{"id":1016,"date":"2017-11-16T10:46:13","date_gmt":"2017-11-16T15:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.presbyterianmission.org\/food-faith\/?p=1016"},"modified":"2021-01-29T11:31:08","modified_gmt":"2021-01-29T16:31:08","slug":"salmon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/2017\/11\/16\/salmon\/","title":{"rendered":"Salmon named MVP! (Most Valuable Piscis)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Salmon figured prominently at the Presbyterians for Earth Care Conference held along Oregon’s Columbia River in September. These beautiful creatures are the traditional and cultural heart of the Columbia River tribes. As the keystone species, salmon not only created the biologically-diverse ecosystems of the region, but they also form the economic foundation for the indigenous people who have lived on the land for tens of thousands of years. The salmon were also–sorry vegetarians–delicious, and we ate them once at Camp Menucha and once in the Long House upstream from Menucha.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

This fine Coho Salmon was making its way up a ‘fish ladder’ built alongside the otherwise unclimbable dams found on the Columbia River. She is returning far upstream – as much as 1,500 or more miles from the ocean – to her birthplace where she will lay 2,000-5,000 eggs. The salmon do not eat on their return voyage and must live off of the reserves built up during their years in the ocean. Their singular goal is to reproduce. Yet not all dams have fish ladders and they can be tiring to climb, so not every salmon completes the epic journey.<\/p>\n

In addition, global warming has raised the temperature of many rivers and some spawning areas are getting too warm for eggs to survive.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

Representatives from the four Columbia River Indian tribes in the area –\u00a0Nez Perce Tribe, the\u00a0Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes\u00a0of the\u00a0Warm Springs Reservation\u00a0of Oregon, and the\u00a0Confederated Tribes\u00a0and Bands of the\u00a0Yakama\u00a0Nation – invited us to participate in a water ceremony down by the riverside and to share stories in their Long House near where the Celilo Falls used to be.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

Now the Celilo Falls are silent — buried under the dammed Columbia River. Here is footage from 1956, which shows Native Americans fishing at the falls.
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