As salmon vanish in the dry Pacific Northwest, so does Native heritage

The carcass of a Chinook salmon, an apparent victim of high water temperature, is shown on the bank of the Clackamas River in Oregon. Oregon wildlife officials are restricting fishing on most of the state’s rivers in an unprecedented effort to aid fish populations dying off from high water temperatures as the state suffers ongoing drought conditions. (Reuters/Rick Swart/Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife)

By Darryl Fears, Washington Post, July 30, 2015

As a drought tightens its grip on the Pacific Northwest, burning away mountain snow and warming rivers, state officials and Native American tribes are becoming increasingly worried that one of the region’s most precious resources — wild salmon — might disappear.

Native Americans, who for centuries have relied on salmon for food and ceremonial rituals, say the area’s five species of salmon have been declining for years, but the current threat is worse than anything they have seen.

Columbia River tribes join protests against Tar Sands ‘mega-load’ shipments

Indian Country today, September 09, 2013

One of the massive shipments of parts to the Alberta Tar Sands passing through Nez Perce territory in Washington state.

The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission has joined the growing chorus of official Native opposition to the transportation of mega-loads bearing equipment bound for the oil sands of Alberta, Canada, through Nez Perce and other tribal territories.