Salmon play an integral part of tribal religion, culture, and physical sustenance. Below is a short list of the many ways in which salmon are sacred to the Columbia River Basin tribes of the Pacific Northwest:

Salmon are one of the most important aspects of tribal culture. Cultures based on salmon. To call salmon a staple of the tribal diet would be an understatement. Historically, the typical tribal member ate almost a pound of salmon every day, but salmon represented much more than a source of nutrition—they shaped our societies and our religions.

The First Salmon Feast is part of the traditional tribal religion of the Columbia Basin. Known by various names including Washut, Longhouse, and Seven Drums, this religion continues to guide tribal people and connect them with the Creator and the gifts He has given them.

CRITFC provides the tribes and the region with biological research, fisheries management, hydrology, climate change analysis, and other science to support the protection and restoration of Columbia Basin salmon, lamprey, and sturgeon.

Feb 20, 2025 · After water, salmon is the first food honored in tribal ceremonies. Additionally, salmon plays a central role in the region’s environment. Salmon is a keystone species supporting Pacific Northwest ecosystems, a fact stressed in tribal legend and only now becoming fully appreciated by science.

Recognizing the importance of the salmon to the tribe’s lifestyle, and the complexity of selling salmon in very competitive markets, CRITFC developed its Salmon Marketing Program to help increase the economic value of the commercial treaty fisheries.

Jun 18, 2024 · Those salmon nurtured Tribal people’s religion, culture, economies and physical health and the health of Columbia Basin ecosystems for thousands of years. For a time, those salmon populations provided significant economic benefits for early non-tribal settlers in the Pacific Northwest.

CRITFC provides the tribes and the region with invaluable biological research, fisheries management, hydrology, and other science to support the protection and restoration of Columbia River Basin salmon, lamprey, and sturgeon.

CRITFC works to educate all residents of the Columbia Basin about the importance of salmon, of caring for the environment in which salmon live, and inspiring them to create ways that they can honor salmon themselves.

For centuries Indians caught the giant chinook and other food salmon that struggled to make their way upstream through the rocky barrier of tumbling waters and swift, narrow channels of the Columbia River known as Celilo Falls, or Wy-am.