Seated Tŝilhqot’in elder with walking stick at Tl’etinqox Culture Camp © Andrea Reid
Many Indigenous peoples across the Pacific Rim view Pacific salmon as far more than just food. For thousands of years, Indigenous groups have welcomed salmon back from the ocean with an annual First Salmon Ceremony to show respect for the fish. Some see salmon as relatives, who must be cared for and honoured. Many of these cultures therefore identify as “Salmon People.”
As wild Pacific salmon species such as sockeye, Chinook, coho and chum trickle back into B.C. rivers in ever-smaller numbers, Indigenous communities here experience a profound sense of loss, according to Dr. Andrea Reid, an assistant professor in the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (IOF) and principal investigator with the Centre for Indigenous Fisheries at UBC. Dr. Reid is the lead author of a new study, “Learning from Indigenous knowledge holders on the state and future of wild Pacific salmon,” just published in the journal FACETS.
A sockeye salmon jumping the falls on the Meziadin River © Andrea Reid
A citizen of the Nisga’a Nation in northern coastal B.C., Dr. Reid has been trying to better understand the many threats that have led to dwindling salmon returns, such as climate change, pollution and overfishing,
“In doing this work, it is apparent how much of today’s salmon science derives from a strictly Western scientific perspective,” Dr. Reid said. “This study instead showcases the expertise of Indigenous knowledge holders – understandings that they’ve built through their lived experiences and that of their ancestors, and the changes that they’ve seen over time and space. These knowledge keepers point to key threats to salmon that are a priority in their eyes and in their specific regions.”
To gather Indigenous expertise, Dr. Reid took a “salmon tour” across B.C., following salmon upstream as they migrated from the ocean back to their spawning grounds. Along the way, she interviewed 48 elders from 18 First Nations across the Fraser, Skeena, and Nass Rivers. She asked them what they thought were the greatest threats to wild salmon.
Andrea Reid interviewing a matriarch in Gingolx, B.C. © Mikayla Wujec
Elders identified salmon farms, climate change, industrial development, contaminants and infectious diseases as being among the top five. However, answers varied depending on region, with hydropower, for example, being a large concern in one area where access to salmon was disrupted by the construction of a major dam.
A Xwisten spiritual leader shares his life story and perspectives on salmon © Andrea Reid
“We also find socially-oriented stressors are of great concern for these individuals,” Dr. Reid said. “Greed came up as a theme time and again when elders discussed their concerns about people’s relationship to salmon. That’s not a stressor Western science tends to consider; it’s not easily quantifiable, but it’s something we can hopefully bring to bear on the Western-guided frameworks that currently exist.”
Elders also reported that salmon catches are one sixth what they were 50 to 70 years ago, and that the loss of salmon had taken a toll on their communities, especially their ability to teach young people about the fish.
Dr. Reid said that the study aimed to showcase Indigenous knowledge about salmon. Many elders spoke of the need to revisit our ethics and relationships with salmon, she said.
“I was brought up just to take what I need, and I still do that today. When I go food fishing, once my family has their share, the rest goes to whoever wants it. I still have it in me. I want to give it to them. So, we are always careful on how much we take. I remember my grand- mothers told me that there was so much fish in the Nass, in the Skeena, that you can almost walk on it. It was so much, and now…”
-Quote taken from the study
While Western science emphasizes the collection of large-scale, generalizable and numerical data to look for trends in natural phenomena, Indigenous knowledge systems prioritize qualitative and often highly contextual and place-based information that is passed down generationally, based on observations and lived experiences of changes and cycles in nature.
A Nisga’a elder dons his hand-painted cape, modelled after his father’s (shown on wall) in Kitsumkalum, BC © Andrea Reid
Indigenous knowledge is sometimes used to “fill in the gaps” in Western science, according to Dr. Reid. “But this study is not trying to compare Western and Indigenous understandings. It’s turning exclusively to Indigenous knowledge keepers for answers. Often, Indigenous knowledge systems are considered by academics to be anecdotal or exclusively personal experience. This study highlights the strengths of Indigenous knowledge by drawing together elders from across the province to look at these largely shared experiences with salmon systems that point to some concerning trends.”
The study was co-authored by Nathan Young (University of Ottawa), Scott G. Hinch (UBC Forestry), and Steven J. Cooke (Carleton University).