Wet'suwet'en Celebrate Salmon Return and Traditional Practices

David de Wit asks everyone to introduce themselves to the river and the ancestors in a gesture of gratitude and respect. This is the Wedzin Kwa, also called the Bulkley River, here in Witset village, on Wet’suwet’en territory. It's a really hot day, but there's a breeze coming off the fast-flowing water, which is a nice break from the sun. The river narrows into a tight canyon right here, making it a prime spot for fishing. You can see local fishers perched on the rocks, scooping out salmon as they leap up the cascading waters. These salmon have swum 300 kilometers against the current to get to this exact spot.

The return of the salmon is a really joyful event for the Wet’suwet’en, and it's also a time to reflect on the abundance of nature and the human role in protecting it. David, who’s part of the Laksilyu Clan, from the House on Top of Flat Rock, explained that traditionally, the very first salmon caught in this canyon was cooked into a stew right here by the river. The male and female Hereditary Chiefs, known as Dinï ze’ and Tsakë ze’, would eat the stew, and then return the bones to the river. He said his late uncle, Henry Alfred, who held the chief name Wah Tah K’eght, shared this story with him.

Today, David is honoring that tradition and the ancestors. Earlier, hundreds of people gathered to share a meal and celebrate the salmon's return. There were drummers and dancers performing on a bluff above the river. After everyone finished eating, David and a small group came down to the canyon. He was holding a container full of salmon bones from the meal, and he spoke about the importance of ceremony. He mentioned he's been blessed to spend a lot of time with Elders and Hereditary Chiefs, and sees himself as a messenger, giving honor to the ancestors and sharing this knowledge not just with clan members, but with all living beings and guests.

He explained that returning the bones is almost like a contract, a reciprocal relationship. The salmon provide life-sustaining food, and in return, people promise to take care of the waters where the salmon travel, raise their young, and spawn. It's a responsibility to care for these waters, and they ask the Salmon People to continue to feed them, because their lives, culture, language, and wellness come from the water and the salmon. This responsibility is part of ‘anuc niwh’it’ën, the Wet’suwet’en laws, which are thousands of years old and guide sustainable living and respect for the river, animals, and future generations.

Salmon are a keystone species, vital for the health of the ecosystem, feeding bears and wolves, and even enriching the forest soil when scraps are left at the base of trees. This river, the Wedzin Kwa, is part of the Skeena River watershed in northwest B.C. The number of fish returning here has been declining for decades, leading to fishing restrictions, both regulated and voluntary. Climate change is a factor, but overfishing at the mouth of the Skeena and habitat degradation from things like forestry have also contributed.

The sockeye runs this year, in 2022, are looking like the healthiest in decades, with an estimated four million fish returning to the Skeena system. However, it's not yet clear if the Wedzin Kwa will see a corresponding increase. Sockeye, or talok in Wet’suwet’en, is just one of four salmon species that come back to this river. Brian Huntington, a co-founder of the Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition, mentioned that the upper river and Wedzin Bin, or Morice Lake, is the largest spawning complex in the entire Skeena system for chinook salmon, or