AUDIO FILE: BRING THE SALMON HOME
author: Jim Lockhart
 e-mail: eagleye@PhilosopherSeed.org
On August 2, 2006 Native tribes who depend upon the salmon runs of the Klamath River for both subsistence and ceremony held a Rally in Portland Oregon to demonstrate the necessity that the dams on this river be removed.
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The Rally began at Holladay park, near Lloyd Center. Arriving a little late I missed speakers, but caught the tail end of one impassioned speech by an Indigenous man. "We're fish people, we're people of the Klamath River; we were honored when we were born. Now it's time for us to give something back and honor the resource, and more importantly, honor the children. I want to say something about the Klamath tribes of Oregon. These guys have not seen salmon since 1917, and that's a travesty."
"The Klamath tribe of Oregon have fought through their water battles, they've fought with the Federal government, and now they're fighting to get these dams removed. they're one of our strongest allies, along with the Karuk tribe and the Hoopa tribe, and we need to get these dams removed so that once again they can see a salmon in their home area."
Following these remarks, a man with a hand drum took the microphone and introduced a song which had came to him in a dream He described the dream where, when standing by a river a salmon jumped out of the water into his arms. The words, in English, "jumping out of the river like a fish into the heart of the dreamer. I am the fish spirits magic song" He then sang his song accompanying himself on his drum.
Following the song, the people gathered for a spirited march to the Convention center, where international hydropower corporations were holding their bi annual HydroVision Conference. The march spanned at least three blocks, with loud chants, drumming and the honking of many, many horns in support. Once at the Center, and after a long period of chanting, the Master of Ceremonies, Craig Tucker, campaign coordinator for the Karuk Tribe, introduced leaders from the many tribes being affected by the dams.
First to speak was Leaf Hillman, vice chairman and ceremonial leader of the Karuk tribe of California. As is customary with Indigenous peoples, Hillman first thanked those whose country this is, meaning the local Native peoples, not the government of the U.S. Then he gave a Blessing in his Native tongue, and translated it into English. "This right here is our country, this is where we were born and raised, just like our long ago people, our ancestors. May it continue to always be so."
This is the time. I've spent the last, too many years, 20 or so, talking about fish, talking about water, talking about people, the lives of our people, the future of our children. After many years, empty promises, -that's being gracious I think. LIES! We have a new leadership at PacifiCorp. We are a time in history with the relicensing the Klamath dams. This is a historic and unprecedented opportunity."
Hillman is referring to the fact that the 4 dams are coming up for 50 year relicencing by the Federal Energy Relicencing Commission. This is an opportunity for those who support Indigenous peoples, who support endangered species, who support subsistence living and religious freedom to assist these tribes in their desire to Bring the Salmon Home.
Hillman spoke a while longer and then Craig introduced the next speaker, Frankie Joe Meyers, a traditional fisherman from the Yurok tribe, who inhabit the mouth of the Klamath River. This speaker stated that he was asked to come to share his his feelings on what the salmon means to him. "I have a hard time answering because I don't know what it means to all the people; I only know what it means to me. And to me it's the connection to the way we once were, before we started having to fight for who we were. You know, we've been fighting for over 100 yers now for the salmon and for the river. It's been under attack since the 1900's, since they first started digging the ditches to divert the water.
Frankie Joe then speaks of the legends of the people, of how in ancient times the salmon offered to sustain the people. "And he has ever since. He sustained the people. He is what we eat, that's how it is. Now it's out turn to defend him.......we must never forget that salmon are more than just creatures of the water; they are people, just like me and you. They wouldn't give up on us, we shouldn't give up on them.
Craig then introduced the Vice Chairman of the Yurok Tribe, Thomas O'Rourke, who said that "the state of the Klamath River is in despair, th e waters are contaminated and polluted, our people can no longer swim in the riv3r without getting scabs on them, without getting sores on them. There's a new algae that blooms behind these dams, a blue green algae that at certain times of year it reaches very toxic levels that are poison to the people, but not only to the people, but to the animals and to the salmon."
Thomas came to speak for his people, and to speak for the salmon. In 2002, 70,000 salmon died in our river....these salmon can no longer speak for themselves, so we as a people that care, users of the salmon, users of the river, it's our turn to stand up and speak out for the fish."
Next to speak was Chuck Carpenter, cultural advisor, traditional fisherman of the Hoopa Valley Tribe. "We are here to honor our past as well as our present and our future of all these little young children running around here.........we are here carrying on something very sacred to us. It just isn't salmon, and it just isn't water. It is our livelihood, our culture, our heritage, our customs and our beliefs of the native people that we are. We stand up for our future generations."
After Chuck finished, Craig introduced Allan Foreman, Chairman of the Klamath Tribes of Oregon. The headwaters of the Klamath river is located in the homeland of the Klamath Tribe, which is the biggest tribe in the state of Oregon. "I come to you today as the leader of a sovereign nation and as an American. We're here today, not out of choice, but out of necessity. We're here because the right of Americans have been and are being violated. 146 years ago the U.S. government entered into a treaty with the Klamath Nation. The essence of that treaty stated that we the Klamath people would retain our right to hunt, fish, gather and trap within our homelands forever." "Exactly 90 years ago construction began on the first of several power generation dams on the Klamath River. This action was taken by the California-Oregon power company and endorsed by the Federal government. This action subsequently blocks all runs of salmon and steelhead from our homeland, which they had done since the beginning of time. Promises were made to remedy the situation by providing fish passage. This action never materialized. Today there are 4 dams and two smaller dams on the Klamath River and the tribes are still without their salmon."
Foreman spoke at length, about 12 minutes altogether, and was the final speaker for the afternoon. The total length of this audio file is about 30 minutes.
Bring the Salmon Home, RealPlayer
Bring the Salmon Home, MP3
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