Columbia River’s salmon are at the core of ancient religion
By DEEPA BHARATH Associated Press
ALONG THE COLUMBIA RIVER (AP) — James Kiona stands on a rocky ledge overlooking Lyle Falls where the water froths and rushes through steep canyon walls just before merging with the Columbia River. His silvery ponytail flutters in the wind, and a string of eagle claws adorns his neck.
Kiona has fished for Chinook salmon for decades on his family’s scaffold at the edge of the falls, using a dip net suspended from a 33-foot pole — like his father did before him, and his son will after.
“Fishing is an art and a spiritual practice,” says Kiona, a Yakama Nation elder. “You feel exhilaration in your body when you dip that net in the water and feel the fish. Then, you’re fighting the fish. The fish is fighting you, tearing holes in the net, jerking you off the scaffold.”
Columbia River’s salmon are at the core of ancient religion
Jessie Wardarski - staff, AP
Wilbur Slockish Jr., a river chief of the Klickitat Band of the Yakama Nation, stands for a portrait near the Columbia River in Columbia Hills Historical State Park in Lyle, Wash., on Saturday, June 18, 2022. In the 1980s, Slockish served 20 months in federal prison on charges of illegally poaching salmon from the Columbia River. He says he went to prison to fight for his people's right to practice their faith.
Jessie Wardarski - staff, AP
Wilbur Slockish Jr., a river chief of the Klickitat Band of the Yakama Nation, stands for a portrait near the Columbia River in Columbia Hills Historical State Park in Lyle, Wash., on Saturday, June 18, 2022. In the 1980s, Slockish served 20 months in federal prison on charges of illegally poaching salmon from the Columbia River. He says he went to prison to fight for his people's right to practice their faith.
Columbia River’s salmon are at the core of ancient religion
Jessie Wardarski - staff, AP
Wilbur Slockish Jr., a river chief of the Klickitat Band of the Yakama Nation, looks at petroglyphs in Columbia Hills Historical State Park on Saturday, June 18, 2022, in Lyle, Wash. In the 1980s, Slockish served 20 months in federal prison on charges of poaching salmon from the Columbia River. He says he went to prison to fight for his people's right to practice their faith.
Jessie Wardarski - staff, AP
Wilbur Slockish Jr., a river chief of the Klickitat Band of the Yakama Nation, looks at petroglyphs in Columbia Hills Historical State Park on Saturday, June 18, 2022, in Lyle, Wash. In the 1980s, Slockish served 20 months in federal prison on charges of poaching salmon from the Columbia River. He says he went to prison to fight for his people's right to practice their faith.
He finds strength, sanctity, even salvation in that struggle. The river saved Kiona when he returned from the war in Vietnam. As he battled addiction, depression and trauma, the river gave him therapy no hospital could.
When he lies on the rocks by the rushing river and closes his eyes, he hears the songs and the voices of his ancestors. The water, he says, holds the history of the land and his people.
“It heals you.”
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Read more about the Columbia River and its ancient religious ties here:
