Director of CTUIR's Department of Natural Resources discusses First Foods framework

At its May meeting at the Wildhorse Resort in Pendleton, Ore., the Council heard from Eric Quaempts, Director for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation’s (CTUIR) Department of Natural Resources (DNR), on the CTUIR DNR’s First Foods management approach. Quaempts grew up on the Umatilla River and has served as the Director for the CTUIR DNR since 2004. Prior to that, he worked as a wildlife biologist for the CTUIR DNR and for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Oregon Fish and Wildlife Policy Analyst Rudy Salakory introduced Director Quaempts, saying, “If you haven’t heard Eric talk about First Foods before, you’re in for a treat. And if you have heard it before, you’re also in for a treat.”

“Our mission at DNR is to protect, restore, and enhance the First Foods and medicines for the perpetual cultural, economic, and sovereign benefit of the tribe,” said Quaempts.

On the map at the right, the larger green area represents the 6.4 million acres ceded to the US Government in the treaty of 1855 where the CTUIR reserves the right to forage. This area is a fraction of a larger aboriginal area that the CTUIR traveled and used, which expands all the way up to Alaska, down to California, and east to Montana. In 2010, the CTUIR established rights to bison hunting in Montana; tribal members also travel to Willamette Falls to harvest lamprey.

Quaempts went on to list the order of the First Foods, starting with: Cúuš (water), Núsux (salmon), Yáamaš (deer), Xáwš (roots), Wíwnu (huckleberry), and then concluding with Cúuš (water) again.

“There are gender roles associated with harvesting and serving foods for feasts,” explained Quaempts. “Men serving the water, the fish, and the big game, and the women serving the roots and berries.” He went on to explain that the order of the foods comes from tribal creation beliefs and is rooted in concepts of reciprocity:

“I think that’s a huge message. Reciprocity is something that has never been fully developed or realized in Western science and Western management… the idea of caring for something that is there to provide for you is really important…Tribal culture is very food-dependent. If you think about all the things that go on between and among generations, teaching and learning, harvesting and preparing the first foods, the cultural laws that go along with that, the methods, the practices, the ceremonies, celebrating them…in DNR, we manage for the physical and ecological processes that provides these foods, and access. Access is huge, so that the community can continue to practice all of this…I enjoy giving this presentation, because it always re-inspires me for this work.”

Quaempts also spoke about the CTUIR’s River Vision, which has the stated goal of “a healthy river capable of providing First Foods that sustain the continuity of the Tribe’s culture. This vision requires a river that is dynamic and shaped not only by physical and biological processes, but the interactions and interconnections between those processes.” Examples of projects that fall under this umbrella with connections to the Council’s Fish and Wildlife Program include the Walla Walla Water Strategic Plan and the UmaBirch Floodplain Restoration project. As floodplain connectivity and wetlands have been restored, species like beaver and steelhead have returned to the area. Future restoration will include native riparian vegetation, like wapato, a cultural food plant that the community requested be restored to its previous range. Additional projects planned by the CTUIR DNR include freshwater mussel and lamprey propagation, upland restoration, thinning beetle-killed trees, fuels management, pollinator ecology, and studying potential impacts of climate variability.