Archaeological evidence indicates that Puget Sound was initially populated 12,000 years ago when retreating glaciers created suitable areas for human settlement and allowed many local cultures to thrive.
Among the First Nations of Puget Sound are the Chinook, Cowlitz, Duwamish, Lummi, Muckleshoot, Nisqually, Nooksack, Puyallup, Quileute, Samish, Sauk-Suiattle, Shoalwater Bay, Skokomish, Snoqualmie, Spokane, Squaxin Island, Steilacoom, Stillaguamish, Snoqualmoo, Snohomish, Suquamish, Swinomish, Tulalip, Upper Skagit, and Yakama. In the mid-nineteenth century, the arrival of foreign settlers threatened the complex cultural, social, and economic systems indigenous to the area. Still, the tribes managed to survive and continue their struggle for the respect and recognition they deserve.
Credit: Patrick Braese. Tribal Journey paddle to Puyallup
The Squaxin, meaning the “People of the Water” in Lushootseed (the language of most indigenous peoples in the area), settled at the southern end of Puget Sound, in a complex estuary with seven main inlets and multiple islands. For this tribe, and many other indigenous peoples living along a coast, aquatic resources are not only a source of livelihood and commercial exchange but form an integral component of nature itself. Their beliefs indicate that all creatures possess a spiritual essence requiring close protection to guarantee the future of the natural environment.
Credit: Squaxin Island Tribe’s Sea Level Rise Story Map. Example of ancestral practices of the Squaxin Island Tribe
Currently, this tribal area is dedicated to protecting marine fauna, including salmon, considered the key species of the strait’s ecosystem. For the Squaxin and other cultures of the Pacific Northwest, salmon are regarded as an ancestral relative whose home must be respected and protected. They consider the salmon a meaningful gift from the Creator, and each year, they honor the salmon sacrifice with special ceremonies. These ceremonies are associated with immortality and renewal. Therefore, the conservation of the species and its ecosystem is crucial.
The tribe has become not only a safeguard for the ocean and the ecosystem of the strait but also a witness to its fragility and deterioration due to the adverse effects of habitat encroachment and climate change.
Biologist Candace O. Penn, Piaka Se’ Leila (Watcher of the Clouds in Lushootseed), now holds the position of Climate Change Ecologist for the Squaxin Tribe. She has dedicated her professional career to the study, protection, and conservation of the ecosystem and natural resources of Squaxin Island.
“I come from a long line of fishermen and fisherwomen, and I am proud to have this connection with the land. It’s a big part of my culture to be able to harvest salmon and help preserve their future for the next generation,” says Penn.
Candace Penn, Climate Change Ecologist from the Squaxin Island Tribe.
In recent times, the area around Squaxin Island has been closed to salmon fishing due to high levels of pollution, a concern for all members of the tribe, “because, if we don’t have salmon, we will stop existing as a culture,” says Penn.
Among the environmental challenges facing the region’s waters, Penn identifies the increase in acidity levels, drought, and coastal erosion due to rising sea levels, the abundance of toxic substances, and rising temperatures.
Of these, the increasing acidity of the water has perhaps one of the most dangerous impacts on salmon. It is a phenomenon that already poses a significant threat and could continue to do so in the coming decades.
“I think about the next generation and the next seven generations. That’s how my tribe thinks about preservation in the future,” says Penn.
According to current scientific consensus, the ocean absorbs approximately 20 to 30 percent of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. A good percentage of these greenhouse gas comes from anthropogenic sources, such as hydrocarbons from transportation and industries. As the amount of CO2 increases, the absorption in the oceans increases, changing the chemical composition of the water. Thus, the hydrogen potential (or pH) drops, raising the acidity of the water and causing different reactions in the marine flora and fauna, eventually altering the food chains.
Credit: Squaxin Island Tribe. Freshwater mussel survey and tagging
Estudios recientes de la Universidad de Washington y la NOAA han descubierto que el aumento de la acidez del agua crea problemas en el sistema olfativo del salmón, un sentido del que depende para detectar depredadores y buscar alimento. Lo que es más importante, el salmón usa sus capacidades olfativas para navegar su ruta migratoria, regresando a sus lugares de reproducción para desovar y completar el ciclo reproductivo. Sin embargo, los científicos aún no tienen una visión completa de los efectos de este cambio químico en el salmón. Para Squaxin, esta es una preocupación apremiante.
“Cuando empecemos a ver dos o tres años de disminución de las corridas de salmón, veremos el efecto en toda la comunidad. Otras minorías ven el declive de esta especie como algo que también afecta a sus hogares. Afecta no solo a las tribus sino a toda la comunidad y los mercados globales”, explica Penn.
Penn afirma que la tribu promueve actividades de conservación y protección con agencias estatales y federales para contrarrestar la situación. Una de las tareas principales es la preservación del estuario mediante el uso de técnicas de pesca que no provoquen erosión costera.
La tribu también opera una de las mayores instalaciones de salmón Net Pen en el noroeste de los EE. UU., liberando casi dos millones de salmón Coho, una de las siete especies en el Océano Pacífico.
Este activismo se extiende al ámbito legislativo, apoyando proyectos destinados a reducir las emisiones de CO2 para controlar la acidificación del agua.
Finalmente, la comunidad refuerza su vínculo ancestral con el salmón al transmitir su cultura y costumbres a la siguiente generación.
“A lo largo de todas nuestras historias de creación, escuchará la palabra ‘salmón’ mencionada muchas veces. Vas a escuchar historias de gente salmón que son leyendas e historias de cómo venimos de gente salmón. Toda la vida emana del salmón. Recibimos nuestra nutrición para sobrevivir y existir del salmón y tenemos conexiones físicas y espirituales. Mi tía siempre solía decir: ‘Estoy alimentando a mis indios’ al poder pescarlos y nutrir nuestros cuerpos con ellos también”, dice Penn.
