Protecting salmon preserves a way of life for a Pacific Northwest tribe

For the Muckleshoot tribe, salmon is more than a meal. For members of the tribe, protecting the fish means preserving a rich history of culture and tradition. 

The tribe is descended from the Duwamish and Upper Puyallup peoples, who lived in the Seattle area for thousands of years. The Muckleshoot tribe is still known as the Salmon People. 

“We have a connection with the fish and the water and you can feel that in your body when you are done fishing or swimming,” said 21-year-old Mike Jerry Jr., who is a member of the tribe.

Standing on a riverbank in Western Washington, Michael Jerry Sr. and his younger brother Cory Jerry had woken up early to teach Jerry Jr. the traditional practice of throwing a small net to catch spring salmon. The goal with this style of fishing is to catch just one salmon. Once the net is cast, the fishers wait.

“It’s all a process,” said Cory Jerry. “The processing, the preservation, the drying and smoking and all that. This is really important because that’s how I grew up. That’s how we grew up … that’s just always something that we want to pass on.”

Jerry Sr. said that he has fished like this since he was young. Passing it down to Jerry Jr. ensures that his son is connected to his history, Jerry Sr. said. 

“The things I’ve seen, the things I’ve heard, the people I’ve seen here, all those things that I remember, you pass it down to the next generation,” Jerry Sr. said. “That’s the whole importance about this for me, and it’s important for all of our people.” 

Salmon’s spiritual ties

Those traditional fishing practices are also rooted in spirituality for members of the Muckleshoot tribe.

“In my traditional teachers’ words, (the salmon) are our relatives,” said Muckleshoot oral historian Warren King George. “These are our relatives that come and visit us at least once a year. And then it’s important that we maintain that, that relationship.”

One of the examples of that relationship is the legend of Salmon Boy, who King George explained is the original ancestor who established a promise between the people and the salmon. According to the tradition, Salmon Boy pledged to care for the waters, habitat and watershed that support the fish, while the salmon would continue to return each year to sustain the people.

The promise is honored annually during a ceremony that celebrates the first salmon of the season.

“We gather the people here, and we have a feast,” King George said. “We thank that relative for coming home, returning home to feed the people.”

The fight for access to fish

But access to fish for Native American tribes in the Pacific Northwest hasn’t come easy.

According to King George, the first documented case of a tribal member receiving a citation for fishing was in 1892. Known as Big John, the man was fined and forced to dismantle his traditional fish weir or risk imprisonment after he was reported for fishing outside of the reservation. He was then banned from ever participating in traditional fishing practices again. 

“We were denied the opportunity to fish, denied the opportunity to hunt, gather. We could only do that on the reservation. You can’t do it anywhere else. And so that’s where the conflict began,” said King George.

In a period of time known as “The Fish Wars” in the 1960s, members of Native American tribes in the Pacific Northwest participated in large-scale protests to assert their fishing rights outside of the reservation boundaries. King George said the stakes extended beyond fishing itself.

“When some people say salmon rights or treaty rights, we’re talking about all of the resources,” said King George. “We’re talking about the ferns and the hazelnuts and the huckleberries and shellfish. We’re talking about all of the natural resources that represent our identity.”

Demonstrations and legal challenges led by tribes in the area eventually led to the 1974 Boldt Decision, a legal ruling granting tribes half the harvestable salmon.

The new challenges facing salmon

Today, Muckleshoot fishers account for 2% of the overall wild salmon intake, with their catch feeding people all around the world, according to Phil Hamilton, who serves on the Muckleshoot Fish Commission. To maintain that economic opportunity, the salmon populations must remain strong.

“For generations, the salmon has sustained our way of life, and now in turn, we must sustain the life of the salmon,” said Hamilton.

Today, the most pressing challenge facing salmon populations is largely environmental. The Muckleshoot tribe has spent decades investing in habitat protection and restoration. 

“We’re still losing 5% of the habitat a year,” said Hamilton. “And so we have to do what we can to protect what habitat remains for the salmon.”

Keeping the water clean is key, Hamilton said. 

“It’s all about the water. Without water, we don’t have fish,” said Hamilton. “We as a tribe took it upon ourselves to negotiate significant settlements to where we have water insured for salmon populations.”

Hamilton said efforts over the past few decades have helped reverse salmon population declines in the 1990s that once threatened fishing opportunities.

He said at the turn of the century, there were only a few dozen fishing boats. Today, the population is strong enough to support the tribe’s 500 fishers and more than 200 boats.

Hamilton says seeing their success makes all the efforts worthwhile.

“When I have that opportunity to go watch our fishers and see the joy on their faces, for me, that’s the most rewarding aspect of the job,” he said.