The Native Youth Salmon Summit took place in October 2024.
The Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission organized the Native Youth Salmon Summit in partnership with Salmon Defense and the Tulalip Tribes, and with support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other sponsors. The organizing committee envisions the summit becoming an annual or biennial event. Our aim is to inspire Native youth to pursue careers in natural resources—ultimately helping to protect and preserve their treaty resources and the environment for all.
More Information
Students explore salmon-focused career paths at event
https://nwtreatytribes.org/students-explore-salmon-focused-career-paths-at-event/
Today’s youth are tomorrow’s environmental stewards
https://nwtreatytribes.org/being-frank-todays-youth-are-tomorrows-environmental-stewards/
NOAA and NWIFC Promote Fisheries-Related Career Paths for Tribal Youth
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/noaa-fisheries-and-northwest-indian-fisheries-commission-promote-fisheries
NWIFC Career Development Corner
https://nwifc.org/employment/career-development/
The Native Youth Salmon Summit (NYSS) mission:
Bring together tribal youth, reconnecting them with their salmon culture, planting the seeds for career paths in environmental stewardship, and presenting educational opportunities to enhance the future for all people.
Interested in being a Partner?
We’d love your support! The more funding we secure, the more we can offer participating youth. Sponsors will be recognized throughout the event and will have their logo printed on a t-shirt provided to participating students and staff.
More Details
The first-ever Native Youth Salmon Summit provided two days of programming focused on career pathways into salmon recovery work. Sixty-four high school-aged Native youth attended, escorted by 18 chaperones.
The youth had opportunities to observe beach seining, see and touch some of the fish common to estuary environments, dissect juvenile salmon used for fish health research, observe the incubation of fertilized chinook eggs at a hatchery, “swim” through virtual reality video footage with salmon returning to spawn, and more.
The vision for future summits is to continue teaching youth about their treaty rights, the importance of the historical court decisions and what kinds of careers are available in tribal natural resources. Summits offer these lessons through various hands-on activities and lectures, as well as booths for educational and environmental organizations to share their resources with students.
Summit Activities
Sponsors
