Northwest Indians have lived with salmon for thousands of years. These fish begin their lives in rivers and streams inland and then go to sea for a couple of years, growing on the bountiful food in salt water, then return to where their lives began, in order to spawn and bring forth another generation. Coastal Indians on the Columbia River speared and netted them. Many tribes had cultures centered around them.
On the Sea Lion we have been traveling in the Wake of Lewis and Clark on the Snake and the Columbia Rivers, and all along the way their journals reflect the importance of salmon to the tribes they met. One of our crewmembers, Nate Ferguson, in a moment of artistic inspiration, drew this Northwest Indian representation of a salmon on the bulletin board in our lounge. Our guests greeted it with great approval, as it carried the theme of native people and their culture in which this fish figured so prominently.
