesn’t matter what the next person does or doesn’t do. It’s about what you do. And that’s really important.”

“If the emerald ash borer moves in and wipes everything out, we’re going to lose a big part of our culture.”

“It’s a long-term investment. If I plant a tree today, I won’t see the benefit of it, but the next generation will see the benefit of the trees.”

Federal Quarantine Areas for Black Ash Trees

Sweetgrass is another material used in Mohawk baskets. This sweetgrass basket is made with black- and brown-ash splints. Often found along roadsides, sweetgrass is still harvested by basketmakers today, but working with it can be dangerous because it is often sprayed with chemicals. c.1890-1920

Black ash trees prefer to grow in wetland areas — habitats that are not always covered with water but flood seasonally. Many wetlands were drained for use as farmland; this, along with pollution and home construction, has led to major wetland and black-ash habitat loss today. 2009

This image of a home on the Cattaraugus (Seneca) reservation shows what a typical farm might have looked like in Akwesasne at the turn of the 20th century. Families needed to grow most of their own food. Notice the amount of cleared land and the nearby field of corn, beans, and squash. 1904

Black ash is a preferred material in basketmaking because it is relatively easy to separate into thin yet strong splints. Harvested logs are pounded with an axe to separate the annual growth rings into individual splints, which are then coiled and stored until use. 2010

Florence Benedict, a Mohawk basketmaker, collects sweetgrass for her baskets. Sweetgrass grows wild and is plentiful, but is viewed by many as a weed. When basketmakers harvest the grass, they cut it, rather than pulling the entire plant out, to make sure that it will continue to grow in the future. 2004

“With the black ash log, you got to go find it … in the wet area — that’s where they grow best.”

“There’s always a conflict between housing development and forest. A lot of lands in this area were drained and the trees were removed for agriculture.”

“It’s looked upon as garbage wood. Our Native people are the only ones that really hold on — it’s a very special tree to us.”

“Wetlands were considered to be wasteland. If you could drain it and … remove the trees, you would have a rich source of soil for growing crops.”

“They do not like grass growing on the side of the road, so they spray it with pesticides and defoliant. It’s not good, because a lot of times we have to pick the grass, and then we handle the grass.”

The emerald ash borer (EAB) is an invasive insect species from Asia that infects and kills black ash trees. The Akwesasne Task Force on the Environment works with other local, state, and federal organizations to protect healthy ash trees and prevent the spread of EAB infestation. 2007

Dead and dying branches at the top of a black ash tree signal emerald ash borer infestation, because branches above the infestation are cut off from the supply of nutrients traveling up the tree. 2005

An emerald ash borer kills an ash tree by eating into its trunk and stealing its nutrients. This slowly strangles the tree by preventing food from traveling past the infected area. Epicormic growth occurs when the tree produces shoots around the infestation to try to get enough food to survive. 2006

Gallery tracks are tunnel-like paths made by emerald ash borer larvae as they eat their way through the trunk of a black ash tree. Found just under the bark of the tree, these tracks are one of the first signs of EAB infestation forestry experts look for. 2006

This is a close-up image of an emerald ash borer larva, a young form of the insect, as it eats its way through the cork cambium layer of an ash tree. Once the larvae hatch from their eggs, their constant eating creates long tunnel-like pathways, or gallery tracks, throughout the wood of the tree. 2002

“When I was a kid, it seemed like, just about, I would say 90% of families on this reserve made baskets. There was just an overharvesting through the years.”

“The emerald ash borer is going to be the one that is going to devastate our basketmakers here.”

“Some of the visual clues for a tree that might be infested would be side shoots, epicormic growth. Because what emerald ash borer does is … it basically girdles the tree.”

“When we first saw it, the USDA estimated that it’d be about 35 years that we would have to worry about it down here. But the bug has moved a lot faster than that.”

“About four million trees a year are cut to manufacture paper. Well, seven billion trees in this country alone are under a threat by emerald ash borer.”

One strategy the Akwesasne Task Force on the Environment is using to save the black ash tree is the collection of black ash seeds. Each year, healthy seeds are harvested in New York and parts of Canada, then carefully recorded, dried, and stored until planting. 2010

The creation of black ash restoration areas is another strategy used across the Akwesasne reservation. Here workers plant black ash seedlings, placing tubes around the shoots to protect them. These areas will be monitored to check for healthy tree growth. 2009

This is a closeup of a black ash seedling growing inside protective tubing. Notice the feather-like shape and opposite branching of the leaves; these are two markers used to identify an ash tree. Dark leaf buds give the black ash tree its name. 2009

Before seedlings are planted in a restoration area, some of the other competing trees are removed. After planting, members of the Akwesasne Task Force on the Environment continue to monitor and thin out tree stands to promote healthy growth. 2009

TreeAzin is a chemical injected into the trunk of black ash trees to prevent emerald ash borer infestation. It was selected for use because it is not harmful to people. It travels up through the cambium layer to the top of the ash tree, making it distasteful to the insects. 2010

Public education is another important way to prevent EAB infestation. This poster warns campers about the dangers of transporting non-local firewood to campsites, because the wood could contain insects harmful to healthy trees. 2006

“So part of our effort is to get regeneration … to try to get the newer stuff coming in.”

“TreeAzin is a chemical that we inject into the trunks of the tree and it makes the tree sort of distasteful for the emerald ash borer, so they tend to leave those trees alone.”

“We have a lot of spots within the community that [are] wetlands, so we’ve managed to plant a bunch of trees there.”

“We’ve spent a lot of time in the last few years trying to educate people about not moving firewood, and just burn it up where you get it and not to move the bug.”

“Our orders or our mandates came from our community elders, who asked us to bring back black ash to the community.”

Through programs like the Greening of Akwesasne, community members receive seedlings from the Saint Regis Mohawk Department of the Environment and local nurseries. These plant giveaways encourage residents to plant black ash and other trees across the reservation. 2010

As part of their educational outreach, the Department of the Environment at Akwesasne has worked with state and tribal organizations to develop handbooks about black ash preservation and forestry management. Many Mohawk experts have also been invited to talk about the Black Ash Project. 1999

Native students at the annual summer Native Environmental Youth Camp spend a week learning about environmental science, ecology, and cultural traditions from a variety of experts. They travel by boat to islands in the St. Lawrence River to evaluate the health of local habitats. c. 2009

At the annual summer Native Earth Environmental Youth Camp, Haudenosaunee children learn more about Native scientific knowledge and specific cultural traditions like splint basket making. Here, a young boy is being taught by an elder basketmaker about how to prepare black ash splints for weaving. 2009

For the Mohawk, preserving the black ash is more than just saving a tree. It is also about maintaining important cultural traditions such as basket-making, and passing along Native knowledge about the environment to current and future generations. 1998

“If you’re going to keep up your way of life, then I think you’re going to need to pass on what knowledge you do have. If you’re going to give up your way of life, then I guess you can just forget about it.”

“The most important thing is that the kids today understand … that this [tree] is a gift to us.”

“My folks have a little stand of black ash … that was put in by the Department of Environment. People are trying new ways to help support black ash growing.”

“My great-grandchildren are going to benefit by this. I’m not going to be here to see it, or if I am I probably won’t be in any condition to be making baskets then.”

“We’re going to continue to work to restore our trees … and we will also continue to collect seeds, so that we can preserve those in case ash trees are wiped out.”

Kumeyaay people have lived for thousands of years in a semi-arid region of southern California and northern Mexico. This Kumeyaay man is dressed for a traditional dance. Date unknown

“Most of the clans did a migration every year up through the drainages, through the ones that their clans claimed, and harvested the resources along the way.”

The arrival of the Spanish in Kumeyaay territory began a long era of enormous changes to Kumeyaay ways of life. This mission was built in 1769 by the Spanish in present-day San Diego, California. 2007

“So we had hundreds of Indian people living all over the rural areas, in little clusters where they had no rights of citizenship. They had no rights to go out and claim land, on the very land that they and their ancestors had been living on for thousands of years. They were people without a country.”

The 19^th and 20^th centuries brought even more changes to Kumeyaay people. They were not able to live and survive in ways they always had and life became very difficult. The Campo Kumeyaay reservation was established in 1893, where this family was photographed. 1908

“Starting around the 1870s, the cattlemen moved up into this area.”

Cattle were first introduced into Kumeyaay territory by the Spanish. Later, the Americans brought even more cattle deeper into Kumeyaay lands. This photo depicts cattle ranching in southern California. Date unknown

“When we found out what the cattle were doing to our water with high nitrates, stream-bank erosion, it made a big difference to me and to the tribal members.”

In spite of the difficult changes the Kumeyaay people endured, they are thriving today. Since 1976, the Campo Kumeyaay have governed under their own constitution. They operate their own fire department and medical facilities and provide many other services for Campo Kumeyaay citizens. 2010

“And in 1975, the tribe adopted its first constitution.”

The Campo Environmental Protection Agency works to keep the environment healthy. 2010

Oak trees are an important part of the chaparral environment that dominates Campo Kumeyaay homelands. Oaks grow best in valleys where enough water is available. 2010

“There are hundreds of oak trees that go up through the valleys. And these provided one of our staples, which was the acorn.”

Oak trees have long been an important source of food for the Kumeyaay. The acorns, or seeds of the oak tree, are used to produce a food that the Kumeyaay call shawii. 2010

“When we’d go pick acorns, they would say, ‘You have to leave enough for the squirrels and the other animals.”

In the semi-arid chaparral environment of Kumeyaay homelands, wetland areas are most often found in the valleys where small creeks run and the water table is close to the surface. 2010

“And then when you get into the very lowest parts of the valleys, you encounter the wetland areas. And the wetlands were a big source of medicinal plants and foods.”

Coyote is one of many wildlife species that frequent the wetlands environment of the Kumeyaay homelands. 2007

“All the wildlife that comes in is really amazing.”

The homelands of the Kumeyaay are semi-arid, but they traditionally supported the Kumeyaay people with abundant plant and animal life. 2010

“Because we live in a area that we don’t get much water, we had to come up with techniques of, ways of, storing water, because in ancient times, we didn’t have ways of digging with drills like we do today for water.”

The Kumeyaay knew how to manage the land so that it would continue to provide for the people. Specialists known as Kuseyaay advised about techniques such as controlled burning, used to make the environment healthier. 2010

“And these Kuseyaay would offer their advice, and they would tell the shmulqs when it was time to move to another area, or when it was time to burn an area, or when it was time to harvest different plants. . . . They were astronomers, and they understood the constellations, and they knew the seasons.”

The environment of the Campo Kumeayaay homelands is especially susceptible to damage caused by grazing animals, such as cattle. 2009

“The cattle eat the babies, so as the new trees are coming up, they are continually mowing them down. So the trees are not able to get established.”

Sage is native to the chaparral environment, but not to wetland areas. When a wetland disappears, different plants — such as sage — move in. 2009

“So eventually over time . . . you see a lot of the non-native plants began to replace the native plants.”

The grazing of cattle and the draining of wetlands by ranchers and farmers are two factors that have contributed to the loss of water in Campo Kumeyaay homelands. ca. 1990

“There is no vegetation here anymore to really hold back the water when it does rain.”

Because the native vegetation doesn’t regenerate very quickly, cattle grazing has caused plants and water to disappear. 2009

“Oak trees were considered a kind of a pest tree by a lot of the settlers. They came into this area in the 1870s, and they cut down a lot of the oaks.”

Many wetlands were drained intentionally to make room for livestock and crops. 2009

“When the water level was high, there was a big wet meadow around the riparian area. . . . The ranchers and farmers they saw it as swamp land that you had to get rid of. So in a lot of cases they would actually go in and cut a channel down through the middle to intentionally drain it.”

The Campo EPA monitors water quality on the reservation, ensuring that there is a supply of clean fresh water for community members. 2010

“And so in 1990, when the Campo EPA was created, one of the tasks given to CEPA was to find a permanent solution to this. And so what was done at CEPA was to look back in the records, and look at what was done traditionally. What was done in our villages, and what was done in our environment.”

The Campo Environmental Protection Agency was formed in 1990 to preserve and protect the environment on the Campo Kumeyaay reservation. They perform a variety of tasks to make the environment as healthy as possible. 2009

“So there was techniques that were taught to us by our what we call Kuseyaay. On our reservation, . . . we use an old technique that was recorded through an anthropologist. And she asked them about a lot of different things, and one of things they talked about was how to slow water down.”

Kumeyaay people long ago dropped rocks in areas where they wanted water to stay at the surface. Today, the Campo EPA is building modern versions of traditional rock-drop structures to counter the effects of environmental damage. ca. 2008

“One of the things that came out was that the building of rock-drop structures — placing rocks in the channels and rocks and brush — was something that was commonly done to try to enhance the wetland areas. And so we took that and adapted it.”

The Campo EPA grows a variety of native plants that they replant in repaired wetlands and community landscaping. These native plants are important not only to the environment, but also to the culture of the Campo Kumeyaay people. This yucca plant has many uses, and can even be made into a kind of soap. 2010

“The whole area that had once been on its way to becoming a desert became a lush habitat. Many different types of animals have been seen there. It was also a place where we could harvest our traditional medicine plants and traditional food plants.”

The Campo Kumeyaay people are looking for new ways to sustain the environment. This wind farm takes advantage of the high elevation and strong winds that are common to that part of the reservation to generate alternate power and provide additional income for the community. 2009

“What we did on Campo reservation is eliminated commercial cattle grazing. It just got to be too hard to try to preserve our wetland areas.”

The map shows the many locations where Campo EPA has placed rock-drop structures to stop erosion and hold water. 2010

“You can see that the tribal people are still caretakers of the earth, and it comes from our heart.”

By learning Kumeyaay dances and other cultural traditions, Campo Kumeyaay children also learn the value of protecting and preserving the environment that has sustained their people for thousands of years. ca. 2003

“I mean, there is a limit, and if we do not take care of our resources, if we do not take care of these things, if we are not — if we do not live in harmony, then we’re going to destroy it. If we destroy it, we’re going to destroy ourselves.”

This Desert Cottontail rabbit needs a healthy environment to survive. The restoration work of the Campo Kumeyaay Nation supports wetlands life, from the smallest microorganisms to the biggest animals and plants found in the area. 2009

“There are many people and many organizations that want to work with us to try to preserve the ecosystems in many of these valleys. And I think that’s something that is a benefit, not only to our people, but to all people.”

Oak trees can live to be hundreds of years old. Some of them are so massive they create their own micro-environment. Oak trees are an important part of the healthy environment being restored in the Campo Kumeyaay Nation. 2009

“My uncle used to say, ‘The land is the law. If you don’t have water, you can’t live. If you don’t have the vegetation that we use, if we don’t have our oak trees, the acorns . . . we can’t survive.’ So if we don’t take care of those very things, we’re not taking care of ourselves.”

In Kumeyaay culture, water is sacred. It supports and maintains life and has to be treated with respect. This restored wetland on the Campo reservation is an expression of the cultural importance that water has to the Kumeyaay people. 2009

“But in all these things, all things that we talk about, water is a very sacred thing, and when we say [Kumeyaay phrase], we take care of that water. We watch over it. We hold it with respect. It’s something that not only keeps us alive physically, also spiritually. It’s a very sacred thing.”

The Kumeyaay language and culture has always been closely tied to caring for the land around them. In addition to their environmental efforts, the Kumeyaay people are working hard to preserve their language in classes such as this one. 2010

The Leech Lake Reservation was created in 1855, when the Ojibwe living around Leech Lake signed treaties with the U.S. government. It was three years later, in 1858, that the state of Minnesota was admitted to the Union.

“They say that whatever happens to your food will happen to the people.”

This nineteenth-century illustration shows Ojibwe people harvesting wild rice in the same way that it is harvested today.

“One of the prophecies that was given to us was that we would be leaving that place, and we would be journeying west . . . until we came to a place where food grew on the water. And that is that manoomin.”

Ojibwe people lived in wigwams — homes made of bent tree limbs covered with birch bark. When people moved to a new area, they rolled up the bark and took it with them. 1923

“We have ties — there are connections we have — to the fish. There are connections we have to the birds and the trees and the rocks and the animals.”

This fawn skin was sewn up and used as a bag to collect rice. ca. 1890-1900

“We’re gifted with so much from everyone around us, from the trees, and from the rocks, from the water, from everyone around us. We don’t just take and take and take.”

The Ojibwe are experts at making birchbark containers. Extensive knowledge of the birch tree’s life cycle is necessary to determine when to harvest the strongest or most flexible bark. ca. 1920–28

“The word manoomin almost has the sense of a life-force type. It has been so entwined in the culture that it obviously can’t be seen as simply a food resource.”

Moccasins and clothing were made from deer and elk hides. Often they were decorated with colorful glass beads. These moccasins feature a beautiful beaded floral design. ca. 1900

Ojibwe birchbark canoes are some of the best-designed watercraft ever invented. Usually made from the bark of one tree, they are shaped and sewn together ingeniously, making them watertight and capable of navigating the most treacherous rapids. ca. 1920

The Ojibwe have an extensive knowledge of the natural resources available to them. These bowls were carved from hardwood trees. 1890

“So when I’m looking at the water, I’m taking in the history of what my parents and my grandparents told me and people in the community. I’m trying to think ahead to what my children and my grandchildren will see when they come out here to partake of the water and the wild rice.”

Ojibwe people have been using the same methods of harvesting rice for centuries. 1939

“This rice is unique to each area, and an experienced wild-rice harvester could identify where a particular rice had come from — where it had been harvested from — by looking at it by the color, the size.”

Wild rice dies in autumn. Seeds that fell in autumn take root underwater in spring, with shoots growing past the surface. Starting in late August, the seeds ripen gradually from the top down, then drop into the water. Wild rice plants are green during the growing season, and mature seeds are brown. 1998

“We have a natural resource advisory committee and they’re elders from the Leech Lake area here. What they’ll do is they’ll come out every few days and verify how long the rice is, and then they’ll say, ‘next week we’re going to open this bed for harvesting.’”

Traditional harvesting doesn’t deplete wild rice beds or disturb the wetland. As the rice is gently knocked into the bottom of the canoe, some grains fall into the water or remain on the stalks, replenishing the crop and nourishing wetland wildlife. 2010

Moist rice is spread to dry on a birch bark mat. ca.1940

Grace Rogers parching wild rice, Leech Lake Reservation. 1939

Chippewa Indians beating wild rice to break the husk. ca. 1925

Winnowing wild rice. 1939

“It’s a big part of our culture to share with people, to help out in times of need.”

“We know that everything that we do harms the resources.”

Rice beds provide food and shelter for numerous species of birds, fish, and other animals. 1998

“There are several threats to wild-rice productivity and the sustainability of wild rice. One of the major threats is overdevelopment of lakes, wild-rice lakes.”

Since the 1880s, dams have flooded wild-rice habitat along the Mississippi River drainage. More than 2000 dams in Minnesota and Wisconsin pose risks to wild rice plants. 1904

“Invasives have the potential to alter the way ecosystems function. Each plant or animal has a specific function. We say protect as much as you possibly can.”

Purple loosestrife is a beautiful but aggressive invasive species that crowds out wild rice. Brought to North America in the 1800s for flower gardens, it quickly spread throughout the U.S. 2006

If Asian carp work their way upstream to the Leech Lake reservation, shallow-rooted rice could be damaged by their foraging, and they could pose a threat to other fish. The damage Asian carp could do is so serious, laws have been passed making it illegal to import them. Date unknown

“Any impact, whether it’s an oil spill or an invasive species, has greater impact on a reservation because it’s culturally important. It helps people connect with their past.”

From the mid 1800s to the early 1900s, logging stripped the Leech Lake area of trees, increasing sediment in lakes and rivers. Change in sediment chemistry is thought to affect the establishment of wild-rice plants. 1892

“Wild rice is much like the Ojibwe people are: part of their natural world. Historically, the wild rice is also a part of its ecosystem, intimately tied to its ecosystem. And this cultivated rice violates that arrangement.”

“That’s why we have such good scientists employed. To help us save what we have left.”

The Leech Lake band is taking steps to keep out invasive species that can crowd out wild rice. 2010

“The wild rice, in and of itself, is naturally highly variable. And so the band has recognized that understanding the variability of rice is very important.”

Scientists monitor water quality so they can understand its effect on wild rice growth. c. 2009

“What we’ve done in the past is just compare photos to photos, and we can see from year to year that the overall coverage of rice is expanding or contracting, and so that we can know exactly where we need to focus our protection efforts.”

Scientists collect data by taking random plant density samples from lakes. For each sample they place a quadrant into the water and count the number of plants and stalks within the square. c. 2009

“We did a study on wild rice. We were also looking for mercury and PCBs and other widely known chemicals. We found that the plant does uptake those chemicals. We know that in humans, they cause nerve damage. We don’t know what that does to the wild rice.”

The tribe protects rice plants by requiring the use of traditional harvesting methods. Push poles are designed to disturb the bottom of the rice beds as little as possible. 1998

“We do know that we need clean water for the wild rice.”

“Within our water program, we do a lot of water sampling on a majority of the lakes within Leech Lake. But what we’re looking for is a baseline data background, so we can measure the changes from year to year, and what’s going on with the water.”

“We give students a pretty full understanding of wild rice, and not only the scientific angle, but the cultural and historical angle, and talk about threats also, and what the future is for wild rice.”

In the Environmental Studies program at Leech Lake Tribal College, students learn how to preserve wild rice beds. 2010

“We have to understand values and we have to respect all things, that I am no greater than that tree, I am no greater than a stone.”

At the Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig school, students learn Native language and culture. Part of this school’s curriculum is about wild rice. 2010

Students in Leech Lake gain traditional knowledge about wild rice that has been passed down for generations as well as scientific information about the plant’s habitat. 2009

Wild rice is much more than a commercial crop. It is sacred to the Ojibwe people. It remains, to this day, a key part of the Ojibwe diet, culture, and economy. 2007

“A people’s heritage is their past.”

By protecting the wild rice, the Leech Lake people are protecting their culture. Children learn about their traditions not only by ricing, but through ceremonies, stories, and dance. 2007

“We’ll always have a good rice crop, if we have positive ricers who are out for the right reasons.”

Puget Sound — home to the Lummi and other Northwest Coast American Indians. 2010

“Well, we have fished for thousands and thousands of years, and also salmon is a main staple of our diet and always has been and is still very important.”

Five different species of salmon were once common in Lummi waters. 2007

“The earth provided all of our needs: food, clothing, shelter. All of those things came from nature.”

Cedar trees provided tools, shelter, clothing and even medicines. 2010

“And you couldn’t buy your ropes or your gear. You made it. You made your boats. You made everything.”

Shovel-nose canoes were used for travel and fishing by the Lummis. 1880-1910

“Before the white man came, there was no border.... We fished all through Puget Sound, into Canada. We followed the fish.”

The Lummi People have survived on salmon for many generations — Lummi village. 1895

“Back when we first got our treaty, the BIA [U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs] tried to make us into farmers, but they couldn’t do it. We live off the sea, because we are a fishing tribe.”

Official seal of the Lummi Nation.

Clams, another delicious food from the sea. 2010

“There used to be a saying among our people that when the tide is out, when the tide is low, our table is set, we got our food.”

Reef netting, an innovative way of catching salmon invented by the Lummis long ago. 1895

“Reef netting is a very old style of fishing.”

Good stewardship of the land is essential. 2009

“We are stewards of the land, the water, the sea.”

“We have stories of the Salmon Woman that brings her children the salmon to feed the people...”

Salmon is central to the Lummi culture, including Lummi art. Drawing by Si Low Leet Sa. 2010

“When we were all fishing, it’s tradition that when you catch your first salmon, we eat it and we offer the bones back out of respect.”

Salmon are important to many species of the Northwest Coast ecosystem. 2009

“We began to notice the water getting warmer, and the salmon weren’t coming in to Puget Sound the way they used to. ”

Commercial fishermen are finding it harder and harder to catch enough salmon to make a living. 2009

“But salmon fishing itself, you can’t make a living at it anymore.”

Clearcut logging causes erosion and destroys salmon habitat. 2007

“Since those times, logging has come along, farming, development for homes, and housing, industry. And they have removed a lot of the stuff from along the edges of the river, the riparian area.”

Although natural logjams provide good habitat for fish, most were removed to make river travel easier for people. Date unknown

“When the settlers came into this area, the logjams were seen as an impediment.”

Sometimes so many fish were caught, the canneries couldn’t process them all. 1895

“And she used to tell us stories about how they had to take barge loads of salmon out to sea and dump them because cannery workers couldn’t keep up.”

Erosion and pollution are problems that farms contribute to in the waters where salmon live. 2010

Life-cycle of the Salmon. (Click the text link in Question 2 of Try These Questions to download a full-size version.)

“We’re not just stepping back and letting it happen. We’re stepping up and doing something about it.”

“Bringing back the habitat will bring back the fish.”

Engineered logjams duplicate natural features that create good habitat for salmon. 2010

“And now we are putting logjams back in.”

The Lummis fix riparian habitat to cool the water, stop erosion, and give fish a healthy place to live. 2010

“We do the interplanting to reintroduce conifers into areas where there are no conifers.”

Culverts need to be large enough to allow spawning salmon to pass through. 1982

“On the upper watershed, we have worked in a lot of drainage-improvement projects.”

By raising fish until they can safely be released into rivers, hatcheries help increase the population. 2008

“Well, we work in a hatchery where...they are fed until they become a size where they can be released into the ocean to go and mature and return back to where they came from.”

Farms have to meet rigorous requirements to be designated “salmon friendly.” 2010

“Our elders had a ceremony that we recently revived called First Salmon Ceremony, where we pay respect to the salmon.”

The First Salmon Ceremony is a way of showing respect for the salmon. 2010

“I think the Salmon Ceremony is so important because it...allows us to have the children understand the identity and the purpose for their life, and to be strong leaders for us.”

Lummi children take part in the First Salmon Ceremony. 2010

“We are salmon people, and we will always be salmon people.”

Lummi student art decorates the room where the salmon ceremony is held. 2010

“I think people need to understand that you have to respect and protect Mother Earth.”

Salmon cooks over an open fire pit for the First Salmon Ceremony, Lummi Nation. 2010

“Clean air, clean water, clean oceans, clean lakes — we need to clean up our act as human beings.”

A clean earth is needed. People can choose to make this happen. 2009

Students make the sticks the salmon is cooked on. 2010

The Lummi Nation is proud of its efforts to bring the salmon back.