The challenge

Salmon are a central part of the cultural and spiritual well being of Pacific Northwest tribal communities — and integral to their economy. In the 1950’s and 1960’s, an onslaught of hydroelectric dam construction hit the Columbia River and its tributaries, leading to a dramatic decline in salmon and the habitat they need to live. Once abundant runs of coho, spring chinook and fall chinook salmon — dependent on free passage between the Pacific Ocean and inland spawning waters — have disappeared. In the early 1980’s, populations of steelhead (sea-going trout) dwindled and neared extinction. This generated major legal and social conflicts among Indian and non Indian communities about the value of the fish or the methods to revive the runs. Today, for the approximately 20,000 residents of the Umatilla federated reservation community as well as the Yakama Nation (Washington), the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs (Oregon) and the Nez Perce Tribe (Idaho) — the fishing economy has declined radically. Tribal members have far more unemployment and lower life expectancy than nearby non-Native communities.


Seeds of commitment

Sampson belongs to the Wallulapum tribe, the Native American “River People” of the mid Columbia River. His tribal name, Pauk a Howa Laukt translates to English as “Five Times Going into the Heavens,” says Sampson. “This was the name of my grandmother’s grandfather, handed down to me when I became a young man of 14 years. In our tribal traditions, the naming ceremony explains where we come from…and what is expected of us in our life on this earth. Each elder stood by my side and gave testimony to all the people, recalling the deeds, words and characteristics of Pauk a-Howa Laukt. They described how he carried himself, how as a leader he gave to his family and people first and how he walked his life in a humble way as a tribal chief. All of the people in my community witnessed the rebirth of Pauk a Howa-Laukt in me. Each day I am reminded of this sacred ceremony.”

When he was 7, his Indian grandmother, Carrie, a traditional healer and teacher, began to take him to tribal social and ceremonial activities. There, he learned that humans borrow use of the land and its waters from future generations. His commitment to his work also comes from his Scottish grandmother, who taught him lessons of honesty, hard work, nurturing and cooperation. “Today, I am proud to say both my grandmothers and grandfathers live in me and now my four children.”


Accomplishments

As members of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon, Sampson and his fellow leaders fought for the revival of salmon runs and watersheds on the Columbia and other rivers in the region. With a degree in fisheries resource management from the University of Idaho, he served from 1985 to 1990 as lead policy and biological analyst for the Umatilla Tribal Fisheries Program, securing more than $7 million in funding. The boost in resources, along with the political help of then-Senator Mark Hatfield of Oregon, increased salmon returns in the Umatilla River basin from 1,500 to as many as 10,000 fish annually. A state-of-the-art hatchery reintroduced depleted salmon stocks into the wild. The program gradually reduced neighboring farmers’ dependence on Umatilla basin water while undertaking extensive habitat restoration. These efforts brought the fish back to their traditional spawning grounds.

As chairman of the Umatilla tribe from 1993 to 1997, Sampson helped reverse a severely depressed tribal economy, integrating it into a rapidly developing regional economy. Under his guidance, the tribal government’s payroll increased from 250 to 800 employees, tribal school enrollments grew from 1,350 to 2,100, unemployment fell from 34 percent to less than 20 percent, and the tribal Government’s annual budget grew from $6 million to more than $52 million. Banks now offer tribal members mortgages and other financial services. “For 30 years, many of the people in my community never had a job, always had lived in low cost public housing and didn’t even have a checking account or car,” Sampson says. “Now, housing developments on our reservation have shifted from low- to medium-income housing.”

Last year, Sampson’s outreach concept, the Jammin’ for Salmon festival, brought more than 17,000 people to Portland’s Waterfront Park to celebrate those cultures to which salmon is centrally important across the Pacific Northwest. The festival raises funds for salmon restoration, educates the public about salmon habitat problems and chronicles environmental successes in the region. Sampson believes that Native youth must be educated in the sciences to continue and enhance the management of tribal natural resources. In 1992, he helped start the Salmon Corps program, which teaches youth about the value of salmon restoration. Between 20 and 40 percent of each Corps class earns a General Education Development certificate. The corps also gives young people a glimpse of college life at a weeklong career conference at Portland State University. Today, more than 100 Corps members in nine tribal communities are earning a paycheck and the opportunity for a college scholarship.

Sampson’s salmon-restoration work is far from over. In 2000, as executive director of the Columbia River Inter Tribal Fish Commission, Sampson formed a coalition of northeast Washington’s Okanogan County Citizens’ Coalition, the Mid Columbia Public Utility Districts, the Colville Tribe, the Umatilla Tribe, the Yakama Tribe and local and county political leaders. The coalition agreed to divert returning salmon from entering the Winthrop National Fish Hatchery to the salmon-depleted Methow River. As a result, the number of salmon nests in the Methow River grew from only 30 in 1999 to 4,700 in 2001.
This effort has shown that, if given the opportunity, hatchery reared salmon will spawn in natural
habitat. Initially the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service opposed the project but its director now supports Sampson’s efforts.


His leadership style

Bureaucracy, rumor and controversy often plague the world of salmon restoration in the Northwest, but Sampson learned to navigate the system and bring people together. He planned and coordinated fish restoration activities of 13 tribes, four state and two federal fish and wildlife agencies. He is a skilled biologist who actively participates in tribal ceremonies and rituals, such as the roots feast, which acknowledges and celebrates traditional foods. He knows the songs and he drums along with the elders. “As a ‘leader,’ I really consider myself a follower of my people and our traditions,” Sampson says.


The future

More salmon-advocacy projects are under way. Sampson says his greatest future challenge will be to apply the successful Umatilla River region model of cooperative salmon restoration in the larger Columbia River basin. Over the next five years, Sampson hopes to build partnerships and strategic alliances among businesses, environmentalists, tribes, state and federal agencies and grassroots organizations. He will continue to press for alternative energy policies, protection and restoration of present salmon habitats, the restoration of degraded habitats and the use of hatcheries to help boost salmon populations while their habitats recover. This will be at least a 50 year effort, Sampson believes. “It will be a multigenerational solution. We must teach our children the importance of caring for the land, the rivers and the salmon. I cannot, in my lifetime, see the end result.”


More about Donald Sampson and his work

“No matter what he does today, he’s already thinking about tomorrow. In fact, he’s engaged the younger people in his tribe to consider the importance of preserving the salmon, both for their historical significance in their traditions and also for their tribes’ future prosperity. There is no one else like him.”
— Michael Schiewe, Director of Fish Ecology Division, Northwest Fishery Center