by Khabira Candace Holt
An early memory from before I turned four: my family was driving from our home in Yakima, WA, to Portland, OR, to visit my aunt and her new baby boy. We had my six-month old sister, so all would have a chance to meet these little ones. But it was not to be, on that Memorial Day weekend, May, 1948. As we neared Portland on a hill above the Columbia River we looked down to see a town flooded in dark brown water. There was no entry into the Portland area, so we turned back for a long ride home.
Vanport, the flooded town, had been created by Kaiser for workers in its ship-building projects during the war. Many workers there were black and not welcome in Portland. After the flood they needed a place to live, and the small black community in Portland helped them out. Portland itself lies on the floodplain, and Vanport was even lower. The flood was one of the major reasons for the eventual signing of the 1964 Columbia River Treaty by the US, Canada, and British Columbia.
In 1846, the US Government and Great Britain signed a treaty drawing the western boundary between the US and Canada along the 49th parallel. This act profoundly impacted indigenous communities by creating an international border right through their traditional territories. And it left a huge challenge to Canada, BC and the US to manage the Columbia Basin jointly, with its various peoples, states, ecosystems, economies, values and priorities.
For several years I have been participating in a Columbia River Roundtable, an international group working to provide the negotiators of a new Columbia River Treaty with input on a variety of concerns. The 1964 treaty dealt with hydro power and flood control. There had been no opportunity for US Tribes or BC First Nations to give input--nor was consideration given to the huge risk to salmon and other fish, to wildlife, consequences to farmers and communities, to culture and recreation. And now a very important reality is that a new treaty must consider the effects and interplay of threatening Earth changes. In BC from 1948 to 2016 average temperatures have risen 2 degrees Celsius. Floods and forest fires are rampant--species and ecosystems at risk.
Concerned groups host a yearly conference: “One River, Ethics Matter.” This was spurred by a letter written by twelve Catholic Bishops in 2001: the Declaration On Ethics & Modernizing The Columbia River Treaty www.waterplanet.ws/pdf/Ethics-Treaty_Declaration.pdf. It mentions the prior lack of consultation with Indigenous peoples, and the failure to include obligations of the US and Canada to ensure healthy fish populations and their habitat. The treaty did not provide for preservation of other cultural resources. Dams built in the 1900's altered the natural hydrograph, holding back snow-melt to reduce flood risk and preserve water for hydro-power in winter. The dams without fish passage blocked or impaired access to the best spawning grounds. Riverside forests and floodplains disappeared.
The Roundtable gives leadership to the Tribes and Bands involved, who for over 10,000 years have been the stewards of the river and its ecosystems. The drastic loss of salmon has been a huge concern. As a major food source salmon has been prominent in people's cultural and spiritual life. Salmon and their ecosystems formed an interdependent web of life. The Basin approximates the size of France and covers much of BC, Washington and Oregon, most of Idaho, part of Montana, and portions of Wyoming, Nevada, and Utah. There are about 200 dams on the river and its tributaries. At one time this river system was the world's greatest salmon run, with up to 16 million fish a year. Just a fraction remain. A major reason is the dams, but now there are also warmer water temperatures, pollution, and drought. The treaty of 1964 provided four dams--Duncan, Keenleyside, and Mica in BC, and Libby Dam in Montana, which floods into Canada. BC, Canada and the US are now negotiating. In the last year Canada has given observer status to several Indigenous bands and has consulted them during negotiations. Tribes in the US have made extensive studies of ecosystem-based function and how using this knowledge could bring great advantages to the basin's conservation, culture, wildlife, salmon, industry, and general health of people and environment--see: https://critfc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/ecosystem-booklet-single-page.pdf
After negotiations in BC, Sept., 2019, BC reported:
On behalf of the Canadian delegation, the Ktunaxa, Secwepemc and Syilx/Okanagan Nations made a presentation to U.S. negotiators, drawn from their ongoing study of ecosystems in the Canadian Columbia Basin. They also made a presentation on the collaboration between Indigenous, provincial and federal governments to explore options for the reintroduction of salmon to the Upper Columbia. The presentation also highlighted the importance of building flexibility into the treaty to achieve Indigenous, ecosystem and social objectives. Tribal advisors from the U.S. Tribes provided expertise regarding the extensive ecosystem work that the United States has undertaken in the basin, including transboundary efforts.
The run of the Columbia is 2000 km (1,240 mi.), and Canada's 15% of the watershed provides up to 40% of the entire water volume, which can increase to 50% in dry years (1). Grand Coulee Dam in WA State was built before the Treaty, and ended the ability of salmon to swim into Canada. It also flooded the huge traditional salmon fishing gathering at Kettle Falls WA, where Indigenous peoples had come for ages from up to about 260 miles away. Prior to 1785, the average number of anadromous fish caught per day there was 1,225; the season total was 122,500, with a total weight of 1,960,000 lbs (2).
There are traditional stories about the change of the course of the river in ancient times. At Dry Falls south of Coulee City, WA, one can see where the river came down the falls—higher than Niagara—and flowed south. One tale tells how Coyote was angry because he was refused a chief's daughter as his wife, so he took his revenge by depriving the people from the salmon by changing the course of the river (3).
Below: Dry Falls, WA.
BC has sponsored community meetings to answer questions and listen to citizen's concerns on the treaty. In the US such meetings are not being held; groups concerned with the Basin and treaty have been on their own. BC recently adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Hopefully the Canadian government will also do this. What we hear from the BC negotiators is that so far the US and Canadian parties are getting to know each other and their major issues. As they proceed to the nitty-gritty things will get harder. In the current treaty Canada was paid 64.4 million US dollars to construct three storage reservoirs which would be used to protect mainly US communities (1). The “Canadian Entitlement” awards Canada 50% of the power generated in the US enabled by dams in Canada—about $120 million annually. The treaty has no expiration date, but in 2024 the provision of “called-upon” water storage for flood control will no longer be available to the US from Canada. If water storage is needed the US will have to use its own storage for flood control before calling on Canada to provide it.
Important for those in BC are the tremendous losses suffered from the dams (not counting the repercussions of Grand Coulee Dam). Besides the loss of salmon, about 2,300 people were removed from homes and farms. Thirteen communities were destroyed; rich riparian areas were lost as well as recreation sites and productive agricultural land. Indigenous cultural sites, food sources and burial grounds were flooded—ways of life were forced to change. Picture below: Upper Arrow Lake, BC.
I attended the community meeting held here in November, 2019, with one of the Canadian Negotiators present, as well as a person from Global Affairs Canada on video. One difficult negotiation item may be the “Canadian Entitlement.” The US considers the payments too high; the Canadians state they will not accept a deal without value for Canada. They realize the importance to the Basin of ecosystem function and protection, salmon introduction and challenges related to drastic Earth changes. The negotiator pointed out that the use and understanding of ecosystems are very different on both sides of the border. There will be other hard issues—such as drought and decreased flows in the US (4).
We in the Roundtable and in other groups dedicated to the future health of the Basin, its life, cultures, and ecosystems, hold the vision of an international group to carry this work on beyond whatever happens with negotiations. One can feel this as a living breathing ethos forming—people identifying with the river and with our sacred duty as its caretakers. This crosses state and international boundaries. We come together, learn, and exchange ideas; we hold ceremonies centered on the river and salmon. People from different areas, backgrounds and ways of life are connecting as people of the Basin. Youths on canoe trips are learning about the river, ecosystems and traditional cultures. This is very inspiring, and I can just feel this vision vibrating all along the river and its tributaries. Our great purpose together is the Life of the River. This River is Life; it is our Life.
All my Relations.
Notes:
1. Pearkes, Eileen Delehanty. A River Captured: The Columbia River Treaty and Catastrophic Change. Rocky Mountain Books, 2016.
2. Chance, David, Jennifer V. Chance, John L. Fagan. Kettle Falls: 1972. Laboratory of Anthropology, University of Idaho. 1977.
3. Lucy James and Christine Sam, “Unsuccessful Suitor.” Traditional Teachings of the Colville Confederated Tribes. 1978. Colville Confederated Tribes.
4. Metcalfe, Bill. Columbia River Treaty: 'It's going to get tough,” Nelson Star,Nov. 28Th, 2019.
Additional resources:
https://engage.gov.bc.ca/columbiarivertreaty/treaty-review/
https://engage.gov.bc.ca/columbiarivertreaty/review/technical-studies/
www.celp.org/programs/crt/ (WA) Center for Environmental Law & Policy
http://ucut.org Upper Columbia United Tribes—projects, videos, fish passage.
www.opb.org/news/article/pacific-northwest-tribes-remove-columbia-river-dams/
Photos by Candace Holt