Whatcom County

Lummi Nation Celebrates First Salmon

Lummi Nation dancers perform at the tribe's first salmon ceremony

The Bellingham Herald covered the Lummi Nation’s First Salmon Ceremony:

About 600 Lummi Indian Tribe members and guests gathered Thursday, May 14, at Lummi Nation School to celebrate the arrival of the first salmon – a celebration marked by both hope and fear for the future of the fish that defines tribal identity.

“When I was a young boy, I heard my grandfather say, when he was eating a salmon, ‘This is good medicine,'” said Merle Jefferson, the tribe’s natural resources director.

The First Salmon Ceremony is a key cultural observance for the Lummi and other Coast Salish tribes. For generations, the tribes have conducted these ceremonies to honor the salmon and assure their return. (more…)

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Whatcom County groups win $3.5 million for salmon recovery

The Bellingham Herald reports on Salmon Recovery Funding Board projects in Whatcom County. Lummi Nation was the largest single recipient in the county:

Whatcom County, a salmon conservation group and local tribes on Wednesday received $3.5 million in grants to help struggling salmon populations and restore their habitats in the Nooksack River.

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Efforts range from a Lummi Nation plan to catch adult chinook salmon in the south fork, spawn them and raise juveniles to increase the population’s chances of survival; to a Nooksack Indian Tribe plan to build four logjams on the south fork near Tawes and Caron creeks to provide pools that cool the water for salmon.

(more…)

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The Herald runs story on elk relocation

The Everett Herald ran a story Sunday about a recent elk relocation from Acme, Whatcom County:

Tribes from around the region want to move about 45 cows, bulls and calves before the state, pressured by complaints from farmers, lets hunters cull the herd.

“The tribes would like to give all these animals a chance,” Stillaguamish Tribe Chairman Shawn Yannity said.

(more…)

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