Credit: AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski |
Wilbur Slockish Jr. has been shot at, had rocks hurled at him. He hid underground for months, and then spent 20 months serving time in federal prisons across the country — all of that for fishing in the Columbia River.
But Slockish, a traditional river chief of the Klickitat Band of the Yakama Nation, would endure it all again to protect his right of access to the river and the fish that his people believe were bestowed to them by the Creator.
“It’s a sacred covenant,” he said. “Nothing’s more important.” |
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Tribal fishermen like Slockish have drawn the ire of commercial and sport fisherman as well as government officials over the decades for engaging in an act of faith. For Slockish and his ancestors, who have inhabited the Columbia River Basin “since the beginning of time,” stewardship of the land, the river and its fish, animals and plant life is a divine contract at the core of a millennia-old religious practice. They’ve fished in the river not just to practice their faith, but also to eke out a livelihood. |
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