A Gathering Basket- Issue 15

hunting and preserving FROM THE I-COLLECTIVE A MULTI-MEDIA COOK BOOK

Issue 15

“As the salmon disappear, so do our tribal cultures and treaty rights. We are at a crossroads and we are running out of time.”

Billy Frank Jr. (Nisqually) During the 1960/70’s “fish wars” at Frank’s Landing, in Olympia, Washington, Puyallup and Nisqually tribal fishermen took on a new approach to the fight for treaty rights by conducting “Fish-Ins” in response to a concerted effort by the State of Washington to end tribal fishing off of the Reservation. With a philosophy of rebellion against both the state and tribal governments they began putting their bodies on the frontlines as the means to the end, resulting in some members of the Survival of the American Indian Society (SAIA), the leadership council created by the group, being arrested upwards of 60 times. In time these fish-ins had enough affect that the tribes signed on, even going as far as creating police forces to help protect the protesters, and ultimately led to the Boldt Decision where tribal treaty rights were upheld, with up to 50% of the harvestable fish allotted to the tribes and the proposed equal right to management of the fishing industry.

It is with this landmark case that many coastal tribes have created sustainable fisheries and began the healing process with their Salmon relatives but with the constant growth of the fishing industry and the building of dams along the Salmon habitat some tribes have found themselves at the forefront of a new battle.

The Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe (Sah-ku-mehu) exist on a 19 acre reservation in the northern Cascade Range in Washington State, near the head of the Skagit River. In January of 2022 the Tribe filed a lawsuit in their Tribal Court against the city of Seattle in a Rights of Nature case for their relatives, the sčədadxw (Salmon Nation).

Seattle City Lights,the public utility, being the first in the country to earn

a green power certification, have used this as a means to greenwash their image despite their three hydro-electric dams along the river, with no fish runs installed, having helped land Chinook Salmon, Steelhead, Bullhead trout, and the Orca on the endangered species list. The outcome of this lawsuit, and others across Indian Country, will help set the battlelines for the future of environmental protection.

Not all is doom and gloom though! Some of our relatives, such as Bridgette McConville (Northern Paiute) of www.salmonkingfisheries.com, have created sustainability and protection of traditional lifeways through relationships with their fishing practices and have been generous enough to share some of their story and foodways with us!!!

Since time immemorial, the existence of our fishery has been

dependent upon our traditional beliefs and ability to fish. The four treaty tribes of the Columbia River make up the zone 6 fisher established through hard fought litigation: US v. Oregon and US v. Washington. With the hard-fought court battles represented by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and Yakama Nation, the tribes were victorious. With these wins, the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission was established for the preservation, management, protection and enhancement of the Zone 6 area, the Columbia River between Bonneville Dam and McNary Dam. My family has been fishing since our existence as a people. Our Creator brought us from the water alongside the animal people. We were created to take care of the animals, water and plants. Each spring our fish come home up the river from the ocean and the plants emerge from their sleep to new life. Our four-legged created new life and have survived with strength from the harsh, snow winters. Everything we nourish in our bodies is a gift from our Creator. We are hunter-gatherer-foragers. The plants we gather beginning in the spring are plentiful and nourishing. The basic diet of our Columbia Plateau is fish, wild game, roots, and berries.

Smoked Spring Chinook Salmon is honored through ceremony with a Salmon Feast which happens in the spring. A time-honored tradition within the longhouse at Celilo, the Washat drumming and dancing to honor our brother the Salmon. Within the lineup of our foods, we have water being first, the salmon, deer, roots, and berries in a line to taste, honor and share.

My grandmother Viola Kalama was my greatest teacher of our cultural traditions for our people. As a child, she would remind me: “Learn well what I’m teaching you, for it will take care of you”. She was my life teacher for over 40 years with our plants, animals, basketry and life skills that I honor, respect, and carry with me today.

When I started my business Salmon King Fisheries, my grandmother Viola Kalama gave me advice to do one thing right to begin with. My first product and most popular product is the Smoked Chinook Salmon.

I utilize the traditional style smoke shed built by my family. You can also use the commercialized style of smoker. These are propane or electric and use pellets, chips, and chunk wood.

This is the recipe I’d like to share.

Salmon King Smoked Salmon Salmon Fillets (2) Brine: Salt, Water Topping for smoke: Salt, pepper, onion powder Smoke: Alder wood Get yourself some fresh or fresh frozen salmon fillets. Cut the bellies off. Cut the fillet into 6-8 ounce pieces. Mix ¾-1 Cup of Salt to 2-3 quarts of water. Place your salmon cuts and bellies in the brine and cover. Place your brine and salmon in the fridge for 24 hours.

After your brining time, drain the salmon, place on the grills of choice. Use paper towels to pat dry your salmon. Mix your topping and sprinkle on your salmon.

Allow your topping to melt into your salmon.

Prepare your smoker and place your salmon in the smoker. The time to smoke varies depending on your smoker. For my traditional smoker, it is about 12 hours depending on how much fish I am smoking.

Enjoy!

Now while the majority of people can source Salmon to recreate the Salmon Ki that most of us will never experience, but is one woven into the DNA of our nex Seal Soup. Being an educator and student within the Indigenous Food Soverei traditional practices of her tribal community and has honored us with this piece

Seal for Sustainability By: Kunaq I come from the beautiful community of Nome, Alaska. A vibrant tundra and a thriving ocean surround it. I have been fortunate to be raised on these lands utilizing subsistence practices that have sustained us for many generations.

I grew up harvesting plants and berries from the tundra and taking care of seals from the sea so my family could have a freezer full of our delicious food all winter. In the high arctic of Alaska, we have three amazing months of sunshine where we wake up to brightness and go to sleep in brightness. This Alaskan summer allows my family to gather and process food in a relatively short amount of time. Every week there is something different to gather or process for the freezer and shelves.

My mother was taught by her grandmother how to prepare and process seals that are caught by hunters from the community.

As a result, my three sisters and I grew up learning how to take care of seals by honoring the harvest and properly preparing the meat for drying and blubber for rendering into the oil. It is a long

and complicated process that requires daily attention and energy. But it becomes worthwhile when my family is gathered around a dinner table during an arctic storm with belly-warming soup, tundra greens soaked in seal oil, and deliciously sweet tundra berries whipped with caribou fat. It truly took a summer of hard work to put a meal like that together and it makes the meal taste even better.

The women in my family have taken on the responsibility to maintain this subsistence lifestyle and recognize this

ing Fisheries smoked fish recipe our next offering is going to be a recipe xt contributor, Kunaq (Iñupiak), and is part of the fabric of her community; ignty Movement she has created space for continuation and growth of the e of her story. hosted, organized, and taught a spring culture camp called Aġnat Ugrumik Sawiituat meaning “the women are working on seals” in the Inupiaq language. This camp was focused on Indigenous women from Nome who had a strong interest in learning how to take care of and process seals. The goal of the camp was to invite young women from Nome who were not fortunate to be raised learning this ancient tradition.

knowledge is no longer as common within our families today. While many families still enjoy eating our traditional foods, having access to the necessary equipment and time off work to acquire the foods can be difficult. I find this to be problematic because our traditional foods are the healthiest to consume for our bodies, it is a sustainable way to feed our families and can build the economy through the crafts and art created from hide and bones.

A couple of summers ago my family

Throughout the camp, the women were empowered to learn and heal together in a safe space our ancestors once had. It was a woman’s job to take care of the seal once it reached the beautiful shores of the arctic ocean in the time of our ancestors. And here we were, strong Indigenous women who crave our traditional lifestyle and foods, working to heal generational wounds from forced assimilation, coming together and laughing, learning, and making sure they had healthy traditional foods stored in their freezers to feed their families and community. It was a beautiful gathering and I want to continue it every spring and hope to bring in more families to build a community to re-establish an essential healthy gathering space we need in order to thrive.

SEAL SOUP

Plain and simply like my amau (great grandmother) liked it!

-2 pounds freshly caught seal meat, cut into 2 in. cubes (adding bones with meat is good to add for flavor) -1/4 pound seal blubber, cut into 1 in. cubes -3 cloves garlic, sliced -3 potatoes diced in 1 in. squares -3 celery stalks chopped -3 carrots chopped -1 white onion diced -6 cups of water -salt and pepper to taste Add water to the stock pot including meat, blubber, garlic, and salt to the stove and bring to boil for 30 minutes.

Add potatoes, celery, and carrots and continue to boil for 20 minutes or until done.

When done, separate large pieces of meat and bones into a platter for serving separately with tundra greens in seal oil. Serve uuyuq (seal soup broth) in a mug to sip while eating the amazing meal with your family.

Like many of the recipe ing we recognize that they are p communities and that tribal face never ending threats to t to subsist off the land they ca defeated, like the Pebble Mi arises that showcases the o peo

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gredients in this publication part, and relatives of, specific nations of so-called Alaska their way of being and ability aretake. Just as one threat is ine at Bristol Bay, a new one ongoing threat to Indigenous ople.

munity, on the Northern Slope to look Indigenous genocide n administration's supposed e emissions, and institute have chosen to greenlight lar oil drilling plan, the Willow s backyard. With the effects edefining the lifeways of the d, and water, in a region that een a 3-6 degree increase in er and winter respectively, the ernment and corporations for a continued nightmare.

t we reflect on words every s stood against colonization u just get over it?” and leave ds from Oren Lyon (Seneca) "The ice is melting. And no eclarations are. And no matter al, those statements are, the istening to your words.

Gratitudes: Brigette McConville, Salmon King Fisheries Marjorie “Kunaq” Tahbone Savannah LeCornu A Gathering Basket Staff:

Written Content Curator, M. Karlos Baca Image Curator, Brit Reed Creative Director, Trennie Burch Video Curator, Quentin Glabus Program Director, Kristina Stanley

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