MISSION, Ore.-The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) held a first fish ceremony on April 21 to celebrate the start of the spring salmon run.
“The return of the salmon in the spring is the lifeblood of who we are as a people,” said Corinne Sams, CTUIR Board of Trustees Member at Large and FWC chair.
The return of the first salmon is celebrated each year, and the CTUIR Fish & Wildlife Commission (FWC) and Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Program hosted this year’s ceremony on the Nixyáawii Governance Center’s (NGC) front lawn.
“I want to say thank you to everyone who participated in bringing in our salmon,” CTUIR Chairman Gary I. Burke said. “I’m glad for this ceremony…Take time to give thanks. Take time to give thanks for our own lives, our children’s lives and the children coming.”
The salmon’s return to the reservation is celebrated with songs and prayers as part of the tribes’ covenant to protect and enhance their First Foods, according to the CTUIR. Attendees of this year’s celebration sampled Spring Chinook from the 2024 run that were donated by the FWC.
“It’s important for all our tribal membership and community to celebrate in the return of our foods,” said Sams. “We’ve made a lifelong covenant to speak on behalf of our foods.”
The CTUIR Department of Children and Family Services’ Building Our Life Skills Training and Employment Readiness (BOLSTER) program prepared the meal. After the ceremony the fish was cleaned, packaged and frozen for ceremonial use throughout the year, according to the CTUIR.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates the 2025 Spring Chinook run to be about 122,500 fish.
According to the CTUIR, its portion of the salmon run will be about 1,500 fish after the allowable harvest is shared with the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and the Nez Perce Tribe.
“We are the Wykanish-Pum, the Salmon People,” said Sams.
