Shielding a Sacred Tribal Food Source with 加拿大28回水

The story of the salmon is one of both tragedy and triumph.

与太平洋西北地区的印第安部落文化紧密相连, salmon are at the center of their society. The backbone of their diet, religion, and economy.

According to the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC), salmon are hailed as a traditional ‘first food,在与外界文化接触之前的几千年里，它对部落的重要性被指定.

“We don’t exist separate from our 第一次食物,” notes Jill-Marie Gavin, CRITFC public information specialist. “We’ve always been taught if you take care of your 第一次食物, your 第一次食物 will take care of you.”

但是，非土著社区并不总是作为鲑鱼体贴的照顾者. The species and its habitat have faced clear-cutting, erosion from gold dredging, and the construction of multiple, disruptive dams. With outside cultures encroaching on tribal land to fish, 太平洋西北地区的鲑鱼数量从19世纪中期的1700万锐减到一个世纪后的100万. Salmon were barreling toward extinction.

Until tribes helped turn the tides.

THE FIGHT FOR THE LAND

Through a series of court battles in the 1970s, 部落首领收回了与美国签订的早期条约中规定的捕鱼权. 后不久, CRITFC was formed to continue to protect those rights, grow the salmon population, and protect the watersheds where salmon live.

CRITFC通讯主任杰里米·菲克罗斯表示，栖息地恢复是该组织工作的关键部分. 该组织与牧场主合作，限制牛群接触鲑鱼栖息地，重建自然环境, curving streams that some landowners had straightened out.

“在这方面，我们在具体栖息地工作方面的很多努力都是为了消除这种破坏. 当你看到他们将把蜿蜒的河道重新放回原处，并通过种植河岸加拿大28回水木来启动这个项目时，真的很令人振奋,” FiveCrows explains, referring to trees that grow along rivers. “这只需要几年的时间……然后大自然就会接管一切，就像日以继夜地看着伤口愈合。.”

FACING A NEW ADVERSARY

Historically in the Pacific Northwest, 巨大的高山积雪融化了源源不断的淡水流入鲑鱼的溪流. But as the Earth’s temperatures continue to rise, snowpacks are shrinking. 河流的水量在减少，河流的温度在升高.

作为一种冷水物种，低温溪流对鲑鱼来说是无法适应的. Water conditions above 70 degrees Fahrenheit are lethal.

CRITFC领导人担心，如果水温升高继续向北推进, 它可能会把鲑鱼赶出它们数千年来称之为家园的地区.

“如果最初的食物范围向北移动，那么就像最初的食物离开了我们. 我们仍然会在这个地方，但食物会转移，”菲克罗斯说. “这将对以这些食物为基础的文化造成多大的破坏.”

没有鲑鱼会给太平洋西北地区的土著社区带来深深的精神上的悲伤. According to the origin stories of tribes in the region, 造物主把生活在这个地区的动物和植物召集在一起，告诉它们人类即将到来. 他说，这个新种族一开始将是无助的，并要求他们所有人提供一份礼物，以便人类能够生存. 大马哈鱼第一个站出来，用自己的身体来滋养人类. 他们的牺牲永远不会被遗忘，深深铭刻在后世许多代人的心中.

The cultural consequences for tribes are not the sole worry. In the Pacific Northwest, salmon are a major contributor to biodiversity, the variety of wildlife in a given area, from animals to bacteria. According to the Wild Salmon Center, at least 137 different species depend on the marine-rich nutrients that salmon provide. Even a single dead salmon, carried by a bear into the woods, 是否会分解为该地区提供海洋营养-生长得更健康, lush forests that better shade the streams. In nature, all is connected.

“If there’s this marine nutrient source that the entire system is built on, all of a sudden that goes away, that’s a huge impact to the whole ecosystem, not just to the tribes,” FiveCrows warns.

The Arbor Day Foundation is working to help cool down overheated waterways in the Willamette Basin by planting trees. 该地区和更广阔的美国太平洋西部地区加拿大28回水木的前景是基金会将其指定为全球优先区域的原因. 科学家表示，加拿大28回水木可以使温度降低10华氏度. For salmon, that’s the difference between life and death.

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

尽管气候变化可能会继续成为鲑鱼的强大对手, CRITFC leaders feel optimistic about the future.

“鲑鱼与我们并没有分离，我们也没有与鲑鱼分离. 所以，我们会活下来，我们会想办法把我们的那一部分带在身边，”加文保证道.

这是一项长期的保护承诺，部落社区成员知道风险很高. 作为哥伦比亚高原地区乌马提拉部落的前民选领袖, 加文看到至少有一千英亩的土地作为礼物地契归还给部落，或者在遗嘱中指定给部落.

“如果他们的家庭中没有一个他们信任的人来保管并妥善管理它，他们就会这样做, 或者他们担心自己的孩子会把房子卖给州外的买家或开发商,” she explains. “他们真的很喜欢这片土地，他们之间的联系就像其他地方的人一样. And they recognize that we will take care of it.”

The land is not just land. Salmon is not just salmon. 他们是一种文化的重要组成部分，这种文化在面对巨大的挣扎和心碎时表现出了韧性.

“If you only focus on the negative, then you'll be stuck there. 当其他人都在关注本土粮食系统和土地管理的时候，至少让我们利用这段时间,” Gavin offers. “Let's grab onto this moment because really at the end of the day, it's about our land and it's about our species and our foods.”