The Ancient Religion of the Columbia River
For thousands of years, Native tribes have relied on the Columbia River for its salmon and trout, and the surrounding areas for edible roots and medicinal herbs. They believe the river and its resources have been placed there by the Creator to sustain them and they to protect the earth. "It's our belief that makes the river sacred," said river chief, Bill Yullup Jr. "Our prayers and everything, and our understanding of all of us is help the river to maintain a spiritual identity." The acts of gathering those foods are linked to the tribes' religious practices, including rituals and ceremonies performed in the longhouse. One of those rituals is for what are called the first foods, salmon, roots and berries. Each year community members are required to wait for that first feast to honor each food before they head out to harvest it. "The Columbia River really brings people together in the springtime," said Elaine Harvey, a Biologist for the Yakama Nation fisheries. "We have feasts up and down this river in our families fish. We continue to fish all along the river here." The salmon are the first to appear in the spring and have been caught by men and women for generations. But this way of life along the river is under threat.
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The Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest, which Natives call Nch’i-Wána, or “the great river,” has sustained Indigenous people in the region for millennia.
