They Don't Hear Our Cries: Salmon and Herring Protectors unite in ceremony

In April 2023, Salmon and Herring Protectors united in ceremony to protect what is sacred.

Communities along the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers in Alaska have been unable to meet subsistence needs for the past several years, due to the lack of salmon returning to their home rivers. Climate change, trawler bycatch, and inequitable fisheries management policies that favor commercial interests over the subsistence rights of Alaska Native communities have impacted over 100,000 people along these rivers.

In April 2023, the Herring Protectors hosted a Yaaw Koo.éex' in Sitka to honor the herring. In the midst of the ceremony, Herring Protectors gifted a tináa to Yukon and Kuskokwim River communities to show solidarity in their fight to protect their salmon.

Visit www.nativemovement.org/sponsored-partners to support the work of each of the groups involved in protecting salmon and herring for our communities: Herring Protectors, Smokehouse Collective, and Tlaa Deneldel. Thank you!