‘Salmon Is Culture, and Our Culture Is Salmon’
May 26, 2026 | Source: Civil Eats | by Ellie Kinley
I come from the Lhaq’temish—the Lummi—the Salmon People, the People of the Sea. When I get to speak with our youth at the school on the Lummi Nation, outside Bellingham, Washington, I like to point out that where we sit right now is a reservation. We were put here, right? So, it’s home, but not really home.
We come from the San Juan Islands. And that’s important, because the youth need to know that the islands are the place we need to protect, where our people have come from since time immemorial. I have never counted how many islands there are in the Salish Sea, but every single one is so different from the one next to it. They’re all so unique and they’re beautiful. You’ve got the salmon there and you’ve got the orca and the eagles.
When I’m out on my boat with my sons, Luke and Kyle, it feels like home. There’s nothing better. You can finally breathe. We pull out of the Bellingham harbor and head out toward the islands [to fish], and I’m at peace. Even though you’re about to do something totally stressful and busy, you can breathe. I wish everybody in the tribe still got the chance to feel that feeling.
Our people harvest clams, oysters, sea urchin, and geoduck, but we are primarily salmon fishermen. I’ve heard it said that salmon is culture, and our culture is salmon—it’s really our foundation. They used to say that during the time of the treaty signing [in 1855], you could walk across a river on the backs of salmon. They were that abundant.