Native Americans in Pacific Northwest preserve salmon fishing tradition for future generations

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]It's a little more than a month away from the 4th of July, and in our series USA to Z, we're bringing you stories from across the country to celebrate 250 years of America. This week is S for salmon. And while you might be familiar with ordering a fillet for your plate, the fish's significance goes beyond just a meal for some Native American tribes in the Pacific Northwest. Jonathan Viglione visited one tribe in Washington to see how they're protecting salmon for generations to come.

[00:00:26]>> Salmon. In many ways, they're the lifeblood of the water here in Western Washington. The keystone species provides sustenance for much of the region, like birds, sea lions, orca whales, and of course, humans.

[00:00:42]>> Teaching my son how to do this. You still want to keep the tradition going on with a very small net like this, trying to catch one salmon.

[00:00:52]See, you got to hold it this way.

[00:00:54]>> We have a connection with the fish and the water.

[00:00:58]And you can feel that in your body.

[00:00:59]>> Mike Jerry Jr. shares that sentiment with his father and uncle. They're among more than 3,000 members of the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe.

[00:01:07]>> We are salmon people, you know. We come from the water.

[00:01:11]>> Considered Seattle's first people, the tribe is descended from the Duwamish and Upper Puyallup Native peoples who lived on these lands for thousands of years.

[00:01:20]>> There is a term that we use to describe salmon.

[00:01:25]And the word is stədad.

[00:01:27]>> Warren King George has served as the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe's historian since 1999.

[00:01:33]>> When we talk about natural resources, I can't think of one more critical for the Muckleshoot people than the salmon.

[00:01:41]>> Absolutely. Right, that's one of our It's It's In our elders' terms and my traditional teachers' words, those are our relatives.

[00:01:50]>> That relationship plays an important role in the tribe's legends and spiritual practices, including a ceremonial feast in the spring honoring the first salmon of the season for feeding the tribe.

[00:02:03]>> Where would salmon be today without the tribe?

[00:02:06]>> I hate to say it, but I I think that the salmon would be in uh in serious trouble. They would definitely be present, but nobody would be able to enjoy them the way they do today.

[00:02:17]>> But the tribe's access to the salmon hasn't come easy as they've faced legal and governmental challenges. In the 1960s, members of the tribe participated in fishing demonstrations advocating for the right to fish outside the reservation.

[00:02:32]>> There's great risk in any kind of protest. Why risk it for access to salmon? What's so important about salmon?

[00:02:39]>> It's the belief, it's the understanding, and it's the training and education that our ancestors paid forward.

[00:02:45]>> What would it mean to the tribe to lose their access to salmon?

[00:02:50]>> It'd be a devastating blow. Losing access to salmon um would set precedents.

[00:02:55]>> Mhm.

[00:02:56]>> It it wouldn't stop there. We would lose access to the deer and elk. We'd lose access to the shellfish on the beaches of Puget Sound.

[00:03:04]>> Today, the battle for the salmon is largely an environmental one as climate change and human interference threaten their natural ecosystem.

[00:03:12]>> And we're still losing 5% of the habitat a year.

[00:03:16]And so we have to do what we can to protect have what habitat remains.

[00:03:23]>> Phil Hamilton serves on the Muckleshoot Fish Commission, a bridge between the tribe and government entities that oversees environmental programs.

[00:03:31]>> Back in 2000, I can remember maybe maybe two dozen fishermen, a dozen boats at the time. That That was it. A lot of us were were just doing recreational fishing. We weren't fishing commercially.

[00:03:47]>> Now, the salmon population is strong enough to financially sustain the 500 Muckleshoot fishers and more than 200 boats. Their catch represents 2% of the US natural salmon intake, but there's also a greater goal behind every net.

[00:04:04]>> Everybody enjoys a good fresh salmon.

[00:04:06]What's really important is that the salmon are here and present today in this river system.

[00:04:13]And that 4 years from now more salmon will return. 4 years from now the next generation will get to have the same opportunity that we have today.

[00:04:24]>> For CBS Saturday Morning, I'm Jonathan Vigliotti in Auburn, Washington.

[00:04:29]>> I just love that we're highlighting a Native American community and their culture for our USA to Z series celebrating the 250th birthday of the country. Jonathan, that was such incredible reporting.

[00:04:39]>> I'm going to be honest, when I saw S for salmon, originally I was like What are we doing here? Okay, [laughter] like I think there's salmon in a lot of places, but there is just there's a lot of rich history and I you know, I mean, as I said in the intro, you just kind of think of it as like a fillet that you eat, but there's just so much history the environment and what it means to that community.

[00:04:57]>> And communities that depend on it, absolutely.