Gifts from the Creator

Fishing Traditions

Sustaining Salmon

Inter-tribal Cooperation

Sustaining Salmon

Treaty provisions include both the right to take salmon from the Columbia and its tributaries, and a responsibility to care for the fish and their habitat. For example, on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the tribal government is working on various improvement projects along the tributaries of the Umatilla and Walla Walla rivers. There, they are restoring natural habitats long blocked to salmon and other fish by installing culverts to improve passageways and channel stability, and planting native trees in the floodplains to increase sediment retention and promote regrowth of native plants.

Fish Habitat Restoration Project: Before and After. Umatilla Lands, c2000-2004.