We are the Lhaqtemish, The Lummi People. We are the original - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

“We are the Lhaq’temish, The Lummi People. We are the original Inhabitants of Washington’s northernmost coast and southern British Columbia. For thousands

• f years, we worked, struggled, and celebrated life on the shores and waters of

Puget Sound.” –The Lummi People

Treaty of Point Elliott 1855

As part of the Point Elliott Treaty signed with the U.S. Government, vast areas of land were ceded to the United States. The treaty created a Trust Responsibility for the US with respect to the Lummi Nation. The Lummi Indian Reservation was created and reserved for the exclusive use of the Lummi People by the treaty and is intended to be a permanent, economically viable homeland.

First Salmon Ceremony

Salmon is as important to the Lummi People as the air we breathe: it sustains our Schelangen (way of life). Since time immemorial, our people honored the salmon each year by holding a salmon ceremony to respect the gift that the Salmon Woman provides to us, the sacrifice

• f her salmon children, and to pass down the tradition of

respect taught to us by our elders.

Fishing Methods

• SxWole- Reef netting
• Skiff fishing River and Bay
• Stake net or set net using poles
• Larger Gillnet
• Purse seine

Fishing is who we are

Lummi is a Fishing Tribe

• Largest Northwestern Tribal Fishing Fleet
• Commercial, Ceremonial, and Subsistence
• From 1980 – 2011 the Lummi harvested an average of

69% of tribal catch of all finfish and shellfish

• The average annual Lummi harvest is about 5.3 million

pounds of seafood.

Geoduck

Fishing is who we are

Salmon Purse Seine

Halibut

Shellfish

• Shellfish now compromise approximately 65% of

harvest volume and 85% of harvest value

• Shellfish require abundant, high quality water

Sea Urchin