Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission

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Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission Working to put fish back in the Columbia River basin. CRITFC supports intertribal representation in planning, policy, and decision-making.

The organization operates by consensus and is governed by a commission made up of elected and appointed members of each member tribes’ fish and wildlife committees. CRITFC efforts are aligned with each of the four tribes’ respective fisheries programs through coordination. CRITFC is headquartered in Portland, Oregon, the fisheries enforcement office is located in Hood River, Oregon, and the Hagerman Genetics Laboratory is located in Hagerman, Idaho.

AIRWAY HEIGHTS, Wash. – The second day of the Rise Up Northwest in Unity (R.U.N.) Conference on Oct. 14 at the Spokane T...
10/16/2026

AIRWAY HEIGHTS, Wash. – The second day of the Rise Up Northwest in Unity (R.U.N.) Conference on Oct. 14 at the Spokane Tribe Resort & Casino turned to dam removal, emerging threats to the Columbia Basin, and cultural gathering.

The day opened with a prayer and breakfast, followed by remarks from the Confederated Tribes and Bands of Yakama Nation, whose 1855 treaty reserves the right to fish at usual and accustomed places. A morning panel, "Restoration of Sacred Waters," examined the lead-up to and aftermath of dam removal.

Midday, attendees gathered for a mini-powwow with round dances, an owl dance and inter-tribals, along with the Spokane Tribal Happy Dance. The drum group Lightning Creek led the dancing. The group also brought the big drum to last year's R.U.N. conference.

Afternoon breakouts covered small modular reactors, sustainable farming, youth engagement, orca stories, data centers, Stibnite and roadless rule issues, storytelling through film, faith and stewardship, and recreation in the basin. Author David James Duncan delivered the keynote, followed by closing comments.

The day ended with a dinner and reception featuring performer Isaac Tonasket, a Colville and Spokane singer, songwriter, actor and director who blends contemporary originals with traditional chants and honor songs.

Photos by CRITFC/JM. Gavin

AIRWAY HEIGHTS, Wash. – Tribal leaders, fisheries scientists, youth and conservation partners open the fourth annual Ris...
10/14/2026

AIRWAY HEIGHTS, Wash. – Tribal leaders, fisheries scientists, youth and conservation partners open the fourth annual Rise Up Northwest in Unity (R.U.N.) Conference on Oct. 13 at the Spokane Tribe Resort & Casino. The theme is "Inspiring Action at the Speed of Trust."

The first day opens with a prayer and welcome from the Spokane Tribe of Indians. Elaine Harvey (Kamiltpah, Yakama Nation), CRITFC Watershed Program Manager, speaks during the general assembly on the Success for Our First Foods panel. The panel discusses the significance of First Foods to the tribes and highlights the tribes leading the effort to protect and conserve them. Harvey describes tribal work to restore First Food habitats and stresses the importance of bringing youth into harvesting, preserving, ceremony and the conversation itself.

Dr. Zach Penney (Nez Perce), CRITFC Director of Strategic Initiatives, moderates a breakout session on the Columbia River Basin's fish runs and the tribal and agency work to restore them.

In a youth-only breakout, Angela Picard (Nez Perce) leads a stick game teaching session and plays with the youth gathered. They include students from Lapwai High School, members of the Salmon Youth Protectors group, and Klamath Nation youth. Other breakouts cover barge transportation on the lower Snake River, toxic chemical reduction, and Southern Resident orcas.

In the evening, the Seven Sisters campaign gathers at Spokane Live, led by Kayeloni Scott (Nez Perce). The Se'Si'Le-led initiative elevates seven Indigenous women leaders working on biodiversity loss, climate disruption and environmental injustice. The women speak about protecting salmon and tribal heritage, and about the covenant between the salmon and the Columbia Plateau tribes. For these tribes, salmon is a brother and the First Food. The tribes' treaty-reserved fishing rights, secured in the 1855 treaties, remain tied to that relationship.

Photos by CRITFC/JM. Gavin

Nez Perce Tribe

10/12/2026

Part Two:

Today, we honor our people, the original stewards of this land, and the ancestors who fought to protect our right to fish, hunt and gather at all our usual and accustomed places.

Despite centuries of attempts to take our lands and erase our culture, we are still here, exercising our treaty rights along the Columbia River as our elders fiercely protected them.

These rights are about more than sustenance. They are about sovereignty, and our promise to care for the river and our First Foods as they care for us.

This Indigenous Peoples Day, we celebrate our ongoing presence, our treaty rights and our future.

— Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
Featuring: Corinne Sams (CRITFC Vice Chair and Board of Trustees member), Christopher "Ish" Williams (CRITFC Commissioner and CTUIR Fish and Wildlife Commissioner), Vincent Sheoships (CRITFC extern and Lewis & Clark Law School student) and Abraham Shippentower (Yakama Nation Warrior and CTUIR Youth Leadership Council Cultural Ambassador)

10/12/2026

Today, we honor our people, the original stewards of this land, and the ancestors who fought to protect our right to fish, hunt and gather at all our usual and accustomed places.

Despite centuries of attempts to take our lands and erase our culture, we are still here, exercising our treaty rights along the Columbia River as our elders fiercely protected them.

These rights are about more than sustenance. They are about sovereignty, and our promise to care for the river and our First Foods as they care for us.

This Indigenous Peoples Day, we celebrate our ongoing presence, our treaty rights and our future.

— Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
Featuring: Corinne Sams (CRITFC Vice Chair and Board of Trustees member), Christopher "Ish" Williams (CRITFC Commissioner and CTUIR Fish and Wildlife Commissioner), Vincent Sheoships (CRITFC extern and Lewis & Clark Law School student) and Abraham Shippentower (Yakama Nation Warrior and CTUIR Youth Leadership Council Cultural Ambassador)

Today, we celebrate our people, the original stewards of this land. We honor the strength and resilience of our ancestor...
10/12/2026

Today, we celebrate our people, the original stewards of this land. We honor the strength and resilience of our ancestors, who fought to protect our ways of life and our right to fish, hunt and gather in all our usual and accustomed places.
Despite centuries of attempts to take our lands and erase our culture, we are still here, exercising our treaty rights along the Columbia River as our elders fiercely protected them.

Our treaty fishing rights are about more than sustenance. They are about sovereignty, and they remind us of our connection to the river, to our First Foods and to our promise to care for them as they care for us. Exercising these rights is an act of love for our land, our foods, our ancestors and all the generations yet to come.

On this Indigenous Peoples Day 2026, we celebrate our ongoing presence, our treaty rights and our future.

— Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission

Join CRITFC for the 5th Annual Native American Domestic Violence Awareness Gathering, hosted by our Victim Assistance Pr...
10/03/2026

Join CRITFC for the 5th Annual Native American Domestic Violence Awareness Gathering, hosted by our Victim Assistance Program, from 5:15 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21, at the RISE Center, 1805 Minnesota St., The Dalles.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and the need in Native communities is urgent. The National Institute of Justice study found that 84.3% of American Indian and Alaska Native women and 81.6% of men have experienced violence in their lifetimes. Among Native victims, 97% of women and 90% of men have experienced violence by at least one non-Native perpetrator.

That is one reason tribal sovereignty and the authority to protect our people matter.

The gathering brings the community together to support survivors, share resources, and offer songs and prayer. The evening includes program resources, a drum group, and a candlelight vigil.

Dinner will be served at 6 p.m. to the first 100 guests. Healing happens in community. Bring family, friends, and neighbors.

Questions? Contact Charlieann Herkshan at (503) 878-1847 or [email protected].

Source: National Institute of Justice, "Violence Against American Indian and Alaska Native Women and Men" (2016), based on 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey data.

* NIJ article (Rosay, NIJ Journal 277, 2016): https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/violence-against-american-indian-and-alaska-native-women-and-men
* Full NIJ research report (PDF):https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/249822.pdf
* NIJ publication abstract (includes the 97% and 90% non-Native perpetrator figures): https://nij.ojp.gov/index.php/library/publications/violence-against-american-indian-and-alaska-native-women-and-men

Aja DeCoteau, executive director of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, spoke at The Nature Conservancy's 2...
10/02/2026

Aja DeCoteau, executive director of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, spoke at The Nature Conservancy's 2026 Western US & Canada Trustee Summit in Portland, joining representatives from the Klamath River and Southeast Alaska on a panel,

"From Source to Sea: Pacific Salmon Restoration and Community Revival."

DeCoteau also met with Fawn Sharp, a member of TNC's Global Board and former president of the Quinault Indian Nation and the National Congress of American Indians.

Other attendees at the Sept. 28-Oct. 1 summit included Sally Jewell, a TNC Global Board member who served as U.S. interior secretary during the Obama administration, and former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, a TNC trustee in Colorado.

CRITFC provides technical and policy support to its founding member tribes Yakama, Umatilla, Warm Springs and Nez Perce, whose treaty-reserved fishing rights anchor their work to restore salmon in the Columbia Basin.

10/01/2026

Don’t forget! This is today, in less than an hour. For more information, read below:

10/01/2026

As we close out this day of remembrance, and as CRITFC commissioners, staff and their families wear orange shirts, we ask you to continue holding space year-round for Native families still healing from the effects of residential schools.

We wear orange:

🧡 In remembrance of the young lives lost, and in prayer for the healing of survivors who came home with pain and trauma.

🧡 In defiance of a system that tried to steal and beat our languages, cultures and ways from us, and in gratitude for the elders who held that knowledge in their hearts.

🧡 In hope that we always remember, so we can keep teaching our ways to the seven generations beyond us, and in celebration of the strength and resilience we carry in our bloodlines.

CRITFC, created in 1977 by the Yakama Nation, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and Nez Perce Tribe to protect treaty-reserved fishing rights, salmon and First Foods, designed this year's shirt to reflect that work. An adult salmon curls protectively around juvenile salmon, symbolizing elders caring for the next generation. The design carries "Every Child Matters" in English and Ichiskíin.

Let your voice be heard in support of fish recovery across the Columbia Basin.The Northwest Power and Conservation Counc...
09/30/2026

Let your voice be heard in support of fish recovery across the Columbia Basin.

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NWPCC) is updating its Ninth Power Plan and accepting public comments on the draft plan through October 16. The plan steers how the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), utilities, and regional decision makers choose the resources needed to meet the Northwest’s electricity demand.

Let the Northwest Power and Conservation Council know:
Our ancestors protected these waters and fish for generations. Tribal leaders and elders have been sharing the message that the region's energy and fish recovery responsibilities are inseparable and new energy resources must benefit fish, waters, rivers, and communities, and they must honor the obligations to uphold our treaties.
Now it's everyone’s chance to share their views during the public comment period. No comment is too short. Even a few sentences about what salmon mean to you, your family, or your community can make a difference.�
Participate in two different ways:
* Submit written comments before October 16
* Testify at a Ninth Power Plan hearing online or at an in-person hearing near you

List of Upcoming Hearings:
TOMORROW - Virtual Webinar
When: Thurs. October 1, 4-6pm PT
Where: By webinar only on Zoom
REGISTER HERE!

https://nwcouncil.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_MWVjWXVXSgSdrWIKCDqGmg #/registration

Missoula
When: Mon. October 5, 4:30-6:30pm MT
Where: Edgewater Missoula, 100 Madison St
Idaho Falls
When: Tue. October 6, 4:30-6:30 MT
Where: Idaho Fish and Game Office, Centennial Room, 4279 Commerce Circle
Seattle
When: Wed. October 7, 4-6pm PT
Where: Seattle University, Oberto Commons, Sinegal Room 200, 901 12th Ave
Hearing Prep: Join the 9th Power Plan Hearing Prep on September 30th at 7pm at Rein Haus, Seattle. Sierra Club Washington Chapter will provide an overview of the 9th Power Plan, discuss the key issues we’re advocating around, and walk through how to prepare and deliver effective public testimony. Learn more and register today!
Yakima
When: Monday. October 5, 6pm PT
Where: Bayt Jenin Coffeehouse, 919 Summitview Ave., Yakima, WA
Moscow
When: Thursday. October 8, 6pm PT
Where: 1912 Center, 412 E 3rd St., Moscow, ID

Pictured above are (from left) CRITFC Watershed Program Manager Elaine Harvey (Yakama), NWPCC Vice Chair Thomas “Les” Purcell, CRITFC Executive Director Aja DeCoteau (Yakama), NWPCC Policy Analyst/Biologist Stacy Horton, NWPCC Member KC Golden, CRITFC Watershed Deputy Manager Laura Gephart, CRITFC Fishery Science Manager Donella Miller (Yakama). �CRITFC Photo

Address

700 NE Multnomah Street, Ste 1200
Portland, OR
97232

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+15032380667

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