By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle
For the first time in nearly 100 years salmon have regained access to Okanagan Lake’s cool deep waters and 14 crucial spawning creeks with the opening of the Okanagan Lake Dam Fish Passage today (August 18).
“Our ancestors are smiling down upon us today,” said Greg Gabriel, Chief of the Penticton Indian Band at the opening of the fish passage.
“It’s such an honour to see our brothers from across 49th Parallel join us in this history making day today,” he added in reference to Syilx Okanagan Nation members from the Colville Tribes and others from Washington State.
Noting that the families of the Okanagan Nation fished and hunted these lands for tens of thousands of years, he said “that’s a part of our history you cannot deny.”
Water begins to fill the fishway at the Okanagan Lake end before the dam.
Okanagan Nation Alliance still photo taken from video.
The opening up of the waterway on the eastern side of the Okanagan Lake Dam creates a passage for the salmon to continue on with their journey as they did for thousands of years until channelization and damming of the river cut them off from traditional spawning grounds.
This initiative is part of the Okanagan Nation Alliance’s (ONA) broader mission which aims to return salmon to their natural habitats and ranges.
“For me, this is an amazing day. This is an amazing day for our nation. This is an amazing day for our brothers across the 49th parallel. This is an amazing day for our communities in snpintktn (Penticton),” Gabriel said, thanking everyone who came out to witness the opening.
He added that hearing the song calling the salmon home nearly brought tears to eyes, “because as I said, the salmon have heard you. The salmon have heard your song and they’re ready to return.”
The exit of the fishway into the Okanagan River below the dam.
Okanagan Nation Alliance photo
Also on hand was Joe Peone, Fish & Wildlife Program Director for the Colville Confederated Tribes who said it has been an honour to work with the ONA and noted it all started with the McIntyre Dam on Vaseux Lake and then Okanagan Falls and now Okanagan Lake.
“Keep in mind, these fish are resilient. They’re surviving at 74°F (23°C) temperatures down there at the mouth of the Okanagan, the Columbia River,” he said as he predicted the future will see “two million Sockeye coming.”
Darnell Sam of the Yakama Nation explained that there is a covenant between First Nations and salmon. “As long as the water flows and the salmon swim, we have to honour them.”
He said the plight of indigenous people, their culture, traditions and ways of life parallel the plight of the salmon.
“Everything that has happened to our people happened to the salmon. The salmon need our help,” Sam said.
“In the beginning, the salmon was the first one to step forward to say that it would help the new animal, and that animal being man.
“So this is part of our covenant, that we have to honour the salmon each and every year, every step of the way from the beginning to the end. These tributaries up here are important as much as it’s important out there in the ocean, and when they return, we will stand there and honour them again,” he said.
Calling the salmon home.
Okanagan Nation Alliance photo
While the project has been many years in the making and involved many people working on a myriad of different components, the project lead, Zoe Eyjolfson, a Fluvial Geomorphologist with the Okanagan Nation Alliance paid tribute to former Okanagan Indian Band Chief, Albert Saddleman, Jr.
She cited Saddleman’s clear guidance – “put the fish back and put the water back”.
“Today, we reconnect the waters of Okanagan Lake and Okanagan River with a permanent fishway that provides unimpeded access for all salmon through all migration times,” Eyjolfson said.
“For the first time in about 100 years, salmon will have free access into 350 square kilometres of Okanagan Lake’s cool, deep waters, and into 14 tributaries to spawn.”
She noted that many of these tributaries have already had restoration works completed, with others in progress. The ONA owned and operated conservation hatchery has also been releasing fry into these areas, all in preparation for this moment,” she said, adding, “the salmon are coming home.”
Okanagan Nation Alliance photo
Gabriel also paid tribute to caylx (Richard Armstrong) who is a Syilx traditional knowledge/language specialist and Syilx Traditional Ecological Knowledge Keeper who has been integral to salmon restoration efforts and salmon ceremonies, but was not in attendance at the opening.
