First Foods Restoration, Federal Recognition….

Following a conversation with project staff about their work restoring wapato and Columbia River floodplain habitat at Steigerwald National Wildlife Refuge, BEF Watersheds staff Kayla Seaforth talked with Sam Robinson, vice-chairman of the Chinook Indian nation to get his take on the project and discuss other areas of focus for him and the tribe.

This streamed interview is outside of the Treeline project’s normal print newsletter format, but Sam’s passion and skill as a storyteller were so apparent that we felt this was the best venue to share his insights.

“We need to do some of the things that the ancestors would do to help out the earth. But without federal status they ask us to have a seat at the table, but it’s not a seat at the table. That’s what we keep fighting for.”