Tribes and Salmon Recovery
Since time immemorial, Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest have rooted their cultures and economies in the region’s land, water, and abundant natural resources. Salmon are central to Washington Tribes’ cultures, identities, and businesses. The arrival of Western settlers in the Pacific Northwest significantly affected Indigenous communities and the region’s salmon populations. The efforts to recover salmon today are shaped by this recent past. Today Washington State is home to twenty-nine federally recognized Tribes, each with their own Tribal governments. There are also several non-federally recognized Tribal communities.
Between 1854 and 1856, Washington Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens negotiated eight treaties with Tribes throughout the region. Congress ratified these treaties, which (like other international treaties) hold the same legal weight as the U.S. Constitution and are the supreme law of the land (article 6, clause 2, U.S. Constitution).
In signing treaties with the United States, Tribes ceded title to much of the land that would become Washington State in 1889. Many Tribes moved their communities to reservations, but the treaties stipulated that Tribes retained their aboriginal rights to fish, hunt, and gather in traditional areas irrespective of reservation boundaries.
Washington’s Centennial Accord was signed in 1989 by the federally recognized Indian Tribes and the State of Washington to better achieve mutual goals. The agreement recognizes and respects the sovereignty of the Tribes and provides a framework for the government-to-government relationship. Since 1989, each governor has signed a proclamation reaffirming the fundamental principles and integrity of government-to-government relations established by the Centennial Accord. The proclamation directs state agencies to develop policy consistent with the principles stated in the accord and asserts that the principles of the accord shall guide Washington State’s policy in relations with the federally recognized Tribal governments.
Tribal Co-Management
In partnership with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Treaty Tribes co-manage the state’s salmon, including collaborating with the federal government to set harvest seasons. Tribal hatcheries produce about forty million juvenile salmon annually to support commercial, recreational, and Tribal harvest, and to sustain important salmon populations.
Tribes are Foundational for Salmon Recovery in Washington
In addition to being sovereign nations with thousands of years of knowledge, expertise, and insight, and having a legal co-manager role, Tribes lead many of the largest restoration and recovery efforts in the state. Tribes serve on the local and regional recovery boards and work closely with partners and state agencies to advance recovery priorities. During the past several decades, Tribes have implemented hundreds of successful salmon habitat restoration and protection projects on and off Tribal lands. Tribes employ a range of scientists, technicians, and policy staff that advocate for salmon recovery, lead planning and implementation efforts, and monitor progress toward recovery. Individual Tribes and Tribal organizations produce reports, such as The State of Our Watersheds by the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, that provide an ongoing scientific foundation for recovery. The Tribal perspective and vision of keeping salmon strong and harvestable for future generations is a model that has maintained salmon in the rivers and can help propel successful recovery across the state.
The photograph was taken of the Quileute Tribal School in Lake Ozette on the Olympic Peninsula and is courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.