How Salmon Shaped the Northwest

Salmon was the original superabundant food of the Pacific Northwest. Seasonal and massive in scale, the salmon runs up the Columbia River and its tributaries unleashed nutritional, ecological and material wealth, helping to build Indigenous nations which in turn learned how to sustainably manage this resource for millennia. But this ancient story of salmon was disrupted by the arrival of western settlers, overfishing and dams. Now, despite monumental efforts, salmon is endangered while remaining crucial to the cultures it spawned. “Superabundant” meets with the region’s present-day salmon stewards: Indigenous fishers, traders and scientists who have adapted and still hold the key to bringing the fish back