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Climate Change Implications for the Quileute and Hoh Tribes of Washington: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Assessing Climatic Disruptions to Coastal Indigenous Communities
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Date
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2009
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Papiez, Chelsea
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Environmental Studies
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Climate Change Implications for the Quileute and Hoh Tribes of
Washington: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Assessing Climatic
Disruptions to Coastal Indigenous Communities
By
Chelsie Papiez
A Thesis: Essay of Distinction
Submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree
Master of Environmental Studies
The Evergreen State College
March 2009
© 2009 by Chelsie Papiez. All rights reserved.
This Thesis for the Master of Environmental Studies Degree
by
Chelsie Papiez
has been approved for
The Evergreen State College
by
____________________________
Zoltan Grossman, Ph.D.
Member of the Faculty
____________________________
Linda Moon Stumpff, Ph.D.
Member of the Faculty
____________________________
James Jaime
Executive Director of the Quileute Tribe
____________________________
Date
ABSTRACT
Climate Change Implications for Quileute and Hoh Tribes of Coastal
Washington: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Assessing Climatic
Disruptions to Coastal Indigenous Communities
By
Chelsie Papiez
Native peoples are the world’s early warning system that climate
change is affecting human communities. Climate disruptions are
impacting hardest on their place-based rights and way of life. On the
northern coast of Washington State, Traditional Ecological Knowledge
gathered through in-depth interviews strongly suggests climate change is
impacting the reservations of the Quileute and Hoh peoples. Both Nations
live on low-lying coastline, bordered on three sides by the Olympic
National Park, and are susceptible to sea-level rise, extreme storm surge
events, and shoreline erosion. Quileute and Hoh peoples are already
experiencing and responding to increased winter storms and flooding
associated with increased precipitation coinciding with high tide at both
the Quillayute and Hoh River mouths. They have little high land to
relocate out of the river flood or ocean surge zones. In response, both
tribes are requesting higher land within the Olympic National Park for
village relocation. Species range shifts in the ocean are becoming more
common with the arrival of new warm water species. Declines have been
exhibited in traditional resources in the terrestrial, freshwater and marine
environments along with an increase in invasive species, hypoxia and
domoic acid events. In response, domoic acid is frequently tested to
ensure traditional foods gathered are safe. The Quileute obtained a fair
weather fisheries agreement with the State to help stabilize their
subsistence economy during the winter storm season. Emergency radios
and satellite phones are available to all residents on the isolated Hoh
Reservation. Intertribal cooperation is increasingly relied on in order to
maintain traditional practices. Traditional Ecological Knowledge is a
critical resource for understanding and responding to the environmental
changes already occurring on the coast. Other coastal communities will be
forced to respond to similar impacts and should look to these tribes as a
model.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES……………………………….….vi
CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION………….………………………....1
Climate Change and Native Peoples.........................................................1
Washington Coastal Tribes........................................................................2
Quileute Tribe………………………………………................................7
Hoh Tribe.................................................................................................12
Purpose of Study………………………………………………………..13
CHAPTER 2 – LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………...14
TEK Case Studies Around the World…………………………………...16
TEK and Climate Change Case Studies………………………………...18
Climate Change and Native Americans...……………………………….21
CHAPTER 3 – BACKGROUND………………………………….….25
Regional Climate Change Impacts.............................…………………..28
Increased Storm Damage and Flooding…………………………29
Decreased River Flow…………………………………...............31
Project Location………………………………………………………...32
Flow Impacts on Local River Systems……………………….....37
CHAPTER 4 – METHODOLOGY…………………………….……..41
Study Design and Objectives……………………………………………41
Documenting Process…………………………………………………...42
CHAPTER 5 – RESULTS……………………………………..………46
Changes on the Coast…………………………………………………...46
Storms.......................................................................................................47
Wind……………………………………………………………..51
Precipitation……………………………………………..............52
Timing of Rainfall………………………………………………53
Snowfall…………………………………………………………54
High Flow and Flooding………………………………………...57
Fisheries………………………………………………………………...64
Timing of runs…………………………………………………..65
Population Changes.................................................................................69
Bird Declines……………………………………………………72
Hypoxia…………………………………………………………73
iv
Crabbing………………………..……………………………….75
Domoic Acid……………………...……………...……………..77
Diseases and Pests……………………………………………………...81
Non-native Louse…………………………………………….....82
Hemorrhagic Disease…………………………………………...82
Spruce Weevil…………...……………………………………...83
Species Range Shifts…………………………………………………....84
Bird Species…………………………………………………….85
Ocean Species…………………………………………………..87
Sea Turtles……………………………………………...89
Fish……………………………………………………..90
Sunfish……………………………………………….....90
Sailfish………………………………………………….91
Gathering……………………………………………………………….92
Cedar……………………………………………………………93
Bear Grass………………………………………………………94
Berries.………………………………………………………….95
Responses to Change….………………………………………………..97
Implications for the Future and Long-term Responses……..……..…....98
Marine Sanctuary...…………………………………………….101
CHAPTER 6 – DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION…….………...102
Future for the Quileute and Hoh Communities......................................105
Model for Coastal Communities………………………………….........106
Recommendations………….……………………...…………………...107
REFERENCES……...…………………………………...……………112
APPENDICES…………………………………………...……………119
v
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Number
Page
1
Map of Western Washington Tribes…………………..3
2
Map of National Park Coastline ………………………4
3
Aerial Map of the Quileute Reservation………………5
4
Coastal Tsunami Map of the Quileute Reservation…...5
5
Aerial Map of the Hoh Reservation…………………...6
6
Coastal Tsunami Map of the Hoh Reservation………..6
7
Greenhouse Effect……………………………………26
8
Global Environmental Changes……………………...28
9
Pacific Decadal Oscillation…………………………..29
10
Washington Coast Erosion Map…………………......33
11
Beach Erosion Vulnerability Images……………..….34
12
Coastal Cultural Sites at Risk to Sea-Level Rise….....36
13
Hoh and Quillayute River Watersheds Map...……….37
14
Hoh River High Flows…………………………..…...40
15
Coastal Hypoxia Events………………………..…….76
16
OCNMS Monitoring Buoys…………………..……...81
17
Brown Pelican Seasonal Range……………...……....86
vi
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am tremendously thankful for the entire Quileute and Hoh
Nations for making me feel part of their communities. I truly felt honored
to be a guest at DeAnna Hobson’s home on the Quileute Reservation
during the entire duration of the project. I will forever be indebted to her
and her family for opening their door and making me feel like part of the
family. To the Quileute and Hoh Tribal Councils I share my greatest
appreciation for approving and supporting the project, and me throughout
the study. To the Quileute Natural Resources office thank you so much
for providing me with an office space. To the Quileute and Hoh Natural
Resources offices thank you for the support and the many resources you
provided me. A special thank you to Bonita Cleveland who invited me to
dance on many occasions; it was an honor I will never forget! In addition,
thank you to my readers, Zoltan Grossman, Linda Moon Stumpff, and
James Jaime for all of your support, guidance, and encouragement along
the way. A final thank you goes out to my family for always believing in
me.
vii
CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION
Climate Change and Native Peoples
Native peoples are the world’s early warning system that climate
change is affecting human communities. Climate change is impacting
hardest on their place-based rights and way of life. From villages in
Alaska suffering from unstable ground associated with melting permafrost
and ice, to Pacific Islanders becoming the first climate change refugees
due to sea-level rise inundating small island nations; Native people are
experiencing the first major effects of global climate change.
Peoples living in the Northern latitude regions are experiencing
unprecedented warming that is changing the traditional livelihoods of
many Native communities. The Inuit of Canada, Alaska, Siberia and
Greenland are dealing with drastic changes in their environments and are
working together to find ways to quickly adapt.
For the Inuit, warming is likely to disrupt or even destroy their
hunting and food-sharing culture as reduced sea ice causes the animals (on
which they depend) to decline, become less accessible, and possibly
become extinct (Corel, 2005; NIARI, 2006). One way the Inuit people are
trying to cope with the changing environment, is by changing their hunting
patterns by adjusting their “seasonal calendar” (Fenge, 2001), by
shortening the season for ice fishing and using all-terrain vehicles when
there is not enough snow to support snowmobiles (Riedlinger, 2001). In
1
the summer, seals are hunted by boat on the open water due to the lack of
ice floes (Riedlinger, 2001).
Pacific Islanders too are feeling the impacts of climate change. For
example, the small nation of Tuvalu is experiencing seawater intrusion
into their small atoll land base.
There are islands themselves disappearing…so that’s surely a sign
that there’s something changing around here. – Loto Pasefika
(Horner, 2004)
Traditional foods are suffering from increased salinization of the soil due
to sea-level rise. Native crops such as the taro and yam are dying off.
More droughts and tropical cyclones are causing extensive damage to the
landscape, making the small atolls progressively less habitable for
Tuvaluans (Horner, 2004). Neighboring countries such as New Zealand
are beginning to accept Tuvaluans as climate change refugees (Horner,
2004). In a speech to the United Nations the Prime Minister of Tuvalu
summed up the feelings of many Indigenous communities who are
experiencing the first major impacts of climate change.
We live in constant fear of the adverse impacts of climate change.
For a coral atoll nation, sea level rise and more severe weather
events loom as a growing threat to our entire population. The
threat is real and serious, and is of no difference to a slow and
insidious form of terrorism against us. – Saufatu Sopoanga, Prime
Minister of Tuvalu (Sopoanga, 2003)
Washington Coastal Tribes
Like Pacific Islanders, Washington tribes are limited to sovereign
land bases, essentially fixed political islands within a landscape without
space to migrate away from climate change impacts, such as sea-level rise.
2
In the West Coast States, tribes limited to small land bases on the coastline
are most at risk. In Washington State, the Shoalwater Bay, Quinault, Hoh,
Quileute, Makah, Skokomish, Lower Elwha Klallam, Jamestown
S’Klallam, Port Gamble S’Klallam, Squaxin Island, Suquamish, Tulalip,
Swinomish, and Lummi are all coastal dwelling people that will have to
respond to increased storm surges, warming seas, and sea-level rise (See
Figure 1). Many other tribes in Washington are located on rivers only a
short distant from the coast. One reservation in particular that has been
experiencing increased river and rainfall induced flooding, especially
during the last two winters (2008-09), is the Confederated Tribes of
Chehalis.
Figure 1 – Map of
Western Washington
Tribes. All of the
reservations are
located on waterways
(Courtesy of Zoltan
Grossman).
3
Tribes with exceptionally small reservations are at even more risk. The
Shoalwater, Hoh and Quileute reservations on the outer coast of
Washington all have only one square mile or less (Shoalwater 335 acres),
and therefore have very little land for retreating from increased storm
surges and sea-level rise.
The effects that marine and terrestrial ecosystem disruptions will
have on tribes’ way of life will disproportionally affect the viability of
these low-lying reservations along the Washington coastline, making it
difficult to maintain traditional and non-traditional place-based practices.
This is especially true for the Quileute and Hoh tribes, whose reservations
are low-lying coastal land bordered on three sides by the Olympic
National Park (Figure 2-6). Not only are their reservation lands close to
sea level, but their subsistence economies rely on the availability of
natural resources such as fisheries.
Figure 2 – Olympic National
Park shoreline (shown in pink)
surrounds the Quileute and Hoh
reservations (Pendleton et al.,
2004).
Quileute
Reservation
Hoh
Reservation
4
Figure 3 – Quileute Reservation aerial map from 1994 shows the lowlying village along the ocean and the Quillayute River (TerraServer USA,
2009).
Figure 4 – A map of the Quileute
Reservation depicting the high
risk tsunami zone. This is an
example of the low-lying nature
of the reservation, making it
susceptible to sea-level rise and
storm surges (DNR, 2007b).
5
Figure 5 – Hoh Reservation aerial map from 1994 shows the lowlying village along the ocean and the Hoh River (TerraServer USA,
2009)
Figure 6 – Hoh Reservation tsunami inundation map. All major
government structures are within the tsunami risk zone (DNR, 2007a).
6
Global climate change may be the greatest challenge for
Washington tribes since the arrival of European-American settlers. This
challenge is occurring due to global phenomena, much of it distant from
our shores. The ice caps are rapidly melting with increasing global
temperatures. Scientists have predicted that sea-level will rise with the
melting of the polar ice and the thermal expansion of the ocean in warmer
temperatures. Not only will sea level rise, but marine life is in jeopardy as
the water warms above natural levels, putting communities that depend on
the intricate marine ecosystem at risk. The impacts of this global climate
change will hit hardest on those living in coastal regions.
Native peoples of Washington coast have an intimate connection to
the land and ocean, and have adapted to previous environmental and social
changes from the receding glaciers of the last ice age to European
American colonization. Yet they may be facing unprecedented disruptions
to their coastal way of life due to climate change. It is important to
document current changes being felt by the Hoh and Quileute peoples so
that their intimate knowledge of the coastal landscape can be shared with
other communities that will soon experience the changes from global
warming. Their responses could help serve as a model for communities to
begin to mitigate and adapt to the changes to come.
Quileute Tribe
The Quileute people have lived in the coastal rainforest of the
Olympic Peninsula for thousands of years. The Quileute and the Hoh
7
tribes (along with the former Chemakum tribe1 of the Port Townsend area)
are linguistically unrelated to any other tribes in the world. Quileute and
Hoh people are the last to carry the Quileute language from what is called
the Chimakuan language family, descended from a unique language of
their ancestors.
Life for the Quileute people has not always been peaceful. With
their traditional land base, legal rights and culture impacted by European
colonization, the Quileute people have long fought for their traditional
rights on the land and sea. Historically, the people of the Quileute Tribe
used a land base of 900 square miles from the coast to the Olympic
Mountain Range (Morganroth III, 2008; Pettitt, 1950). Chris Morganroth
III (2008) noted that they shared camps with other coastal tribes, moving
with the seasonal weather cycles from the coast to inland areas.
For the past 100 years or so, since reservations were set up, we
were not allowed to migrate anymore. We used to move with the
weather…moving to different camps with the season from the
ocean to further inland. We were not nomads, but rather we
moved with the weather to the best camps. There were nine tribes
on the Olympic Peninsula; many had communal homes called
longhouses. The Quileute people had several villages that were
kept open by fire. – Chris Morganroth, Quileute Elder
During early negotiations with Governor Issac Stevens of
Washington Territory and President James Buchanan, the Quileute signed
the Treaty of Quinault River in 1855, followed by the Treaty of Olympia
the following year (Buchanan, 1855 & 1856) that resulted in giving up
large tracts of lands with a guarantee of continued access to the traditional
fishing grounds “that had long sustained their people” (Ralston, 2008).
8
Yet their negotiations with the State did not leave them with their “usual
and accustomed places” to fish, but instead forced them to move south to a
reservation located on the traditional land of the Quinault people, their
“traditional enemy” (Ralston, 2008). The Quinault Reservation was an
attempt by the United States government to consolidate a land base for
“the different tribes and bands of the Quinaielt and Quillchute Indians,”
eventually for the Southwest Washington tribes too after their treaty talks
collapsed (Buchanan, 1855 & 1856). The Quinault Reservation is
approximately 115 miles south of La Push on the current road system.
Many Quileute people walked to the Quinault Reservation never to return
to their homeland, while some grew homesick and returned to La Push.
After 33 years of waiting, the Quileute finally gained a land base
recognized by the United States. On February 22, 1889, President
Benjamin Harrison created a separate reservation for the Quileute people,
a one-square mile of coastal land bordered by the Quileute River and the
Pacific Ocean. Currently, their land base is limited to 814-acre
reservation, the original reservation with the addition of some private land
holdings, which is much still reduced from their traditional 900-square
mile territory. The Quileute Reservation is currently home to
approximately 450 members of the Quileute Tribe with an additional 256
members living off the reservation (Ralston, 2008).
Following United State’s recognition of their sovereignty, the
Quileute (along with the Hoh Tribe) had another challenge with the
9
creation of the Olympic National Park in 1938, and the addition of coastal
lands in 1953 that directly border both reservations (ONPS, 2008). The
National Park Service has a preservation mission that does not always
include Indigenous people, making negotiations for resources especially
difficult. As a result with the Park as their new neighbor, obtaining
traditional land resources has become more challenging because actions
must be dealt with on the federal level.
After the historic Boldt Decision of 1974 the Quileute and Hoh
people, along with other coastal and inland tribes of the Pacific Northwest,
re-established their treaty-backed fishing and hunting rights. Now the
Quileute people have recognized rights to fish in their “usual and
accustomed” fishing areas within the Quillayute River watershed. They
also reestablished ocean fishing rights that spans 200 miles from shore
from Sand Point near Lake Ozette and south to the Queets River mouth
(Moon, 2008).
The Quileute people have always been intimately connected to the
coastal land and sea. They were historically known for their accomplished
seal and whale hunting. Their recognized sovereign land is primarily
coastal lowland, which is highly susceptible to flooding during winter
storms and lies within a high-risk tsunami zone (Figures 2-3).
The 1964 Alaskan earthquake of magnitude 9.2 was the largest
earthquake ever recorded in North America. It triggered a tsunami that hit
the Alaska, B.C., Washington, Oregon, and California coastlines. This is a
10
very vivid memory for many people still living on the Washington coast.
In La Push boats were damaged, but fortunately no lives were lost. Out of
fear of tsunamis, and of increased flooding during winter months, the tribe
is currently bidding for higher ground. Following a major storm that hit
the Quileute Reservation in December 2006 that pushed huge drift wood
up to the school playground and the January 2006 tsunami that hit South
and Southeast Asia, the children of La Push held a mock funeral to protest
their dangerous school location in the lower village (Kowal, 2006). This
dramatized a very real and dangerous situation that the Quileute Tribe
faces not only out of fear of a tsunami, but also of the impacts of climate
change and sea-level rise. Nearly half of the current reservation land base
is in the river flood zone, making the options slim for moving any of the
lower village to safety within the designated reservation.
If a tsunami warning were issued for the coast, people would have
just minutes to travel nearly a mile down the only road out of the
reservation. – James Jaime, Executive Director Quileute Tribe
(Crawford, 2004)
Currently, the school along with the entire lower village organizes
tsunami drills where everyone must evacuate up to the highest part of the
reservation where the current high school sits, the A-Ka-Lat. In 2004 the
Quileute community successfully evacuated everyone (~250 people) from
the lower village within nine minutes, within the amount of time tribal
leaders believe is successful in avoiding loss of life (Crawford, 2004).
11
Hoh Tribe
By an Executive Order of President Grover Cleveland on
September 11, 1893, four years after the Quileute Reservation was
recognized, the Hoh Tribe was granted a small, one square-mile
reservation along their traditional lands of the Hoh River (Wray, 2002).
The reservation is 443 acres bordered by the ocean, the Hoh River, and the
Olympic National Park. The tribe has approximately “186 registered Hoh
tribal members, 94 of whom live on the reservation” (Wray, 2002). Of the
443 acres, 90 percent of the land is in the 100-year flood plain that seems
to be flooding more frequently in recent years (Berry, 2008; M. Riebe,
2008). In addition, 100 percent of the 443 acres is within a high-risk
tsunami zone (Berry, 2008; M. Riebe, 2008)(Figure 5-6).
The Hoh River watershed is made up of numerous tributaries—
some small and some quite large. The Hoh River, or Cha’laK’at’sit
(Southern River) flows from Mount Olympus down to the Pacific Ocean.
It flows from the mountain tops and descends 7,000 feet in a 50-mile
stretch before it reaches the ocean (Powell, 1999). It is known as the
“southern river” because it was traditionally the southernmost river in
Quileute-speaking country (Powell, 1999). Historically, the Hoh village
was characterized by a “busy waterway with 7 settlements along its course
and a resident population of 110 or more” (Powell, 1999). There was
always seasonal movement (before the reservation was established) to
hunting and gathering grounds and camps along the river. Jay Powell
12
notes, “the entire watershed was utilized in traditional times. The Old
Peoples’ cognitive maps of the river were dotted with place names, the
boundaries of hunting grounds, and the sites associated with mythic
narratives, spiritual beliefs, ritual sites, burial locales, tribal historic
events, and favorite foraging spots” (Powell, 1999).
To this day the Hoh Tribe makes its livelihood primarily from
fishing, with some individuals also selling traditional crafts such as cedar
woven baskets, cedar dugout canoes and other carvings (Hoh Tribe, 2008).
Both the Quileute and Hoh people still gather much of their resources
from the tidelands for razor and butter clams, boots (chitons) and slippers
(mussels) and the forest for cedar, grass and berry harvests.
Purpose of Study
With the understanding of current climate change impacts and
those predicted for the Pacific Northwest, this project examines specific
examples on the local scale. The coastal reservations of the Quileute
Tribe in La Push and the Hoh Tribe at the mouth of the Hoh River in
coastal Western Washington are where the project takes root. The project
attempts to document current impacts that the tribes are experiencing,
through an interview process that relies on the Traditional Ecological
Knowledge (TEK) that these communities, like many Indigenous
communities, still possess. TEK is aligned with Western scientific
findings and predictions. Even in the absence of this alignment, the
process documents environmental changes being felt by the Quileute and
13
Hoh communities and the responses these communities are already taking
to adapt to the environmental changes. TEK is important to environmental
studies because it can be “used to understand and predict environmental
events upon which the livelihood or even survival of the individual
depends” (Huntington, 2000). The purpose of this study is to provide an
inventory of the changes being felt by the Quileute and Hoh communities
and to help share responses for other coastal communities to use as a
guide. Native and non-Native communities can use this study approach to
help document environmental changes in their own communities to shape
community adaptation planning. This project also tries to breakdown the
disciplinary barriers that often alienate TEK and promote interdisciplinary
discussions.
CHAPTER 2 – LITERATURE REVIEW
Numerous reports of a changing climate have come from the
scientific community, but those to first feel the changes are those who
have lived within a landscape for thousands of years— Indigenous First
Nations.
On one hand, Indigenous peoples are on the frontline of climate
change the first to feel its effects, with subsistence economies and
cultures that are the most vulnerable to climate catastrophes. On
the other hand, Indigenous people can also be viewed as the most
historically adaptable and resilient, because of our traditional
ecological knowledge and community ties. (NIARI, 2006)
This literature review will cover case studies on Native communities
around the world to highlight the importance of using Traditional
14
Ecological Knowledge. This section will also cover specific reports on
climate change from Native American communities and what methods
have been employed to try to overcome some of the looming impacts of
climate change.
TEK is a knowledge base that holds and immeasurable amount of
value that can greatly add to the understanding of the environment.
Historically TEK “has been marginalized by disciplinary boundaries that
accord to science, the study of nature and to social science, the study of
human societies” (Neis et al., 1999), though it can greatly add to many, if
not all, disciplines. There is no universally accepted definition of TEK. A
commonly cited definition is “a cumulative body of knowledge, practice,
and belief, evolving by adaptive processes and handed down through
generations by cultural transmission, about the relationships of living
beings with one another and their environment” (Berkes et al., 2000).
Cajete provides a working definition:
…Indigenous science is that body of traditional environmental and
cultural knowledge that is unique to a group of people and that has
served to sustain those people through generations of living within
a distinct bio-region. This is founded on a body of practical
environmental knowledge learned and transformed through
generations through a form of environmental and cultural
education unique to them. Indigenous science may also be termed
“traditional environmental knowledge” (TEK), since a large
proportion of this knowledge served to sustain Indigenous
communities and ensure their survival within the environmental
contexts in which they were situated. (Cajete, 2000)
This working definition can also be used for traditional ecological
knowledge, which can also be termed “Indigenous science.”
15
Climate change has spurred a new green era. Across the globe,
businesses are cashing in on selling and marketing themselves as ‘green.’
Much attention has been spent on research into how climate change will
affect economies, health and politics, but “rarely does its impact on
minorities and Indigenous groups get a mention, even though they are
among the worst affected” (Baird, 2008). TEK, from Native and
Indigenous groups, highlights place-based changes occurring throughout
the world that can inform Western scientists on the varying degrees of
change already occurring.
Though TEK and impacts on minority and Indigenous groups are
not mentioned in current climate science, it does not mean that TEK has
never been successfully used across disciplinary boundaries. The
following case studies will provide examples of how TEK has been used
in understanding complex environmental problems.
TEK Case Studies Around the World
Cod fisheries in the north Atlantic have been in decline over the
past century. To better understand the fishery, Neis (1999) documented
TEK from the peoples of Newfoundland and used their knowledge to
enrich the western scientific knowledge of fisheries science. The outcome
of the study provided the researchers with, “invaluable information not
only on fishing strategies and marine ecosystems, but also on fishers’ and
the industry response to the combined effects of resource decline and
related policy initiatives.” The researchers felt that TEK could be used in
16
fisheries management in “at least four areas”: defining management goals
and values, allocation of resources, development of ecological concepts
and fisheries permitting (Neis et al., 1999).
In another case study in Micronesia (Johannes, 1981), the Palauan
people provided an astonishing amount of knowledge on the marine
ecosystem. Johannes stated that he was told of “months and lunar periods
as well as the precise locations of spawning aggregations of some fiftyfive species of food fish in a tiny archipelago…that was more than twice
as many species of fish exhibiting lunar spawning,” then had ever “been
described in the scientific literature for the entire world (Johannes, 1981).”
These two examples highlight the importance and the vast
knowledge that TEK can bring to natural sciences, especially in marine
ecosystems, but TEK is not limited to improving resource management
and fishery sciences. The acceptance and incorporation of TEK in a
variety of discourses, such as physics (Capra, 1975) and ecology
(Lovelock, 1979), can move investigators from reductionist thought, to
human (Brunńee, 1989) and animal rights and welfare (D'Amato & S.K.
Chopra, 1991). TEK is changing the way people think about the
environment around us. As Doubleday explains, “Perhaps the
environmental crisis which so many have cast in terms of overpopulation
or pollution or global change is really a crisis in the way we think”
(Doubleday, 1993).
17
TEK and Climate Change Case Studies
Drought generated famine in African countries, flooding in
Bangladesh, and melting ice in the Arctic region are all environmental
impacts that are putting traditional and subsistence livelihoods at stake.
Not only are these communities and places important for the world to
learn about, but their responses to climate change may help others who
may not live as closely to the land. Through TEK, Indigenous and Native
peoples have been historically adaptable to their surrounding
environments, and offer vast knowledge to non-Native communities. As
carriers of TEK (that has been passed down from generation to
generation), Native peoples possess some of the most important tools for
adapting to global climate change, yet these very tools are being
confronted with the unprecedented rapid changes.
In the East African country of Uganda, changes in rain patterns are
disproportionally affecting farmers living in Karamoja Province. Food
stock and cattle are severely affected by declines in rainfall during key
months.
Climate change in the future is going to affect Karamoja very
badly. It used to be that we had rain for six months and it was dry
for six months. It is now eight months of drought and only four
months with rain…even this rain is spread out and not continuous
– Michael Kuskus, Karamoja, Uganda (Baird, 2008).
A group led by Michael Kuskus, of the Karamoja Agro-Pastoral
Development Programme, have been active in getting farmers to diversify
as an adaptive response to changing rainfall patterns (Baird, 2008). In
18
order to avoid severe economic depression and starvation, from cattle loss
due to drought, farmers are encouraged to sell cattle when food is plentiful
and save the profit to buy food supplies during severe droughts (Baird,
2008). People are also encouraged to join together for group loans that
can be used to purchase food supplies when droughts are severe (Baird,
2008). However, this response can only last so long before droughts cause
the land to become uninhabitable. People are already moving to nearby
cities as a result of food shortages.
This is going to have a huge negative impact on us and affect our
lifestyle drastically. More people will move away and our
communities will be splintered, traditions lost. How much more of
this will we be able to take? – Michael Kuskus, Karamoja, Uganda
(Baird, 2008).
In Bangladesh climate change is impacting coastal areas, as sealevel rise causes people to retreat from the encroachment of the ocean.
Gathering and fishing grounds that were present just 45 years ago have
been eroded away beneath the ocean waves (Baird, 2008).
My family had water-buffaloes and they used to graze on the
wetland, but now there are fewer of those animals as the grazing
land is lost under the waves – U-Sa-Chi-Master, Bay of Bengal,
Bangladesh (Baird, 2008).
These challenges are difficult to meet because there is little that will stop
the ocean’s forces, which will only worsen with rising sea level.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the Inuit people of the Arctic are
struggling with melting ice and permafrost that is forever changing their
traditional landscape. In response, Inuit people (who have contributed
very little to the problem of global climate change) have filed a petition
19
against the United States with the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights (Watt-Cloutier, 2005). Inuit people feel that the effects of global
warming in the Arctic “constitute violations of Inuit human rights, for
which the United States is responsible”(Watt-Cloutier, 2005). The 174page petition states specific environmental, social, economic and cultural
impacts global warming is having on the Inuit people.
In addition to the petition, the small Inupiat village of Kivalina in
northern Alaska has sued 24 companies for contributing to global climate
change. Of the companies included, 8 are oil companies (including the
ExxonMobil Corporation), 14 power companies and one coal company
(Ben-Yosef, 2008). The lawsuit was filed in federal court stating that
these companies disproportionally contributed to a warming climate in the
Arctic region.
Warming temperatures are contributing to later ice formation that
used to occur by October to help protect the coastal Kivalina Village from
winter storms (Ben-Yosef, 2008). Now, sea ice is not forming until
December or later and it is melting much earlier (Ben-Yosef, 2008). With
accelerated erosion the people of Kivalina are requesting the companies
pay for the relocation of their village, which is estimated at $400 million
(Ben-Yosef, 2008). This is an example of responses Native peoples are
taking to help protect their livelihoods in a rapidly changing environment.
20
Climate Change and Native Americans
Within the United States, Native Americans are also struggling
with the impacts of climate change on their reservations and “usual and
accustomed” places where treaty rights are practiced (in treaty ceded
territories). When many American Indian Tribes signed treaties with the
United States the phrase “as long as the rivers run” was used (NIARI,
2006). This phrase implied an understanding that natural resources from
traditional grounds would continue to provide for Native peoples (NIARI,
2006). Now within a changing climate, the NIARI report (2006) points
out that this statement holds less ground for all people today.
Native Americans face an even larger obstacle for responding to
climate change— a limited sovereign land base. Limited to reservations
and specified treaty lands for gathering resources, Native peoples, within
the United States, may face hard times when essential food sources
become unavailable within their designated areas due to the changing
climate. With species shifting to cooler regions (both northward in
latitude and higher in elevation), traditional gathering and hunting areas
may no longer be suitable environments for obtaining subsistence foods,
culturally important resources, or the maintenance of a resource dependent
subsistence economies. Tribes, dependent on treaty-designated fishing
zones in lakes and rivers may suffer from fish kills due to warmer water
temperatures, increases in invasive species, salt water intrusion, lower
oxygen levels and flows (Glick et al., 2007). Those dependent on ocean
21
resources may be impacted by species shifts, lower oxygen levels, warmer
temperatures, ocean acidification, increases in invasive species, and sealevel rise.
Unlike other citizens, the Tribes are tied to their homelands in a
unique relationship to their lands and to the United States. Their
identity is deeply rooted to their lands- the place from which they
emerged, where their ancestors dwell, about which their stories and
language refer, and to which they have continuing spiritual and
collective obligations. Because of their unique political history,
their recognized prior rights and treaty rights only apply to their
reservations and usual and accustomed lands. Moving from these
lands to adapt to large-scale environmental decline would cut them
off from their origins, from the places of their collective memory,
and the rights to self-determination the Tribes possess as peoples.
– Terry Williams and Preston Hardison (NIARI, 2006).
Due to the actual and predicted changes, many tribes across the
United States have begun taking action to protect resources and traditions
that have sustained their people for thousands of years. Conferences
specific to climate change impacts on Native Americans have been
increasing in number across the nation. Tribes such as the Cocopah
(2006), Umatilla (2008), and Squaxin Island (2008), have already begun
hosting climate change gatherings to share TEK of changes being seen
from nation to nation and on successful adaptive strategies. In the Pacific
Northwest, the annual Gathering of Coast Salish Peoples (from Western
Washington Tribes and British Columbia First Nations) have made
climate change impacts and planning for coastal Native communities one
of their top priorities (Lekanof, 2008).
In the Southwest of the United States, climate change is expected
to create water shortages. Tribes of the Southwestern area are beginning
22
to look at TEK to conserve water in agriculture. The ancient Hohokam
peoples (the ancestors of the Pima and Tono O’odham (Papago) tribes of
Arizona (Cajete, 2000)) practiced water conservation through canalization,
impoundments, diversions and in-situ storage, such as “pebble-mulch
fields and grid gardens that stored rain and snow fall for the growing
season” (Watson, 2000). These technologies are now being studied
through a NASA-funded program that is investigating future methods of
conserving water in a changing climate (Watson, 2000).
The Swinomish Tribe of Washington State has already pinpointed
some of the impacts they will face. The Swinomish Reservation is in the
upper Puget Sound region and is at risk to increased flooding and
inundation due to sea-level rise.
Some of the Impacts Facing the Swinomish Tribe
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
More frequent flooding damage from storm/tidal
surge events
Salt water intrusion and habitat loss
Species relocation/migration
Possible loss of access routes where diking is
insufficient in preventing inundation
Disruption of surface transport and emergency
services due to inundation
Spread of contaminants carried by inundation waters
Fishery/habitat impacts; stream flows & temperature
Increased shoreline erosion
(O'Hara, 2008)
Using TEK, the tribe has responded by creating a planning guide
for short-term adaptation and long-term mitigation with the University of
Washington’s Climate Impact Group (CIG). The guide explores responses
23
such as relocating structures that are in at-risk locations,
intergovernmental coordination, establishing funding support, and
including climate change impacts into all future planning. The Swinomish
have partnered with local climate change experts, county and city officials,
and local utility companies to coordinate local solutions to climate change
impacts in the Skagit River Basin.
The Paiute Tribe of the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation, in
northern Nevada has also been experiencing changes in their Great Basin
environment and has begun taking adaptive approaches. In the Great
Basin, the ecosystem depends on snow pack in the mountains to maintain
steam flows and Pyramid Lake levels for productive riparian habitat.
Warmer temperatures have caused the snow pack to recede in elevation,
putting riparian ecosystems at risk (Mosley, 2008). As a result, the Paiute
people have witnessed lower lake levels then ever before, an increase in
invasive plant and animal species, loss of native plants, dewatering of
lakes, seeps, springs and wetlands, poorer water and air quality conditions,
and lower crop yields (Mosley, 2008). With drying lake beds, such as the
Salton Sea, air quality has increased asthma and respiratory problems in
the area (Mosley, 2008). In response, the tribe has come up with an
adaptive management plan based on TEK of the local environment.
24
Paiute Adaptive Management Plan
•
•
•
•
Remove non-native plants that compete with native
plants for water, soil nutrients and space
Plant native drought tolerant plants to replace nonnative plant species
Purchase water rights and dedicate them for in-stream
flows to protect biological integrity and habitat, improve
water quality and provide flows for spawning fish
Work with upstream stakeholders to develop a
watershed plan for using and managing water to protect
regional beneficial uses (Pyramid Lake Paiute worked
since 1992 to develop the “Truckee River Operating
Agreement” with all the major stakeholders within the
Truckee River watershed basin).
(Mosley, 2008)
The Paiute people are coming together to try to protect their traditional
lands and livelihood by implementing a water resource plan that
emphasizes maintaining flows on an ecosystem level by including all the
major stakeholders.
The Paiute and Swinomish tribes represent just two examples of
the types of climate change impacts facing Native American communities.
Both tribes are actively planning and responding to current and future
climate-induced changes to their homelands. The tribes possess TEK that
allows them to know what types of changes, even subtle ones, are
affecting their local environments and how to best approach them. Native
peoples should be look to in this time of change, for their TEK of the local
environment and their history of adaptation.
CHAPTER 3 BACKGROUND
Climate change (also referred to as global warming, global climate
change and global climatic disruption) is a term used to describe human-
25
induced changes to the global environment, as a result of increased
atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHGs). The primary source of GHGs
come from the increased combustion of fossil fuels since the
industrialization era (1750) that have resulted in higher levels of, carbon
dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), and methane (CH4) in the atmosphere.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),
atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane in 2005 far
exceeded the ‘natural’ levels exhibited in ice cores for the last 650,000
years (IPCC, 2007a). These gases act as heat absorbers that are causing
the earth to heat up through a greenhouse effect (IPCC, 2007b) (Figure 7).
Figure 7 – Greenhouse effect caused by the accumulation of greenhouse
gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrous oxides, sulfur oxides and methane
(IPCC, 2008).
These findings have lead to numerous studies on the global and local
impacts of climate change on the earth’s natural systems. The IPCC is a
Nobel prize-winning, worldwide renowned source for climate change data.
The IPCC is made up of hundreds of scientists from countries around the
26
world that devote themselves to compiling bi-annual reports. These
reports focus on the “the causes of climate change, its potential
environmental and socio-economic consequences and the adaptation and
mitigation options to respond to it” (IPCC, 2008). In its most recent report
published in 2007, IPCC calls for immediate action stating that “warming
of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations
of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread
melting of snow and ice and rising global average sea level.” These
current changes have been observed (IPCC, 2007a):
•
Sea level has risen 3.1 mm every year from 1993 to 2003
and since 1975 occurrences of more extreme high sea
levels have increased (Figure 8)
•
Terrestrial ecosystems responding with earlier onset of
spring events and migration of flora and fauna to northern
latitudes and higher elevations
•
Poleward and upward elevation shifts in plant and animal
ranges
•
Ocean acidification from uptake of carbon since 1750 has
decreased pH by 0.1 units
•
From 1995-2006 eleven of the twelve years rank among the
twelve warmest years in global surface temperatures since
1850 (Figure 8)
•
Marine and freshwater systems have exhibited shifts in
algal and fish species ranges and abundances associated
with increased water temperatures, ice cover, salinity,
oxygen levels and circulation.
27
Figure 8 – Global environmental changes associated with climate
change. Land surface temperature has been steadily increasing since
Industrial Era began. Sea level is rising in response to melting arctic
regions and thermal expansion of the ocean waters. In addition, snow
cover has been declining in the Northern hemisphere (IPCC, 2007a).
Regional Climate Change Impacts
Along with global predictions of climate change, the University of
Washington’s Climate Impacts Group (CIG) provides local and regional
data specific to the Pacific Northwest (PNW). The CIG predicts that the
PNW will have “warmer, wetter winters, and warmer summers, with
streamflow increasing in fall and winter, and decreasing in summer”
(Canning, 2001). In addition to sea level rise, the CIG has predicted an
increase in erosion and landslides associated with increased winter
28
rainfall, flooding and ocean storm surges. Natural climatic cycles in the
PNW are predicted to be enhanced by anthropogenic climate change, such
as the increased rainfall seen during La Niña years.
Increased Storm Damage and Flooding
The Pacific Northwest weather is a highly complex system that has
many divergent factors, making studying climate change difficult. The
region’s weather is dominated by two main systems, the Pacific Decadal
Oscillation (PDO) and the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycles.
The PDO cycle operates on a 40-60 year time scale, whereas ENSO
operates on a 2-3 year time scale, both of which naturally influence the
PNW’s warm and cool phases (CIG, 2008). Mantua et al. (1997),
correlated that cold PDO (when aligned with a La Niña year) is associated
with good salmon runs. “Recently, however, these decadal cycles have
broken down: in late 1998, the PDO entered a cold phase that lasted only
four years followed by a warm phase of three years from 2002 to 2005”
(NOAA, 2008c) (Figure 9).
Figure 9 – Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) cycles from 1925-2006.
Red bars are positive or warm years and blue bars are negative or cool
years (NOAA, 2008c).
29
Sea level rise caused by climate change in combination with
natural climatic changes such as El Niño, known to temporally increase
sea level in the Pacific Northwest (Komar, 1986) could create greater
impacts from winter storm surges during El Niño years. As Komar (1992)
later notes, during the 1982-83 El Niño the monthly mean water level at
Newport, Oregon was 32 cm above monthly mean sea level, and up to 19
cm above maximum monthly mean sea level. During the El Niño of 199798 wave heights along the Washington coast exceeded normal levels, in
Grays Harbor they were almost 1 meter above normal in December and
January, and 1.5 meters in February (Kaminsky et al., 1998). Thus an El
Niño in combination with a winter storms, can cause more damage to
PNW coastal environments, especially those along major river mouths
(Canning, 2001). When the water rises in the ocean at high tide and meets
with a river at flood stage, an extreme flooding event results (Canning,
2001).2
The combination of La Niña and climate change will also heighten
problems associated with increased winter rainfall and sea level rise.
According to Canning (2001) increased winter rainfall along with a La
Niña year like those seen in 1998-99 will result in:
•
A greater frequency and magnitude of landslides, especially
in locales where topography and vegetation has been
disturbed by land development and land use practices.
•
An increased frequency and duration of river-mouth
flooding, especially when river flood flows arrive at the
coast coincident with high tide.
30
These impacts will likely affect the Quileute and Hoh tribes who both
have lands bordering major river mouths and whose watersheds have been
logged in the past and continue to be logged under new regulations that
can include riparian buffer zones. Coastal communities such as the
Quileute and Hoh are looking at specific impacts to their local coastline.
Specific impacts for PNW coasts include (CIG, 2008):
•
•
•
•
Sea level rise (associated with El Niño events) increase risk of
coastal erosion
Increased winter precipitation (associated with La Niña events)
increase the risk of coastal riverine flooding and of landslides
Southeasterly winter storms (associated with El Niño events)
increase risk of coastal erosion
Co-occurrence of all these conditions increases the likelihood of
large, damaging coastal erosion and flooding events
Decreased River Flow
Along with heavier rainfall events, climate change will result in
lower-than-average snow pack and increased water temperatures. Higher
water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean are likely to “exacerbate the
impact of excess nutrient runoff into coastal waters, enhancing harmful
algal blooms (HABS) and hypoxia events” (Glick et al., 2007). Higher
terrestrial and water temperatures will also continue to facilitate invasive
species and diseases to spread into regions where colder temperatures used
to limit their expansion (IPCC, 2007a). Thus far the Pacific Northwest in
the 20th century has already experienced the following changes (CIG,
2008):
31
•
•
•
•
•
Temperature has increased on average 1.5 F between 1920
to 2003, the warmest period on record was the 1990s
Daily minimum temperatures on the rise, rising faster than
the maximum daily temperature through the mid-20th
century
Precipitation has increased annually by 14% during 1930 to
1995
Snow water equivalent for April 1st is on the decline in
almost all recorded sites from 1950 to the year 2000. Low
to mid level elevations exhibiting the highest decline
Timing of peak runoff has shifted up to 20 days earlier for
many rivers in the PNW
With these changes and those to come, people may choose to respond to
climate change through mitigation and adaptation. In this context,
mitigation would be to respond by lowering the negative effects of climate
change through some action, while adaptation would be to respond to the
effects of climate change by creating or doing something that would work
within the changed environment (either proactively or responsively).
Project Location
The project is centered on the Quileute Nation’s Reservation on the
coast of Washington State in the village of La Push, and the Hoh Nation’s
Reservation at the mouth of the Hoh River. Both tribes have been ceded
one square mile reservations, much of which are within river channel
migration zones (CMZ) of the Quillayute and Hoh Rivers.
The Quileute Reservation has a lower village comprised of family
homes, preschool through middle school facilities, Natural Resource
Office, Tribal Office, Personal Office, Marina, Health Services, Riverside
Restaurant, High Tide Seafood Company, Community Center, United
States Coast Guard station and Oceanside Resort and Campground—all
32
just above current sea level. The upper village has two housing areas, a
clinic, police station, Head Start Preschool and the Quileute Tribal High
School or A-Ka-Lat Center all of which are may still be susceptible to
large tsunami waves. In addition to being in a low-lying area, the United
States Geological Survey reports that the coastline of the Quileute
Reservation is in a high-risk area for erosion (Figure 10-11).
Figure 10 – Coastal erosion along the northern Washington coastline.
Moderate to high risk erosion potential for Quileute Reservation and low
erosion potential for the Hoh Reservation according to a USGS Report
(Pendleton et al., 2004).
33
Figure 11 – Images depicting the Quileute and Hoh coastlines’
vulnerability to erosion. Figure 7 shows the diverse geomorphology and
the Quillayute River mouth. Figure 8 is Rialto Beach, just north of the
Quileute reservation that is highly vulnerable. Figure 5 is Hoh Head, just
north of the Hoh Reservation that has a rocky cliff with very low
vulnerability (Pendleton et al., 2004).
The Quillayute watershed is fed by rainfall, snowfields, and glacial
lakes (Hook, 2004; Moon, 2008)(Figure 13). Since the Quillayute River is
not fed directly by glacial water, it is already more susceptible to warmer
temperatures (Hook, 2004) and lower flows in the crucial summer and fall
months, when Chinook and chum salmon return to the river system. In
addition to susceptibility to lower flows, the Quillayute sub-basin has an
alarming problem with invasive plant species, which does not bode well
for salmon habitat (Hook, 2004).
Like La Push, the Hoh Reservation also has lower and upper
villages. The lowermost village of the Hoh Reservation has been
34
abandoned since the mouth of the river changed and flooding increased in
the 1970’s (Sampson, 2008). Family homes were moved to higher
elevations on the reservation (where now some families still reside), in
addition to newer buildings that house the Hoh Tribal office, Hoh Natural
Resources and Community Center, all of which are in high-risk zones for
tsunamis and Hoh River channel migration (Figure 6). Additional
housing, community gardens, police station and fire station are located in
the highest portion of the existing one-square mile reservation. The Hoh
Reservation sits along the mouth of the Hoh River, 90 percent of which is
within the historic flood plain and 100 percent within tsunami risk zone
(Berry, 2008; M. Riebe, 2008). The Hoh Head coastline just north of the
reservation is considered low risk for erosion by U.S. Geologic Survey
(USGS), but the reservation coastline itself was not surveyed (Figures 78)(Pendleton et al., 2004). However, important cultural sights along the
Washington coastline, identified by the USGS researchers are at risk from
erosion (Figure 12)(Pendleton et al., 2004).
35
Figure 12 – Cultural resources subject to erosion with sea-level rise
along the Washington coastline (Pendleton et al., 2004).
The Hoh River Basin drainage encompasses approximately 299
square miles of land, and only 35% of the watershed is outside Olympic
National Park boundaries. This portion is from the mouth of the river to
Mile 29.6 (Golder Associates, 2005) (Figure 13). The Hoh River
watershed receives an astounding average of 150 inches of rain annually
(whereas the city of Seattle receives an average of 36 inches annually).
This heavy rainfall helps maintain the river’s flow, along with glacier and
snow pack run-off that feeds the river system with cool water during the
summer months (Golder Associates, 2005).
36
Figure 13 – Hoh and Quillayute River watersheds. Hoh River watershed is
primarily surrounded by National Park lands (65%). The Quillayute River
watershed is primarily bordered by private and National Forest lands (Golder
Associates, 2005).
Flow Impacts on Local River Systems
The Hoh and Quileute communities are dependent on the seasonal
returns of salmon species for their subsistence economy and to maintain
their ancestral cultural connection to the land. Global climate change
poses a threat for both the welfare of the people and the salmon.
37
As a result of local climate shifts, several low-flow years have
been recorded for both the Quillayute and Hoh Rivers. The Hoh
experienced extreme low flow events in 1987 and 2002 that “impaired the
passage at River Mile 3.0 of salmon returning for spawning” (Golder
Associates, 2005). A single year’s impact will be felt in subsequent years
when those hatched salmon were supposed to return to the river. “The
frequency of such low flows is anticipated to increase under predicted
global warming conditions, and may present a significant challenge to the
continuing viability of salmonid runs" (Golder Associates, 2005). Golder
Associates pointed out that “extrapolation of past hydrologic trends points
to an elevated frequency and duration of these low flow occurrences,
increasing the possibility of detrimental impacts to Hoh River fisheries.”
Low flow impacts to salmon runs can include shallow water at the
river mouth (creating a barrier to salmon entrance) and an increase in
predation. Without a strong freshet (water flow from rainfall or snow
melt) salmon may not get the signal to move upstream, and fish passage
from the river mainstem to tributaries may be limited due to shallow
depth. Salmon rearing may be affected without adequate flow and depth
to provide cool water temperatures for egg and alevin development.
Outmigration of juveniles may also be affected by lower flows and water
depth (Golder Associates, 2005). Spring Chinook salmon, the most
economically prized run in the Hoh River basin, are most at risk of redd
38
(nest of eggs in gravel) dewatering or isolation because of their late
summer spawning time (Golder Associates, 2005).
The timing of flow rates is also crucial to salmon productivity in
any watershed. Low flows during egg incubation in the river can be fatal
and early or late freshets may not be timed with the arrival of migrating
salmon causing increased stress of spawners. Thus changes in the timing
of these cycles (due to global climate change), may be extremely
detrimental to the successful reproduction of salmon.
The Hoh watershed is made up of steep terrain, with thin soils and
shallow bedrock that do not allow for much water retention. As a result,
water moves quickly through the system in extreme storm events (Golder
Associates, 2005). This pattern results in high peaks of river flow that can
scour out salmon redds in the river mainstem. Rainfall is predicted to
increase in the PNW, while precipitation as snowfall will decline with
warmer temperatures (CIG, 2008). Rainfall on top of snow pack and
glaciers will increase high flow events with the melting of those water
reserves. In recent years, such as a November 2006 event, flows reached a
peak of 60,700 cubic feet per second (cfs), causing flash flood events,
bank erosion and severe scouring of the river bed (USGS, 2007). Annual
peak flows in the Hoh River basin do not have a significant correlation
(R2= .10) with time, but may in years to come, with precipitation
increasing in the form of rainfall versus snow in the winter months (Figure
39
14). High flow rates may also be an indicator that more extreme storm
events are occurring now compared to 40 years ago (Figure 14).3
Annual Hoh River Peak Flow Rates (101 Station)
1961-2007
Discharge (cubic feet/second)
70,000
60,000
50,000
R2 = 0.0971
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
19
61
19
64
19
67
19
70
19
73
19
76
19
79
19
82
19
85
19
88
19
91
19
94
19
97
20
00
20
03
20
06
0
Water Years
Figure 14 – Annual high flow rates of the Hoh River from 1961-2007 in
water years. Peak high flows appear to be increasing over time, but they
are not statistically significant (R2 = 0.10) (USGS, 2007).
In addition, low groundwater retention makes the system more
dependent on snow pack and glacier melt during the low-flow months of
summer and fall (Golder Associates, 2005). The glaciers (Hoh, Blue and
White Glaciers) that feed the Hoh River during crucial summer and early
fall months have receded over the past century (Heusser, ; Peterson, 2008).
Mountain ranges that are much higher than the Olympic Mountains
(Mount Olympus highest peak is 7,980 feet) are feeling the impacts of a
warmer climate with glaciers retreating, which could mean detrimental
impacts for ecosystems dependent on Mount Olympus for seasonal runoff.
40
CHAPTER 4 – METHODOLOGY
The goal for this project was to emphasize the need for Traditional
Ecological Knowledge (TEK) in understanding environmental challenges,
specifically climate change. In order to bridge disciplinary boundaries,
natural science research was woven into the project to make the point that
different knowledge bases can effectively be used together. TEK provides
the earliest warnings of ecological changes, while Western scientific
research projects must often wait years for funding, publication, and
review. TEK is crucial in understanding the current crisis of climate
change in a timely framework, since we no longer have years to meet the
challenges. This project strives to have a holistic approach without
compromising the detail of changes being felt on the coast. The scope of
the project was narrowed to two specific areas on the coast, the Quileute
and Hoh reservations. Climate change is a global problem and no specific
environmental change can easily be attributed directly or solely to it. This
project is not about proving a theory or hypothesis, but rather recording
changes being seen and experienced in the local environment—changes
that may eventually be verified as linked to climate change.
Study Design and Objectives
The study was designed with a multidisciplinary approach in order
to bring new information on climate change impacts to the coastal
communities of the Quileute and Hoh Nations. The objectives for the
project were to document the changes being seen on the coast using TEK,
41
and the responses both communities have taken, are taking, and are
considering taking. The final objective of the project was to compile the
changes and responses into a form that can be used as a model by other
Native communities and non-Native coastal communities.
This project also attempts to identify some of the challenges that
climate change impacts are bringing to the tribal nations throughout the
United States. Reservation boundaries enclose islands of sovereign lands
and treaties delineate ceded territories, both defended by Native nations,
but in an era of shifting species and intensified storms, these geographical
limits can make it more difficult for Native Americans to maintain
practices of their ancestors while responding to the vast impacts of climate
change.
Documenting Process
Information was gathered from in-depth interviews from the Hoh
and Quileute communities, which was conducted in a two-part process.
The first part consisted of semi-structured exploratory interviews of key
elders, community members and natural resource persons from the
Quileute and Hoh Nations that were completed to document Traditional
Ecological Knowledge (TEK) on environmental changes. In addition,
interviews of surrounding community members and non-Native natural
resource personnel were completed to collect Local Ecological Knowledge
(LEK). Both interview processes concentrated on changes to the marine
and terrestrial environments.
42
TEK from these interviews is based on information passed down
through oral tradition and knowledge that is shared among families,
experienced harvesters, and resource users. TEK is a knowledge base that
is significant to indigenous peoples around the world and it “represents
experience acquired over thousands of years of direct human contact with
the environment” (Berkes, 1993). TEK among the Quileute and Hoh
tribes is an especially unique knowledge base because the northern coast
of the Olympic Peninsula is relatively uninhabited. Aside from the
Quileute, Hoh and Makah reservations, the rest of the northern coastline
lies within the Olympic National Park boundaries (Figure 2).
LEK was gathered from interviews of key informants from the
surrounding area of the Olympic Peninsula. LEK is a knowledge base that
has a shorter timescale and held by people who do not have historical
origins from the area, but have made observations within their life-time
and/or passed down through several generations of their family and are
shared among resource users. The LEK interviews also focused on
noticeable landscape and or resource changes on the Olympic Peninsula
within the surrounding area of the Quileute and Hoh reservations. Most
LEK was gathered from personnel in the Quileute and Hoh Natural
Resources offices.
Traditional Ecological Knowledge, as a resource, can be used to
understand changes in the natural environment, as discussed in the
literature review section of this thesis. LEK is also an important resource
43
for information on the natural environment from non-Indigenous people of
a particular area. LEK id defined by Charnley et al. (2007) as
“knowledge, practices, and beliefs regarding ecological relationships that
are gained through extensive personal observation of and interaction with
local ecosystems, and shared among local resource users.”
The second part of interviews covered the land requests by both
tribal nations from the National Park Service. In order to document the
importance of the land requests, active tribal members were interviewed.
Both the Hoh and Quileute are requesting additional land from the
Olympic National Park for relocation in response to low-lying land that is
easily flooded, subject to sea-level rise and within severe tsunami zone.
Within the Quileute Tribe some also attribute the land request as being a
reclamation of land that rightfully belongs to the tribe (also see Results
Section).4 Documenting the requests for higher ground is an important
response to climate change and was tied into the interviews on present and
future climate-induced changes to natural resources.
Participants were not randomly selected, but instead key people
were identified by the Tribal Councils, the Tribal Natural Resources
offices, and the Hoh and Quileute communities. In addition, each
interviewee was asked for recommendations on other interview
candidates. Non-Native interviewees were identified by tribal members as
key information holders because of their close connection to a particular
resource, the tribe, and/or long-time residency in the area. This process is
44
commonly termed chain referrals. The process was completed once
suggested participants were already interviewed.
If suggested persons declined an interview they were not asked
repeatedly, instead their names were dropped from the list of referrals.
This was done so that no person felt pressured to participate in the project
if they did not feel inclined to do so. Everyone who was interviewed
received a letter about the project, detailing the goals and objectives. In
addition, as required by The Evergreen State College’s Human Subjects
Review Policy, a consent form was signed by all participants identified in
the project. This process helps protect the rights of the individual being
interviewed. Some information was also gathered from community
members during social events. If a release contract was not signed under
those circumstances, their identity was kept confidential. None of the
interviewees requested their name remain confidential.
Interviews were analyzed by transcribing, coding and compiling
similar environmental statements to find consistency among elders and
resource users on a local scale. To find a connection to global climate
change, the findings were also compared to the current impact predictions
natural scientists are making on regional scales. Though the TEK
gathered can stand on its own as significant knowledge on environmental
change, it was aligned with natural science research to help bolster the
importance of interdisciplinary discussion. The natural science research of
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Washington Department
45
of Ecology, University of Washington Climate Impacts Group, United
States Geologic Survey, and ethnographic archives of the tribes were used
to broaden the disciplinary scope of the project. Archival ethnographic
data was used to compare the current condition of the reservations’ natural
environment to conditions in the past.
The interview transcriptions were coded for responses that both
tribes are taking to address the environmental changes impacting their
livelihoods. A model of community assessment and adaptation to these
changes was created from the community responses, to help other
communities facing similar climate change impacts on the Pacific
Northwest coast begin to plan.
CHAPTER 5 – RESULTS
Changes on the Coast
Many of the findings are hard to directly attribute to climate
change, though they may very well be directly caused by the increasingly
variable climate. However, the tribal knowledge of and responses to
environmental changes as a whole, are unique and have value for other
coastal communities, where the impacts from climate change will be felt
stronger in the future. The changes observed by the Quileute and Hoh
communities have been broken down into six main categories: Storms,
Fisheries, Diseases and Pests, Population Changes, Gathering, and Land
Acquisitions. By categorizing the impacts it helps clarify the extent to
which effects of environmental changes are being observed and addressed.
46
No attempts were made to prove or disprove the perceptions of the
Quileute and Hoh tribes, but rather observations were aligned with
western science predictions as a way to document changes being observed.
Within the main categories, additional responses were inserted
from LEK perspectives of the non-Native community. Many of these
perspectives are from the staff of the Quileute and Hoh Natural Resources
Offices. To closes the Results Section, responses that individuals and or
the communities have taken, will be taken, or are considering to take are
summarized. Climate change is on the minds of many tribal members,
even if they have not yet responded to the challenge.
I think it just better not warm up too fast. There certainly has been
weird weather though. I see a lot of changes. – Margaret Black,
Quileute Elder
Storms
Many people on the Quileute Reservation report that storms are
increasing in intensity and frequency during the winter season (Black III,
2008; Black, 2008; Conlow, 2008; Hobson, 2008; Jackson, 2008; Loudon,
2008; Moon, 2008; Morganroth III, 2008; E. Penn, 2008; Penn Jr., 2008;
Ratcliff, 2008; M. Schumack, 2008). Simply put the “weather is
changing” on the coast (Penn Jr., 2008). They report that these changes in
storm patterns have only begun to intensify in the last few years, when
‘superstorms’ have hit the area with fierce winds and violent rains. In
2006, a superstorm event hit the area with extreme wind force and wave
surges that particularly affected the Tribal School in the lower village.
47
Waves threw giant driftwood up to the elementary and middle school
playgrounds (Hobson, 2008; Loudon, 2008; Penn Jr., 2008). DeAnna
Hobson said that it was the first time in her lifetime that had happened
(Hobson, 2008). Winds came in from the north and the south during the
storm. Quileute elders commented extensively on recent storms:
Storms have increased in intensity, trees are falling over, and
water comes over the roadway. – Chris Morganroth, III Quileute
Elder
For the past 2 to 3 years we’ve seen an increase in storms…four
years ago there was a superstorm that almost took the school
away. The lower village was evacuated for the day. Strong winds
and currents were coming in from the northwest. There was also
high water. The break wall was broken right out front of the
school and near DeAnna’s house. – Chris Penn Jr. (Giggs),
Quileute Elder
The ocean almost broke through there with big storms [in front of
school]. The waves, they get so big that they come crashing
through there, knocking everything around. Last year or the year
before it was all flooded through there [lowermost school building
K-8th grades] – Beverly Loudon, Quileute Elder
More storms are occurring now, not only in the Gulf but here too.
– Roger Jackson, Quileute Elder
Short of reviving the seasonal migrations of their ancestors, the Quileute
and the Hoh must endure the increasing storms without retreating inland
(Morganroth III, 2008). This is a tough situation to face, because both
tribes recognize that the storms are eroding away their recognized
sovereign lands, both literally and figuratively.
How are we going to save what land base we have left, because
you can’t create more land? – Marie Riebe, Hoh
48
On the Hoh Reservation storms are also increasing, which is seen
in increased flooding events. In the 1970’s the lowermost village on the
ocean was abandoned due to flooding and erosion from the changing river
mouth. Now the lowest village is farther inland from the ocean waves,
though still within the tsunami and river flood zones. Testimony from
Hoh elders indicate storms are increasing in strength.
More trees are falling. They [storms] pack more wallop now then
they ever did. It just costs more money to have these terrible
storms, that’s what it amounts too. – Viola Riebe, Hoh Elder
Local people in the surrounding area also believe that the storms have
increased within the last few years (Dickerson, 2008; B. Johnson, 2008;
Lien, 2008; Northcut, 2008).
For crab fishermen, increased winter storms mean little hope of
getting out of the narrow La Push Harbor. Economically, increases in
winter storm activity affect the fishermen’s livelihood (Northcut, 2008).
I think just about the last 2 or 3 years it has almost been
unfishable. We had 5 days that were 17’ or greater [swells] then
we had one day with a 33’ combined swell and there’s a lot of days
where you’ll have the 40-knot winds. For us it disrupts the crab
fishery for the most part. And for right now it is our biggest
fishery out in the ocean. That’s become the ‘bread and butter’ of
our fishery. It’s crucial [economically], that [crab fishery] makes
or breaks the fishermen for the year. – Kris Northcut, Harvest
Management Biologist for the Quileute Tribe
For Darby, a non-Native commercial fisherman who has fished from La
Push for 40 years stated that “the last two years has been spooky, scary
weather” (Dickerson, 2008). The Hoh Tribe also would have a hard time
49
getting out to sea for fishing, because they would leave from La Push, but
currently the Hoh Tribe is not ocean fishing.
In response to increased storm activity, the Quileute Tribe
negotiated a ‘Fair Weather Agreement’ with Washington State, allowing
the Quileute fishermen equal access to fishing grounds with extended days
when the weather is unremitting. Fishermen from the north or the south of
La Push have easier access out of their ports, so this helps the Quileute
catch their quota.
In the last 2 seasons there have been very violent storms that have
stayed non-stop in the region for 30 days or greater, so we
negotiated a 20-day guaranteed fair weather agreement…
– Mel Moon, Quileute Natural Resources Director
For many tribal fishermen the new agreement brings them hope of
maintaining their income if the crab is abundant.
In the summertime, thunderstorms are reported to be declining (J.
Penn, 2008). This report came late in the project after most interviews
were complete, so no one was asked specifically about summer
thunderstorms. However, this is an important observation that should not
go unnoticed.
I guess the thing I’m worried about most is the loss of thunder
[storms]. I remember having them a lot when I was a boy, my dad
would tell me it was thunderbird and whale fighting again. We
used to have 20-30 thunderstorms a summer, this year [2008] we
had 2. – John Penn, Quileute
More people should be interviewed about thunderstorms, because it does
play an important role in oral history and signals change in summer
weather fronts.
50
Wind
The elders say the winds are changing on the Quileute Reservation
(Black, 2008; Jackson, 2008; Loudon, 2008; Morganroth III, 2008; E.
Penn, 2008; Penn Jr., 2008; M. Schumack, 2008). There was not a
consistent report that winds are growing stronger, but the consensus is that
the winds are changing. Winds are arriving at different times of year
when they are not expected, and the wind directions are changing
(Jackson, 2008). Many of the elders are afraid that the winds will be
coming from a different direction in the future, bringing in more storms
(Jackson, 2008; Morganroth III, 2008).
Some believe that the winds hitting La Push have increased in
severity (Black III, 2008; Black, 2008; Hobson, 2008; Loudon, 2008;
Morganroth III, 2008; E. Penn, 2008; Penn Jr., 2008; M. Schumack,
2008). Chris Morganroth spoke of water funnels and extreme winds that
have ripped roofs off homes.
We’ve had water funnels [waterspouts], a couple of them right off
Cake Rock. A tornado [funnel cloud] that was 60’ and 12’ wide
picked up a trailer and tore it off the foundation [near the point
past High Tides Seafood Company] and moved up to Earl Penn’s
house and ripped the roof off…this happened in the early
60’s…[I’ve] never heard of anything [like waterspouts or funnel
clouds] historically that happened here. – Chris Morganroth III,
Quileute Elder
More recent storms have also ripped through La Push, taking roofing off
some homes (Loudon, 2008).
51
Precipitation
The Quileute Reservation receives roughly 118.33 inches of rain
annually. This report comes from the closest weather data of Forks,
Washington (dating back to 1907), which is just 15.5 miles inland from
the coast (King, 2008). The Hoh Reservation on average receives roughly
160 inches of rainfall annually (ONPS, 2008). The Hoh River runs
through the temperate rainforest of the Olympic Mountains and receives
considerably more rain in its watershed.
In recent years more rainfall has been reportedly falling in the
Quileute and Hoh territories. It may be that more precipitation is falling in
the form of rainfall than snowfall, increasing the river flows and flooding
in the winter months. The late Pearl Conlow looked back at her childhood
and recalled walking to her uncle’s house for get-togethers during the
winter months.
I guess I just didn’t notice it [rain] when I was small, when I was
younger. There didn’t seem to be as much rain, because a lot of
our winters were spent in get-together.
– Pearl Conlow, late Quileute Elder
Many people on the Quileute Reservation agree that there is more rain
falling now then there ever has been (Black III, 2008; Black, 2008;
Conlow, 2008; Hobson, 2008; Loudon, 2008; Matson, 2008; Morganroth
III, 2008; Penn-Charles, 2008; E. Penn, 2008; Penn Jr., 2008).
Rains have increased during the months of November through
February. Seven-to ten-day floods have made the river breach its
banks and cause flooding in the lower village. – DeAnna Hobson,
Quileute
52
The river is changing with increased rainfall.
– Chris Morganroth III, Quileute
In fact, the records kept by Jerry King in Forks indicate that the highest
annual rainfall since 1907 occurred in 1997, with 162.14 inches. This was
followed by 160 inches in 1999 (King, 2008). Even in water years
(October 1 to September 30 of the next calendar year, used by weather
stations) these high rainfall years span an El Niño (1997-98) and La Niña
(1998-2000) episodes, which indicates they may not be due to these
‘normal’ climatic cycles (NOAA, 2008a).
Timing of rainfall
The timing of rainfall is very important for many natural cycles,
but for the Quileute and Hoh people, timing is everything for productive
salmon runs. In recent years the timing of rainfall has not been consistent
(Anonymous 1, 2008b; Leitka, 2008; Morganroth III, 2008; Penn-Charles,
2008).
Really it’s a change in the weather. Before it used to be, when
August would come it would rain so hard…that’s when the run of
the salmon would come in. Now that’s changing and we don’t get
rain until later on, so the run is changing its cycle in time.
– Mary Leitka, Hoh
Salmon waiting for fall freshets at the river’s mouth have to spawn in the
mainstem of the river where water levels are adequately flowing.
Mainstem spawning has been followed by heavy rains, which arrive
during the crucial egg incubation period. The high flows are devastating
to salmon eggs because they scour out gravel beds. (See more on changes
in river flow in subsequent High Flow and Flooding Sections.)
53
Snowfall
Precipitation as snowfall has declined on the coast. Winters are
now milder in temperature with fewer robust cold fronts (Anonymous 2,
2008a; Conlow, 2008; Jackson, 2008; Wallerstedt, 2008) to keep snow on
the ground for more than a day. On both the Quileute and Hoh
reservations, people indicated that there has not been snowfall in recent
years like there used to be (Black, 2008; Jackson, 2008; Matson, 2008; E.
Penn, 2008; Sampson, 2008; Wallerstedt, 2008). If snow does fall, it only
lasts for a day or so before it melts.
We used to look forward to the snow, because we had all four
seasons then. We haven’t had that for a long time. Winters are
mild it seems like they’re not hard like they used to be, they’re not
real cold like they used to be. – Bertha Wallerstedt, Quileute Elder
Well there seems to be a lot of difference now. It seems to be a lot
warmer now then it used to be.
– Pearl Conlow, late Quileute Elder
…in the 70s we had 3 to 4 feet of snow on the beaches, now we
don’t even get any snow in the winter time. – Gene Sampson, Hoh
However, following the completion of the interviews a snow storm hit
Washington State. During December 2008 a cold front hit Washington
coast bringing snowfall to the Quileute and Hoh reservations. The total
for the month of December was 18 inches (King, 2008). This was the first
major snow to hit the area since the 1970’s (Sampson, 2008). The total
snowfall for 2008 was 31 inches, just under the 1964 record high of 36
inches (King, 2008). In many Washington cities’ snow records were
broken for the amount of snow to hit in a one month period (Hill, 2008).
54
Despite this recent snowfall, the overall trend is that snowfall on the coast
is in decline.
Bertha and others on the Quileute Reservation also commented on
the excitement and expectation of winter icicles that her and her siblings
used to look forward to in the winter months (Jackson, 2008; Matson,
2008; Wallerstedt, 2008).
We don’t have the big icicles like we used to have, we used to be
able to reach out from our bedroom window and pull great big
icicles off the roof and we haven’t had that in years… and I miss it.
That was really a great part of growing up,… the big icicles.
The icicles [now]…they’re small and they don’t stay…what we
used to have they were big and they were hard and they stayed for
days and days. – Bertha Wallerstedt, Quileute Elder
In the 1940s George Pettit interviewed many people at La Push to get a
feel of the old days, including their comments about the weather. He
documented his conversations with the Quileute people in the book, The
Quileute of La Push 1775-1945. On of his interviews included a
conversation with Morton Penn. Morton spoke of a famine that occurred
during the winter of 1840 when his grandmother was still a young lady.
La Push and the surrounding areas were snowed in for most of the winter;
with ‘deep’ snow pushing out many of the elk and deer herds. Morton
stated that people then started putting up more food to survive longer
winters, but no such winter had yet occurred again. “Morton wonders
whether the climate of the area is growing milder” (Pettitt, 1950). Morton
may have been on to something, considering that the snowfall levels have
steadily declined since the 1940s.
55
During a conversation with a Quileute fisherman, snow pack was
mentioned on Mount Olympus. It is used as a guide for fisherman at sea
finding their way back to port.
Back in the days when I skippered boats and I had the crew watch
when we’d come in from offshore all you could see was the
Olympics, so I’d tell them see the snow, see the snow, head for the
snow, and now I say head for the mountains, because all you see is
the mountains except for a snow cone on the very top, new
pinnacles are sticking up…noticing that offshore now is seeing the
difference…in the summer when were fishing and now we look up
there and see bare spots all over…pinnacles are sticking up, stuff
that you didn’t normally realize was there.
– Roy Black III, Quileute
On the Hoh Reservation snowfall has not been what it used to. As
one interviewee pointed out, the reservation used to receive 5 feet of snow,
but high levels no longer fall in the winter months (Sampson, 2008).
…my parents would talk about the abundance of everything…that
was because they were getting regular [events] they got 5 feet of
snow every year…– Gene Sampson, Hoh
The regularity of these events, and the flooding that used to follow, are no
longer predictable on the Hoh Reservation.
Local Ecological Knowledge also indicated that snowfall around
both reservations (B. Johnson, 2008) and in the Olympic Mountains has
not been what it used to be (Peterson, 2008). Gary Peterson, the owner of
6th Peak Outdoor Adventures and Store in the Hoh River Valley, stated
that the snowfall is not even close to the amount he experienced as a kid.
…it’s been a long time since we’ve had serious snow. Here in the
mid-1960s you could step across the [tops of the] fences here and
there really hasn’t been anything like that…– Gary Peterson
56
Gary goes on to state that precipitation as rainfall is not on the decline in
the Hoh Valley.
…although precipitation [as rain] there hasn’t been a whole lot of
change in it. I mean the record year was 1997 or ’98 with 197
inches of rain at the [Olympic National Park] Visitor’s Center.
– Gary Peterson
These responses align with predictions by CIG (and others in the scientific
community), that the amount of precipitation falling as snowfall will
decline in association with a warming climate, and there is evidence in the
Cascade Mountains that it is already happening (CIG, 2008).
High Flow and Flooding
In fact, precipitation as rainfall is only supposed to increase with
the onset of a warmer wetter climate in the Pacific Northwest (CIG, 2008).
There is evidence that this may already be occurring in the Hoh and
Quillayute River systems. Increased river flow and flooding has, in recent
years, profoundly affected both the Hoh and Quileute communities, so
both tribes are seeking higher land out of the Channel Migration Zone
(CMZ).
During the December 3, 2007 rainstorm, high flows occurred in
both the Quillayute and Hoh Rivers. The high flows adversely affected
the Chinook salmon runs that had recently spawned in the river.
Right before the storm, we had active spawning throughout the
Quillayute River system, and the kind of flows we saw with this
storm will certainly reduce egg survival because the high water
scoured eggs out of the gravel. – Roger Lien, Fisheries Biologist
Quileute Tribe (Preston, 2007)
57
Flows on the Hoh River reached more than 60,000 cubic feet per second
(USGS, 2007). The same impacts likely affected Hoh River Chinook.
The former fisheries biologist for the Hoh Tribe stated his concern about
increasing severity of floods in the Hoh River system.
That storm hit two weeks after peak fall Chinook spawning on the
Hoh. Most of the eggs were in the gravel. Fortunately, salmon
produce a lot of eggs and that trait helps Chinook survive flood
events. However, the frequency and severity of these floods
continues to increase and we’re concerned about how that affects
survival. – Tyler Jurasin, Fisheries Biologist Hoh Tribe (Preston,
2007)
The same extreme flooding of the Hoh also occurred in 2006 (Preston,
2007) and in October 2003 (USGS, 2007).
On the Quileute Reservation, flooding has been increasing from
both high water levels of the Quillayute River and from an increase in
ocean storm surge events.
Year before [2006-‘07 winter] it flooded and the waves came in up
there at Lonesome Creek [Store, in lower Quileute village] and
they came all the way up to the cabins over here, it was unusually
high, high water. – Bertha Wallerstedt, Quileute Elder
The lower village is extremely susceptible to flooding after heavy rains
that cause the river to breach its banks, coinciding with a high tide and
wind-driven waves. The river seems to most often overflow into a slough
at Thunder Road (Conlow, 2008; Hobson, 2008; Loudon, 2008; E. Penn,
2008; Wallerstedt, 2008; Williams, 2008). The water goes down Thunder
Road and flows, like a river in front of the Tribal Center, Community
Center and around neighboring homes. This is not necessarily a new
occurrence (Conlow, 2008; E. Penn, 2008), but its frequency has increased
58
(Black III, 2008; Hobson, 2008; Ratcliff, 2008; J. Schumack, 2008;
Wallerstedt, 2008; Williams, 2008). Long-time residents of the area also
believe that flooding has increased in La Push (Dickerson, 2008; Payne,
2008)
With four rivers—the Sol Duc, Dickey, Bogachiel and Calawah—
feeding into the Quillayute River, increased rainfall and flow exacerbates
erosion along the river’s edge. DeAnna Hobson lives on the Quillayute
River and watches it rise every winter as the rains come, observing the
floods first-hand. She stated that “millions of board feet” have been
coming down the river annually, making it too dangerous to capture logs
as they come downriver because of the high flow—a practice that used to
be common (Hobson, 2008; Ratcliff, 2008). The trees that come
downriver were clearly not old snags that had fallen into the river, but
rather live trees swept downstream from extreme bank erosion. During
the winter, many mounds of debris can be found on the beach, with nearly
every inch of the river covered in downed trees. In 2004 the Bogachiel
River flooded over La Push Road (Highway 110) cutting off La Push.
During the flood “people were in distress up river…getting rescued by
boat (Hobson, 2008).” Flooding from the Bogachiel River across the La
Push Road near Three Rivers has become more frequent, cutting off La
Push almost every winter (Hobson, 2008; Morganroth III, 2008; PennCharles, 2008). When the roadway is blocked by high waters, the only
59
access route the Quileute people have is through logging roads (Davis,
2008).
Heavy rains and past logging practices are usually the reported
cause of the increased flow and flooding of the Quillayute River (Black
III, 2008; Hobson, 2008; Morganroth III, 2008; Penn-Charles, 2008; J.
Schumack, 2008; Williams, 2008).
The logging caused more runoff that straightened out the river’s
path so it no longer bends and winds down to the mouth. – Chris
Morganroth III, Quileute Elder
Frank Geyer, the Quileute Timber Fish and Wildlife Biologist, stated that
changes in logging practices have allowed woody debris to remain in
river, such as beaver dams have started to allow the rivers to flood in new
areas. Overall, flooding has increased in certain areas and there is no way
to know the exact changes that are causing the observed impacts.
Without the meandering of the river bed to slow down the river’s
flow, and with an increase in rainfall, flooding is occurring with less
predictability. River flooding on both lower reservations was always been
a problem, according to the elders, but today with no opportunity to move
seasonally inland from the river the tribes suffer more from the blunt
impacts of flooding. The floods are also less predictable then they used to
be. An elder stated that the flood waters have begun to rise and fall
rapidly with the onset of more extreme rainfall events (Jackson, 2008).
The heavy rains have saturated the soil to the point that trees are
falling over with even the slightest gusts of wind.
60
Rainfall has increased. The soil has become soft or saturated so
much that any little wind blows over huge trees…two or more
people around. – Miss Ann Penn-Charles, Quileute
Cedar logs were traditionally captured along the Quillayute River
during the winter months, so that the roots of the cedar tree could be
harvested and used to weave traditional burden baskets. Elder weavers
recall gathering the roots with their grandmothers when they were young,
but now flooding has taken away all of the banks to which they used to
drag the logs onto (Morganroth, 2008; M. Schumack, 2008).
On the Hoh Reservation, conditions of increased flooding have
become unbearable. During November 2006 a severe storm hit the Hoh
Reservation that caused the river to crest over its banks and flood into the
village and into the septic system.
Our septic system backed up and toilets became fountains! – Marie
Riebe, Hoh
No help was received from the county government, so the U.S.
Congressman Norm Dicks was called and the National Guard arrived three
hours later, bringing food and supplies to the Hoh villages (M. Riebe,
2008). During this particular storm the Hoh River flow peaked at 60,700
cubic feet per second on November 6th, which further exacerbated the
flooding and erosion on the Hoh Reservation (USGS, 2007).
Alexis Berry, the Executive Director of the Hoh Tribe, said that
tribal members have told her that the Hoh River floods used to be on a 10year cycle but the frequency has increased and they are now occurring
61
every year. Everyone that was interviewed responded similarly
(Anonymous 1, 2008a; M. Riebe, 2008; V. Riebe, 2008; Sampson, 2008)
It’s flooding more then when I was a little girl. We always have
high water when it rains in the fall time. – Viola Riebe, Hoh Elder
Yeah and its all running right down the road you can’t even see the
road…it was probably 2 feet of water on it... – Hoh
(Anonymous 1, 2008a)
The predictability of these flooding events has also been lost. The
river may rise and fall with little warning, whereas before heavy snowfall
precede flooding events (Sampson, 2008).
… they [elders] knew when to go and to get out... now it could be
like this here now [it was a hot summer day] and tomorrow we
could be floating…not even anyone can predict what it does
anymore …the bad thing about it is that we don’t know when it’s
going to change because it used to happen around November that
was the framework we expected to get ready to sand bag… last
couple of years…all of sudden when no one’s ready…[so] they
finally walled off around the tribal center, because in the front
there it was knee deep inside the tribal center…
– Gene Sampson, Hoh
The LEK gathered from the Hoh Natural Resource personnel also
reported that flooding has been occurring more frequently (Allison, 2008;
Gilbertson, 2008). In some areas of forest habitat restoration, flooding has
decimated some of the tribe’s progress. Steve Allison, the Director of the
Hoh Natural Resources Department, stated that the 4,000 trees planted in
an area called Schmidt Bar on Hoh River Trust land were lost in the last
two winters (November ’06 and December ’07).
I mean we lost 40 acres there alone and we planted probably 4,000
trees in there. – Steve Allison, Hoh Natural Resource Director
62
During the November 2006 storm the “river came up 18’ and went down
10’ in one 24-hour period” (Allison, 2008). This is similar to the
statement by elder Roger Jackson on the Quileute Reservation where
floodwaters are rising and falling more rapidly then ever before.
Flooding on the Hoh Reservation is not a new occurrence but,
similar to the community in La Push, people are reporting that it is
occurring more frequently than in the past. The lower village of the Hoh
Reservation has already relocated once because of flooding near the river
mouth. According to interviewees, the last family to occupy the
lowermost village on the oceanfront left in the 1970’s.
Folks lived down in the lower village until the 1970s when fighting
the river became too much. – Gene Sampson, Hoh
No one lives down there anymore. They moved up over the hill
and then up over the hill. They’re having to move from there
because that’s … major flooding every year.
– Viola Riebe, Hoh Elder
Permanent sand bags now line most homes and facilities in what is
now the lowermost village. The tribal office and community center has
been repeatedly flooded in recent years and now has a permanent berm
around its perimeter, built with eight feet of imported soil (Sampson,
2008).
In response to the extreme flooding events, the Hoh Tribe is
pushing to get certified by FEMA so that the tribe can in the future apply
for grants (M. Riebe, 2008). The tribe is currently in the National Incident
Management System (NIMS) process to get staff trained for natural
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disasters. There are three people already trained, but overall the tribe aims
to have 26 people trained—including all members of the Tribal Council,
Fire Department, and all Program Directors (M. Riebe, 2008). The tribe is
taking this very seriously so that they can be prepared for the next event.
FEMA has already supplied the tribe with two satellite phones, emergency
radios for every home, and a defibulator for every building.
We need to be ready…not wonder who has it or where is it?
– Marie Riebe, Hoh
In addition, the Washington State Emergency Management, under
Washington State’s Military Department is going to install an emergency
siren on the reservation (M. Riebe, 2008). Everyone has an emergency
radio in their home, but if the radios are not on there is no forewarning of
a tsunami.
Fisheries
In both the Hoh and Quillayute River systems, the number one
factor that has been shown to influence the Maximum Sustainable Harvest
(MSH) of salmon is the summer low flows (Northcut, 2008). Successful
spawning of the summer salmon runs are reduced by low flow events
during key summer months, impacting the success of the salmon runs in
the Quillayute River.
They went through and figured out…it was the MSH at summer
low flows that… controls the number of salmon we can
produce. – Kris Northcut, Quileute Natural Resources
This knowledge is extremely important when looking toward the future
impacts that climate change is projected to have: warmer temperatures,
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less runoff from declining snow pack, and changing in timing of rainfall in
key summer months. Summer low flows will continue to be a crucial
factor in salmon survival.
In the mild winter and spring of 1997-98, regional water supplies
were strained in the summer and fall by an early snowmelt (Mote, 1999).
The early snowmelt and dry summer created low flows and warmer
temperatures in many watersheds, resulting in upriver barriers for
migrating salmon (Mote, 1999). In the summer, low flow events can
inhibit salmon from finding passage way into smaller tributaries, in
response the salmon lay their eggs in the mainstem of the Hoh River
(Gilbertson, 2008). According to the Hoh biologist, as a result “many of
these Chinook redds [spawning beds]…get excavated by these extreme
winter high flows and blown out” (Gilbertson, 2008).
On the Hoh River artificial ‘rip rapping’ has been installed along
banks up river to help protect homes and Highway 101. However, the rip
rapping has exacerbated the high flow events, by shooting the river
through at “a gun barrel-like velocity” (Gilbertson, 2008). Rip rapping up
the river is a big concern for the Hoh Tribe, because it can change the way
the river naturally moves, and increase river flow at the same time (M.
Riebe, 2008; V. Riebe, 2008).
Timing of Runs
One of the most significant runs, the surf smelt, has been
seasonally late for the past few years. As part of an annual tradition, the
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Hoh and Quileute peoples seine-net for smelt in the rivers and on the
ocean shore. Communications take place between all tribes along the
coast in order to report the first arrival of the smelt (Penn-Charles, 2008).
Smelt changes are true up and down the coast, because they are
gathered from Neah Bay to Queets, wherever the first smelt arrive.
– Miss Ann Penn-Charles, Quileute
Many people look forward to the smelt harvests, a delicacy and
subsistence food of both tribes. The smelt were put up in tribal
smokehouses to prolong the food source.
For the Quileute people the timing of the smelt runs has been a
significant part of an annual Elder’s Week celebration. Traditional foods
are harvested and prepared for the elders. One of the most prized was the
‘stink eggs’ fermented from the smelt spawners returning annually to the
Quillayute River mouth. Miss Ann of La Push tells of the shift in timing
of the smelt run and the effects of this change.
Fish are coming in later and later in the summer. In 2007 beach
smelts or night smelts came a month late. Normally they come in
May, by Elder’s Week that year they came in June. There have not
been stink eggs ready for Elder’s Week for the past 3-4 years.
That would require the smelt to come in early May and be
fermented for three weeks before elder’s week.
– Miss Ann Penn-Charles, Quileute
For Hoh people, smelting has been part of their livelihood since the
beginning of time. Oral history of the tribe tells of a transformation that
occurred by the “Changer” K’wati “who went around the world making
things as they are today” (Andrade, 1969). At Hoh River he found the
“inhabitants of the area were upside down people, who walked on their
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hands and handled their smelt dipnets clumsily with their feet. They
weren’t very good at it, so they were famished and skinny. K’wati set
them rightside up and showed them how to operate their nets with their
hands” (Andrade, 1969). K’wati then told the ancestors, “You shall use
your feet to walk…Go and fish smelt. You shall catch much fish when
you fish smelt. Ever since then there is much smelt at Hoh” (Andrade,
1969).
Mary Leitka of the Hoh Tribe stated how important smelt are to the
Hoh people.
…you know I think that because of the change and now I see this is
probably going to be the worst thing of all to see, and that’s our
smelts. – Mary Leitka, Hoh Elder
She went on to say that when visiting Sitka, Alaskans reported not seeing
the silver smelts return to their area, so in response Mary made
arrangements to trade smoked Hoh River smelt for herring eggs.
… so that was going to be our trade and now we can’t do it…we’d
used to be able to get them on our river and we’d smoke them and
now there’s none left – Mary Leitka, Hoh Elder
Not only is smelting an important tradition, but smelt is an important
subsistence food source for many people in the tribe. Intertribal trading
was always a way to share abundances of local foods for something rare,
but now it is becoming even more important in maintaining traditional
food systems as species shift and or decline in response to climate change.
Gene Sampson talked about the past abundance of the smelt in the
summer being so high that “ten years ago you could sit here every day and
67
you could smell them from here [tribal office], from the beaches…” It
was such an important food source that anyone hungry “could walk down
and get some.” Times are getting “scary” for people so dependent on the
seasonal production of food sources (Sampson, 2008).
Retaining the tradition of seasonal seine-netting for smelt is being
lost with unprecedented low annual returns. The Quileute too are seeing a
decline in the important resource. Ann Penn-Charles and Eileen Penn
report declines that have pretty much bottomed out in the past two years.
They were big river canoes, one full canoe hold about a little over
a ton of smelts and we would have to work like crazy to make sure
that we threw the salmon smolts back so they wouldn’t die. Smelt
fishing would be in June and July. – Eileen Penn, Lummi Elder
Surfers at First Beach on the Quileute Reservation also reported seeing
declines in the smelt populations that used to be thick along the beach
during the summer spawning season. Throughout interviews of Quileute
and Hoh tribal members, Natural Resource staff, and local fishermen
there is a sense that the seasonal abundance of smelt had been rich, and are
now left with few returning (G. Johnson, 2008; Leitka, 2008; Lien, 2008;
Penn-Charles, 2008; E. Penn, 2008).
As a response, in Hoh River people are resorting to farmed fish to
be put up in their smokehouses as a way to get by in the absence of the
annual abundant returns of the smelt.
…smelts we used to smoke now we have to go to our hatcheries to
get fish…farmed fish they are doing now just to keep people
satisfied you know. We were the smelt capital of the world now
it’s…very slim pickings. Just a couple of years ago you’d get so
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sick of eating them…back in the 70s there’d be smelt...those are
the things that you heard…will never ever be gone.
– Gene Sampson, Hoh
Population Changes
In addition to the smelt arriving late, there have been shifts and
changes in other species populations. Many of these changes are difficult
to directly attribute to climate change, because they may be influenced by
a number of factors. Regardless, it is important to document all changes
that have been observed.
In 1999, Jay Powell reported that tidal areas around the Hoh River
mouth were ‘plentiful’ of skatefish, tomcod, and sturgeon. At that time,
fisherman Frank Fisher caught a 14 foot long sturgeon at the river mouth
(Powell, 1999). Now sturgeon are very scarce in the Hoh river (Leitka,
2008; Sampson, 2008). Tomcod and flounder have almost disappeared.
One interviewee blamed the temperature changes in the river for the loss
of sturgeon, flounder and tomcod.
We average 57-degree water, 66 or 64 for four or five years was
way unnormal for the temperature of the waters and when that
started happening we lost a lot of our sturgeon, our flounders. We
used to get the tom cods [we] lost those in the early 80s they moved
to La Push…and I don’t know what year they lost a lot of theirs, it
used to be a regular thing catching them in the boat basin a lot of
the kids over there used to catch them and sell them to the long
liners as bait, not even the kids can make any money now.
– Gene Sampson, Hoh
The decline is also true for the Quillayute River. Many people
reported declines in flounder and tomcod. The tomcods used to be so
thick in the Quillayute River that the whole surface of the water was
69
“caked with them” (Black III, 2008). Seining for smelt used to bring up a
lot of perch and flounder but they are not as “plentiful” as they once were
(E. Penn, 2008). A commercial fisherman who has fished out of La Push
for 22 years also stated that tomcods have declined since his arrival, when
they were abundant (G. Johnson, 2008).
Salmon populations are on the decline in both the Quillayute and
Hoh River systems. There are many impacts that have threatened salmon
populations—from previous over harvests, logging practices,
development, etc.—but it is important to take note of the abundance that
had been present in both river systems. Mary Leitka from the Hoh Tribe
recalled a hike she took with an elder upriver to visit areas that were used
for seasonal fish camps. The elder told her that the chum had been so
thick “we could walk on their backs” and “now we don’t see them
anymore” (Leitka, 2008).
Fortunately for both the Quillayute and Hoh Rivers, the tributary
waters are within the Olympic National Park boundaries (verses private
timber lands), thus keeping the habitat more or less intact since the Park
was designated (Lien, 2008), though the boundary may be contested over
for gathering, hunting and fishing rights. However, regardless of the
Park’s designation, salmon runs in both river systems are not what they
were historically.
In 2008 the salmon runs were “pretty depressed” for the Hoh
River, according to the Hoh Natural Resource Director (Allison, 2008).
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Everything was “shut off for spring Chinook [the prized run] on June 16th
and normally it’s the last week of July, because they’re looking at below
escapement levels” (Allison, 2008). The fishery had never been shut
down that early in the season, at least since the 1980s when Steve started
working for the Hoh Tribe (Allison, 2008). One Hoh tribal fisherman
recalls polling up river in the 1960s and getting 40 to 50, 35-pound salmon
in a single drift, but today “it’s down to hatchery size which is very, very
little” (Sampson, 2008).
In response to lower numbers both tribes are looking at improving
riparian habitat. The Quileute have been actively removing invasive
Japanese knotweed in the watershed to help improve natural water
conductivity (Northcut, 2008). The Hoh Tribe has planted trees to help
keep the river temperatures cool in summer months (Allison, 2008). From
a fisheries management perspective, if salmon numbers continue to
decline, there are few other options other then to hope that “the state will
further limit their [fishery] and our fishery” to keep the runs going (Lien,
2008), which occurred in California and Oregon in 2008. Farmed fish has
been the option for many (Sampson, 2008).
It affects everybody not just the Natives, but the non-Indians too.
It…affects everybody one way or another and it’s tough for our
people. – Gene Sampson, Hoh
Looking towards the future, from the words of Chris Penn Jr. who testified
during the Boldt Treaty case, “resolution for all of these problems…[is]
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that we’ve got to sit down together otherwise we’re all sitting on the bank.
Our resources come first that’s what keeps us alive” (Penn Jr., 2008).
Bird Declines
LEK and TEK of fishermen indicates that tufted puffin at sea are
not near the population numbers there once were (G. Johnson, 2008; J.
Schumack, 2008).
… there aren’t a lot of puffins anymore and there used to be quit a
few of those. You don’t see those as often anymore…seems rare
now, I’m kind of surprised. – John Schumack, Quileute
This is an important note because climate researchers are indicating that
ocean warming will affect pelagic bird abundances with in the California
current system (Veit et al., 1996). Veit et al. (1996) reported that seabird
abundance has declined by 40% from 1987 to 1994 within the California
current system. This decline coincides with an increasing sea surface
temperature. This could mean that other commonly found pelagic birds
within the usual and accustom fishing grounds of the Quileute and Hoh
may also decline. With such a broad breath of impacts, pelagic birds in
particular were not focused on and may be of interest for future projects.
Quileute elders state that hummingbird numbers are down,
especially during the spring and summer of 2008 (Loudon, 2008;
Wallerstedt, 2008).
And everyone was talking about they haven’t seen as much
hummingbirds either, due to the climate change or whatever is
happening… making a change on land and sea and everything.
– Beverly Loudon, Quileute elder
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Another Quileute elder spoke of other common backyard birds returning
in low numbers during the spring and summer of 2008 (Wallerstedt,
2008). Birdhouses were empty while birdfeeders remain full of food.
Hypoxia
Ocean dead zones have been recorded along the Pacific coast from
La Push south through Oregon. These dead zones are caused by low
oxygen levels in the ocean resulting in massive crab and fish kills that
wash to shore (Grantham et al., 2004). The recent hypoxia events along
the Pacific coast have been called “unprecedented” and “severe” within
the California Current System (Grantham et al., 2004). The events are
alarming to everyone along the coast who depends on the ocean for their
food and economy. Changes in ocean upwelling that bring nutrient rich
cold water to the surface may be the cause of these pockets of low oxygen.
According to the IPCC, the occurrence of low oxygen levels may
be due to a variety of factors including: “biological activity, changes in the
physical transport of oxygen, or by a change in temperature and
salinity”(IPCC, 2007b). Ocean upwelling contributes to the physical
transport of low oxygen water and nutrients on to the near shore
productive continental shelves (Chan et al., 2007; Grantham et al., 2004).
Respiration in these productive shelves can further decrease oxygen
availability resulting in hypoxic conditions along the shelf (Schwing &
Mendelssohn, 1997). Timing of upwelling is dependent on decadal cycles
in the Pacific Ocean, such as the ENSO and PDO (NOAA, 2008c). Many
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pelagic fish rely on coastal upwelling for their reproductive success. The
strength and timing of upwelling is significant in providing the right water
column mixing that maintains concentration of food organisms (Cury & C.
Roy, 1989).
Seasonal anoxic conditions can become hypoxic with an increase
in upwelling that leads to a rise in primary production associated with
amplified nutrient availability (Chan et al., 2007). As a result benthic
waters can become hypoxic from an increase in decaying biomass settling
in shelf waters (Chan et al., 2007). Continental shelf species, such as
invertebrates and bottom fish are accustom to occasional anoxic
conditions but cannot adapt to persistent severe anoxic or hypoxic
conditions (Childress & Seibel, 1998). As a result, major fish and
invertebrate kills can be seen along the Washington and Oregon coasts.
Regional researchers recently made a connection to changes in
upwelling patterns and climate change, stating that “delayed early-season
upwelling and stronger late-season upwelling are consistent with
predictions of the influence of global warming on coastal upwelling
regions” (Barth et al., 2007). According to the IPCC (2007) Report, ocean
water “freshening [addition of fresh water from Arctic melt] is pronounced
in the Pacific,” this may be contributing to changes in upwelling and
oxygen transportation being seen in the Pacific (IPCC, 2007b).5
The Eastern Pacific Ocean off the western coast of the United
States coastal upwelling is wind-driven (Bakun, 1990). As a result
74
changes in wind direction, strength and timing can also greatly contribute
to upwelling that may overall impact marine productivity. TEK
mentioned earlier, indicates that changing patterns in wind direction and
timing are already being observed along the coast of Washington (see
Wind in Results Section).
For the people of La Push and Hoh River these changes have been
and are continuing to affect their subsistence food sources and marine
resource economies. Hypoxia events have been the priority issue for
many First Nation gatherings and will continue to be as they affect the
salmon, the life-blood of many Northwest tribes, as well as other resources
(Lekanof, 2008).
Crabbing
Crabbing has been particularly vulnerable to hypoxic events up
and down the West Coast. Hypoxic events have been primarily occurring
during the summer months. A published report on hypoxic conditions off
of Newport Beach, Oregon, indicated that the key timeframe for hypoxia
is from late summer through September (Figure 15) (NOAA, 2008c).
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Figure 15 – Hypoxia events occurring off of Newport beach Oregon
indicate that they primarily occur during the summer to early fall
(NOAA, 2008c).
For the Quileute fishermen, crabbing is very important
economically. Fishermen reported that in addition to the crab kills south of
La Push and the Hoh River, crab have been slow to ‘harden up’ in the fall.
The State requires that the crabs be 23% meat content with hard shells (G.
Johnson, 2008), but in the last few years their shells have not hardened on
time (Ratcliff, 2008; J. Schumack, 2008). The LEK from the Quileute
Tribal Harvest Biologist and a commercial fisherman from La Push, both
indicated that the crab has taken longer to harden up over the past couple
of years (G. Johnson, 2008; Northcut, 2008).
Some of the [crab] shell condition and meat content for the past
couple of years, it’s taken longer for the shell to get harder and the
meat content to get to a point where it’s acceptable. In fact one of
the years I believe it went all of the way into January before the
meat content was ready. So that might be taking longer, because
maybe the upwellings that breed the food or something isn’t
happening. In the 2004-2005 season, it [shell hardening] didn’t
start until week 16 [middle of January] when the crab season
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[starts] for tribe, (October 1st to September). – Kris Northcut,
Quileute Natural Resources
There was also worry that the water temperatures were too warm and that
was causing the delay for the crab.
The crab, kind of a strange cycle for a while… It was taking way
too long for them to harden up, the water temperature was just
strange, it was warmer then it should have been [last year].
– Steve Ratcliff, Quileute fisherman
Timing of ocean upwelling is key for many species to obtain essential
nutrients, and with oceanographic changes in upwelling patterns the
results are devastating for ecosystems.
The delay in shell hardening is worrisome if it is indeed related to
the timing of ocean nutrient upwelling. Dungeness crabs molt every
season and must receive the right nutrients to be able to rebuild their shells
for the winter months. Crab shells may be an early sign that something is
changing in the oceans.
Domoic Acid
In addition to hypoxic events, domoic acid events have become
common along the Washington coastline. Domoic acid is a product of a
diatom (algae) species called Pseudo-nitzschia that is absorbed by crab
and shellfish and is a human health risk if ingested. According to the
Quileute Natural Resources office, domoic acid events on the West Coast
began showing up in 1991 (Moon, 2008; Northcut, 2008). Previous to the
1990s, domoic acid was only found on the East Coast. Whether facilitated
77
by ship ballast water and/or warming coastal waters, domoic acid events
have become common during the summer months.
For Quileute and Hoh peoples, domoic acid events affect their
ability to freely gather shellfish due to adverse health concerns, such as
short-term memory loss and other neurological problems (Burkholder,
1998; Moon, 2008). Not only does domoic acid pose a human health risk
it can also adversely affect marine mammals and birds who ingest infected
shellfish and crab (Gulland, 2000). Frances Gulland’s 2000 report to
NOAA was the first of its kind to show unusual marine mammal kills
associated with domoic acid toxins.
Hoh and Quileute peoples reported that clams are particularly
small in size and number on the ocean beaches (Leitka, 2008; V. Riebe,
2008; Sampson, 2008; Wallerstedt, 2008), which may be due to domoic
acid events. But with more restricted harvests (due to domoic acid
toxicities) there would seem to be more shellfish available. Some studies
have indicated that domoic acid from Pseudo-nitzschia caused blood cell
abnormalities in the Pacific oyster (Jones et al., 1995), so it could be
possible that domoic acid may have other physiological affects such as
stunting the growth of coastal clams. Hypoxic events and/or disease were
often suggested as the problem for shellfish.
I think that warmth is causing a lot of the disease that is getting
into our seafood. – Mary Leitka, Hoh Elder
The waters don’t have enough oxygen…oxygen is not plentiful.
Last year or the year before our ocean floors were filled with dead
sea life. Now we can dig clams at Kalaloch and now they are 1 ½
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to 2 inches when before they were 4 inches or bigger. Huge, huge
clams. – Viola Riebe, Hoh Elder
What really hurts all the tribes along the coast is the water
conditions [domoic acid and hypoxia] in our fishing clams,
anything along the coastline is no longer predictable whether we
are going to have this or that anymore – Gene Sampson, Hoh
LEK also indicated that changes in the ocean are becoming unpredictable
and the extent of the problem is becoming hard to follow.
...You can’t just count on the normal trends that were happening in
the past. All of those indicators don’t hold a lot of weight
nowadays because there are just so many different things taking
place out in the ocean, certain upwellings aren’t taking place,
temperatures aren’t happening, dissolved oxygen problems…I
mean it’s…things that weren’t happening are happening now, so if
your not tracking it closely you could have some serious problems.
– Kris Northcut, Quileute Natural Resources
In response to the increase in domoic acid events along the coast,
the Quileute began regular testing at local beaches to ensure shellfish
harvests are safe (Davis, 2008; Moon, 2008). The Quileute started a
program with the Washington State Department of Ecology to monitor the
domoic acid blooms by taking shellfish samples from the beach. The
Director of the Quileute Natural Resources stated the tribe’s goal and
success of the program:
Our goal was to have rapid assay [toxin] tests so that people could
know immediately if there was trouble and not to harvest. Now we
have a lab that has the capacity to test them. They are day after
tests and we post the results the next day. – Mel Moon, Quileute
Natural Resources
With rapid testing and the State-operated shellfish hotline, harvesting can
continue when levels are safe. Crab meat must also be tested prior to crab
season to ensure that domoic acid is not present (G. Johnson, 2008).
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In addition to testing, the Quileute have been working with the
Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC) to help map the toxic
blooms to find out what is triggering them (Moon, 2008; Northcut, 2008).
It appears that nutrients coming out of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, along
with upwelling nutrients, create the “ideal conditions for Pseudonitzschia” to bloom (Moon, 2008). Warming ocean temperatures and
changes in ocean upwelling may also be to blame. Many algal blooms
have been associated with El Niño events, so this trend towards warm
water affinity “has led to the suggestion that global climate change and
warming trends may also encourage their growth” (Burkholder, 1998).
Shifting in geographic range and increased activity of algal blooms may
also be caused by warming trends from global climate change (Epstein et
al., 1993).
Along with being involved in the NWFSC, the Hoh and the
Quileute are involved in working with the Intertribal Policy Council (IPC)
that brings together coastal tribes, NOAA and the Olympic National Coast
Marine Sanctuary (OCNMS). As Joe Gilbertson, the Fisheries
Management Biologist for the Hoh Tribe, explains:
The coastal tribes have formed the partnership with IPC… to have
a consensus and an agreement to move forward in a unified and
collective manner with regard to evaluating these physical and
biological ...parameters. Partnership with IPC is to get the buoy
system running better to record surface temperatures, wind and
swell directions, [and] physical parameters. – Joe Gilbertson, Hoh
Natural Resources
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In 2006, the OCNMS installed monitoring stations along the
coastline that will bring new data on hypoxia events by measuring
temperature, dissolved oxygen and salinity of the ocean (Figure
16)(OCNMS, 2006). With this knowledge gained through Western
Science, combined with TEK, the Quileute and Hoh peoples may be able
to start predicting hypoxic and domoic acid events in a changed
environment.
Figure 16 – Olympic Coast
National Marine Sanctuary
water monitoring buoys
(OCNMS, 2006).
Diseases and Pests
Warming temperatures on land and sea enable influxes of invasive
and noxious plants, animals and diseases to move into new areas. On the
Olympic Peninsula some of these invasions are already beginning to take
place. Through interviews with the natural resource staff from both the
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Hoh and Quileute tribes, a picture has begun to emerge on the types of
issues both nations have begun to face.
Non-native Louse
Pests and diseases are predicted to increase with climate change
(CIG, 2008). In addition to the influx of Pseudo-nitzschia, a louse has
been impacting deer and elk populations around the Olympic Peninsula.
Commonly termed ‘hair slip’ the non-native louse (species of lice) has
“further pushed the elk population down” (Geyer, 2008). How the louse
species was introduced or if it has anything to do with the changing
climate is unknown, but noteworthy. Personnel at both the Hoh and
Quileute Natural Resources offices mentioned the new problem (Allison,
2008; Geyer, 2008) that, as of yet, has no solution.
Hemorrhagic Disease
In addition, to the louse, a ‘hemorrhagic disease’ was reported by
the Director of the Hoh Natural Resources as a new problem for elk
populations. According to Allison the wasting disease is an anaerobic
bacterium that grows in fields with standing water. The elk come in
contact with the bacteria and “it’s like a hemorrhagic disease that is fatal”
(Allison, 2008).
They witnessed that down in Clearwater [a tributary of the Queets
River]. That’s a function of heavy rains in spring and sunlight that
would cause a bloom of the stuff and they would ingest it and it
would cause a hemorrhage. – Steve Allison, Hoh Natural
Resources
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With increased flooding the disease could become more of a health
problem for elk populations, which is a subsistence food source for the
Quileute and Hoh peoples.
Spruce Weevil
The Sitka spruce weevil (Pissodes strobe) has begun taking hold of
the spruce trees within the Hoh River watershed. In the mid-1980’s the
spruce weevil exploded on private timber plantations (Thysell & Steve
Allison, 2005). Spruce weevil has been shown to perform better with
warmer temperatures (Heppner & Jennifer Turner, 2006) that monoculture
plantations provide. It primarily attacks the Sitka spruce because it grows
at lower elevation and thus a warmer climate, but Engelmann spruce at
higher elevations is also susceptible (Heppner & Jennifer Turner, 2006).
A weevil attack to a spruce causes deformed limbs and branching, along
with stunted growth and needle drop (Heppner & Jennifer Turner, 2006).
This can be devastating to riparian zones, especially in the temperate
rainforest where spruce is “a key component of salmon habitat” (Thysell
& Steve Allison, 2005).
As a way to control the proliferation of the spruce weevil within
the Hoh watershed, the Hoh Tribe has planted around 40,000 alder trees to
keep temperatures cool around groves of spruce trees, essentially shading
out the weevil (Allison, 2008). This is an environmental control
mechanism that avoids the use of chemicals within a riparian area, helping
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to keep one of the traditionally predominant riparian trees in the watershed
by lowering insect activity (Allison, 2008).
In response to increased pests and diseases, both tribes have
continued to focus on the ecosystem level to figure out how best to
address species declines, because everything is interconnected.
I think that we need to look at the connection of the food sources
and to what is disappearing, because…it’s not just the elk and the
deer. There’s many…things that depend one upon one the other,
even clear down to the little spiders and bugs, mom used to talk
about that. I think it’s important that we realize that some how
we’re going to have to work at protecting many of them.
– Mary Leitka, Hoh Elder
For many reasons it is difficult to identify the best way to control invasive
species in a changing environment. Both tribes are doing what they can to
protect the native salmon habitat through continued removal of Japanese
knotweed and shading out spruce weevil.
Species Range Shifts
Marine and terrestrial species have shifted their ranges in response
to the warming climate. Species range shifts were predicted to move to
cooler areas to the north and/or to higher elevations as temperatures warm
on land and sea. For fish and other marine species, this means that ranges
would shift away from their original grounds towards northern latitudes.
“Climate-related changes in fish distribution have been typically
characterized as range shifts or displacement away from the center
of the home range, as temperatures grew warmer (Perry et al.,
2005; Zeidberg & Bruce H. Robison, 2007).”
On the Quileute and Hoh reservations some potential range shifts have
already been observed in avian, marine, and terrestrial species.
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Bird Species
Brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) are a new visitor to the
Washington coastline. According to many interviews with elders
(Jackson, 2008; Matson, 2008; Morganroth III, 2008), LEK (Dickerson,
2008; B. Johnson, 2008; G. Johnson, 2008; Payne, 2008), tribal fishermen
(Moon, 2008; Ratcliff, 2008; J. Schumack, 2008) and natural resource
staff (Geyer, 2008; Northcut, 2008) the brown pelicans are a new arrival to
the coast. The consensus arrival time was around the mid-1980s (Moon,
2008; Morganroth III, 2008; Payne, 2008). Now, the brown pelican has
begun to stay longer on the coast. They are now arriving during the
second or third week in June and departing the last week in October
(Geyer, 2008; Moon, 2008; Morganroth III, 2008; Penn Jr., 2008).
The brown pelican’s original northern range was limited to
California. In the late 1960s, the pelican became a federally listed
endangered species after the DDT pesticide crisis that left many birds
unable to form eggshells (Wickliffe & J.W. Bickham, 1998). The brown
pelicans in particular “are the most sensitive avian species to the effects of
DDE,” a by-product of DDT (Blus, 2007). In California in particular, the
pelicans had the highest level of DDE exposure compared to pelican
populations in Louisiana, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and
Texas (Blus, 2007). The California population seemingly recovered and
moved north into Washington, but sources still have the brown pelican’s
northern range limited to California (Figure 17)(Cornell, 2003). Warming
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waters, decline in food, and recovery from DDE may all be factors in their
migration northward to the Washington coastline.
Figure 17 – This figure shows the current range of the brown pelican,
which lacks inclusion of more recent populations off the coast of
Washington State (Cornell, 2003).
Two other bird species were identified through LEK as recent
arrivals. The turkey vulture (B. Johnson, 2008) was reported a new arrival
to the Quillayute Prairie (just inland from the Quileute Reservation) and
the Caspian tern arrived about 20 years ago to La Push (Payne, 2008).
These are both worth mentioning; however these arrivals were indicated
late in the interview process so no one else was questioned about their
arrival.
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Ocean species
The Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas) has started frequenting the
waters off the coast of Washington. TEK (Black III, 2008; Moon, 2008;
Ratcliff, 2008; J. Schumack, 2008; Williams, 2008) and LEK (Dickerson,
2008; G. Johnson, 2008; Northcut, 2008; Payne, 2008) indicate that the
Humboldt squid originally arrived during an El Niño event, but kept
returning even during colder La Niña cycles. This coincides with several
reports from the scientific community that indeed the Humboldt squid has
started expanding its original range away from the warm waters around
the equator but, not migrating north of central California (Blumenthal,
2008; Cosgrove, 2004; Zeidberg & Bruce H. Robison, 2007). “This
geographic expansion occurred during a period of ocean-scale warming,
regional cooling, and the decline of tuna and billfish populations
throughout the Pacific” (Sibert et al., 2006; Zeidberg & Bruce H. Robison,
2007). Not only were Humboldt squids not seen in Washington state until
recently (5 to 10 years ago according to TEK) they were not observed in
California’s Monterey Bay until 1997 (and stayed through the strong El
Niño event of 1997-98). They arrived again in great numbers to Monterey
Bay during the smaller El Niño event of 2002 and have been year-round
residents ever since. Warm waters in the Eastern Pacific Ocean occurred
“10-15 months and again by 2-3 months in both 1997 and 2002 arrivals”
(Zeidberg & Bruce H. Robison, 2007).
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Though the change in the distribution does not follow the ‘normal’
range shifts or displacements, because the Humboldt squid is not leaving
its original range but rather expanding north and south, the shift in range
into historically colder waters is concerning. Waters may be warming
enough to support its habitation.
The fact this is happening in both hemispheres could be a sign it is
tied in with global warming. – John Field, NOAA fisheries
biologist (Blumenthal, 2008)
Zeidberg and Robison (2007) stated that its range expansion does not
strongly correlate with warming sea surface temperatures, but its
expansion during El Niño events suggest a strong “warm-water affinity”.
However, fishermen in La Push have been seeing an increasing number of
squid during La Niña years, as recently as 2008, when ocean waters
should be colder.
They’re showing up more then usual, yesterday [Sept. 17, 2008]
one of the sport fishermen caught a 5 ½ footer. For the last couple
of years, few years actually, there’s been a Humboldt free for all…
just enormous size squid... – Steve Ratcliff, Quileute
To still have giant squid present in 2008 during a La Niña cycle indicates
some environmental factor is driving the Humboldt squid to the north.
Whether climate-induced or not, the Humboldt squid’s presence means
something is shifting in the food chain off the Washington coast, with the
arrival of a new top predator. The Humboldt squid can be greater then
two-meters long and weigh up to 110 pounds (Zeidberg & Bruce H.
Robison, 2007). It is a voracious predator that may pose a problem for
Washington coast fisheries, especially salmon runs (Blumenthal, 2008).
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Sea Turtles
Turtles were also commonly referred to in interviews from LEK
and TEK holders. The loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) was indicated
as an unusual sighting by Quileute fishermen (Moon, 2008; J. Schumack,
2008; Williams, 2008) and other local people (Dickerson, 2008; G.
Johnson, 2008). Loggerhead turtles migrate from the equator to feeding
grounds off the coast of Alaska, and have been shown to be sensitive to
warming sea surface temperature (Chaloupka et al., 2008). In response,
they are predicted to “shift foraging habitats to cooler and more productive
waters” (Chaloupka et al., 2008). This could mean that more loggerhead
turtles will be seen in the future off the Washington coast with climatic
warming.
In addition to the loggerhead turtle, the leatherback turtle
(Dermochelys coriacea) has been sighted during El Niño years, which is
very rare and unusual according to LEK (G. Johnson, 2008) and TEK
(Moon, 2008; Ratcliff, 2008). Leatherback turtles can tolerate wide
ranges of water temperatures (NOAA, 2008b) from Southern Hemisphere
tropics to the West Coast of Washington state. During the early 1980s
leatherback turtles were spotted off of Westport, Washington (Eisenberg,
1983). Leatherback and loggerhead turtles may frequent the waters off of
La Push more often during El Niño years, but there is not a clear
indication that sightings are unusual, according to NOAA. Both turtles are
listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act so they may also be rare
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sightings due to small populations. However, TEK indicates that both
turtles were rarely seen. This may signify they are already responding to
warmer waters off the coast.
Fish
Increases in warm-water fish such as mackerel, tuna and sardines
were reported by fishermen in La Push. During the 1997-98 El Niño
event, LEK and TEK reported higher numbers of mackerel that were
inhibiting their ability to catch salmon (Black III, 2008; Moon, 2008;
Morganroth III, 2008; Northcut, 2008; Williams, 2008). Tuna moving
with warm water 10 miles to 40 miles offshore was reported by TEK
interviewees as a major change, as opposed to ‘normal’ temperature
conditions when tuna are 100 to 500 miles offshore (Black III, 2008;
Morganroth III, 2008; Ratcliff, 2008; Sampson, 2008; Williams, 2008).
LEK reports also indicated changes in tuna migration coming in earlier in
the summer (G. Johnson, 2008) and moving with bands of warm water 10
to 40 miles offshore (Northcut, 2008). Tuna appear to have warm water
affinity and may continue to return earlier in the summer if the ocean
continues to warm.
Sunfish
The sunfish or common mola (Mola mola) were frequently
referred to as a new arrival to the coast by Quileute and Hoh fishermen
(Black III, 2008; Moon, 2008; Morganroth III, 2008; Ratcliff, 2008;
Sampson, 2008; Williams, 2008) and natural resource staff member Kris
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Northcut. Sunfish were first seen during strong El Niño years, but have
now been present during the colder La Niña cycle.
Then the oddball stuff, sunfish, a lot of that type of stuff is seen
more in the last 10 years, there’s more of them in the areas that we
never used to see them before. – Roy Black, Quileute fisherman
Fishermen took notice of the sunfish because they have the unusual
behavior of surfacing in an act that looks as if they are sunning
themselves. They are also an exceptionally large species; the largest of
the bony fish reaching over 3 meters in length (Cartamil & Christopher G.
Lowe, 2004).
Sailfish
Sailfish (Istiophorus sp.) also first appeared off the coast during an
El Niño cycle (Morganroth III, 2008) around 10 years ago (J. Schumack,
2008). Even during recent La Niña years, sailfish have been present. A
sailfish was caught by a Quileute fisherman in 2007 (J. Schumack, 2008).
They are distinct fish that can be seen surfacing with their slender
body and long pointed fins, which caught many fishermen off guard when
they first appeared.
We didn’t even know what it was; these big old fins coming out of
the water. – John Schumack, Quileute fisherman
For tribal fishermen, the changes that are being seen are unusual and not
necessarily following the ENSO and PDO cycles. As one fishermen put it,
“it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what’s going on in your
industry that those kinds of fish are coming around” (Black III, 2008).
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TEK indicates that these new species were not present during the time of
their Quileute and Hoh ancestors.
TEK held by Quileute and Hoh fishermen is providing an early
warning that impacts are occurring in the present. TEK provides an early
warning system for commercial and subsistence fisheries off Washington
coast. In the North Sea, scientists have already identified distribution
shifts among “nearly two-thirds” of the marine fish species (Perry et al.,
2005). The species that have exhibited a range shift were reported to have
smaller body sizes and faster life cycles. Perry et al. (2005) stated that this
will likely have “profound impacts on commercial fisheries through
continued shifts in distribution and alterations in community interactions.”
Communication between Tribal, State and Federal governments is
essential in order to safeguard tribal treaty rights and the future of
subsistence fishing. Knowledge of change is available and must be used
to timely respond to the changes present in the marine ecosystem. We no
longer have the luxury to wait for certainty.
Gathering
Many plants were traditionally gathered by the Quileute and Hoh
peoples for medicinal, cultural and subsistence purposes. Many foods and
materials are still gathered from the forest by the Quileute and Hoh tribes.
Some of these resources have seen changes in recent years.
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Cedar Bark
Cedar bark is an important resource for tribal basketweavers. It is
harvested every year during a very specific time before the bark becomes
to pitchy for use. According to some elders, the bark has not been the
same for the past few years. Reports of drier bark may indicate warmer
summer weather that is changing the cedar trees; usually the inner pith of
the bark is very wet (E. Penn, 2008). After the bark is cut from the tree it
is stripped and laid out to dry. The timing of the drying process depends
on the moisture content of the bark. An elder indicated that the bark is
drying out faster now (Morganroth, 2008). In addition, there are no longer
old-growth cedar trees available. Agreements with the local logging
companies (Geyer, 2008; Morganroth III, 2008; Morganroth, 2008) has
allowed some continued seasonal bark peeling, but often the bark is
gathered from trees already cut down, so the bark quality is lost
(Morganroth, 2008).
As a way to respond to these changes in quantity and quality of
bark, a few basketweavers stated that they often purchase bark from
gatherings or trade with other tribes (Morganroth, 2008; E. Penn, 2008).
This is another example of intertribal cooperation in response to shifting
and changing resources.
You have to find the other places they might be, or start trading
with other tribes that have the grasses that they travel with to the
different pow-wows. Some of them bring bear grasses with them to
trade, or if we are at a basket conference they bring their stuff
there and trade and sell for the people that don’t get to go out…the
other option, other places might have the same kind of grass we
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used to have, and sometimes there’s people from Canada that
come down to sell their grasses and their cedar bark…yellow
cedar bark is a nice commodity. It’s a prized one.
– Eileen Penn, Lummi Elder
Bear Grass
Bear grass was a commonly gathered grass, but it has become less
available as the floral industry continues to use it. Illegal harvests are very
common on the Olympic Peninsula. During the summer of 2008, a
truckload of bear grass was confiscated near Hoodsport. Much of the
grass was made available to local tribal weavers. As a result of illegal
harvesting, the bear grass is not as tall or as wide as it once was (Loudon,
2008; Morganroth, 2008; E. Penn, 2008; M. Schumack, 2008). Bear grass
used to be 4 to 6 feet tall and now is no larger than 2 feet tall (M.
Schumack, 2008).
It seems to me that a long time ago they had real nice bear grass;
in fact they were a lot longer and a lot wider, back when the men
used to pick them. – Marian Schumack, Quileute Elder
Illegal harvesting techniques are often given as the reason for the
shorter grass (Loudon, 2008; Morganroth, 2008).
…ruining it just by cutting it not understanding that it’s supposed
to be pulled instead of cut. Years ago it used to be a lot wider and
taller, but because so many people are bothering it now it seems
like it’s not. – Beverly Loudon, Quileute Elder
There could be other factors, including a changing climate, that are
influencing the bear grass’ growth. It is likely the biggest impact is
coming from illegal harvests.
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In order to keep traditional weaving practices alive, some grasses
are purchased or traded because they are no longer available in the usual
gathering areas. A weaver from the Quileute Tribe stated that she already
buys her sweet grass from people in Canada where it still available
(Morganroth, 2008). Many people are trying to keep traditions alive with
the younger generations even if it means purchasing materials from other
tribes.
I try to do right with my children and grandchildren to keep it
going [basket weaving] and so both of my daughters they weave
and my granddaughter. So I still try to have my children use the
natural stuff on there, it’s a very few, but it is. – Lela Mae
Morganroth, Quileute Elder
Berries
In recent years, some species of berries (such as huckleberries,
salmonberries, blackberries, and thimbleberries) have been late to ripen.
Berries have also been low in abundance (Loudon, 2008). During the
spring and summer of 2008 various berries were reported three weeks to
two months late by LEK and TEK harvesters (Anonymous 2, 2008b;
Hobson, 2008; Loudon, 2008; Payne, 2008; Penn-Charles, 2008; E. Penn,
2008). Wild strawberries on the beach are normally ready in July or
August, but in 2007 they were not ready until the late August, early
September (Penn-Charles, 2008). Salmonberries are coming on at
different times now, but they used to be ready for Elder’s Week in May.
… the harvesting of different foods is affected by the weather.
– Eileen Penn, Lummi Elder
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Sprouts or first shoots of the blackberry were also harvested in
May and they are increasingly late as well. During Elder’s Week the
shoots were eaten with the stink eggs, which is considered a delicacy by
many (Penn-Charles, 2008).
...affected so much of everything…in Native country it so important
because that’s what they rely on. – Gene Sampson, Hoh
Huckleberries in the mountains are having “hard cycles” in recent years,
they are not on time and are low in abundance (Penn-Charles, 2008;
Sampson, 2008). Ba·áts or Indian Celery (Equisetum or horsetail) would
also come out during March to April, and by June they would be done.
These were used to help with springtime allergies, but by June 2008 they
had not come out yet.
Springtime used to be so busy; it was the time everything was
awakening. – Ann Penn-Charles, Quileute
There was always a feast with the elders at the end of April or middle of
May, but in recent years plants are not ready for harvest (Penn-Charles,
2008).
Annual gathering of traditional foods have been affected by the
climate. Quileute and Hoh peoples say these are not normal cycles. The
months of the Quileute calendar were named by harvest seasons of
specific resources (Jaime, 2008b). Unprecedented changes are being
exhibited in these temporal cycles. Factors such as logging and land
management on the Olympic Peninsula have a role in availability, but
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these activities do not necessarily influence the timing of spring events.
Overall, TEK indicates that these changes have never been present before.
Responses to Change
Adaptation is a common response for Native peoples because
subsistence harvest of natural resources is still part of their lives.
Harvesting and gathering practices have adapted to new rules and
regulations since European American colonization. Practices have also
adapted in more recent times to changes in the timing of fish runs and
berry harvests, the declines of important weaving materials and smelt, and
the increased occurrence of unpredictable weather and severe storms.
In response, both the Hoh and Quileute tribes are in current
negotiations to obtain higher ground from the Olympic National Park.
This is in direct response to tsunami, storm surges, and flooding that
threatens much of the two reservations. However, this response of higher
land can also be seen as an appropriate response to sea-level rise and
increased storm surge events caused by climate change. The 2004 tsunami
in South and Southeast Asia was a wake-up call for many people living on
the world’s coastlines, but for the Quileute and Hoh peoples increased
flooding and storm surges from severe ‘superstorms’ have also played a
part in their decisions to move important tribal buildings to higher ground.
Moving the Tribal School is of utmost importance for many people living
on the Quileute Reservation. The recent storm surges of 2004 and 2006
were the first to reach the school grounds, littering large woody debris and
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leaving standing water on the play fields (Hobson, 2008; Loudon, 2008;
Payne, 2008).
The wind force caused the ocean to come up to the Tribal school.
That was the first time in my lifetime that had ever happened.
– DeAnna Hobson, Quileute
There was a superstorm that almost took the school away. The
lower village was evacuated for the day. Strong winds and
currents were coming in from the NW. There was also high water.
The break wall was broken right out front of the school and near
Deanna’s house. – Chris Penn, Jr. (Giggs), Quileute Elder
Implications for the Future and Long-term Responses
The Quileute and Hoh peoples are looking forward to future
generations, which is an essential approach when considering the viability
and availability of traditional foods and resources in response to climate
change impacts. The tribes are mindful of the threat that climate change
poses on their natural resources, and are increasingly aware that the
changes have already begun for the present generation. Many tribal
members stated they will have to continue to make connections with other
tribes in order to obtain and maintain traditional usage of culturally
important resources. Many basketweavers are already in the practice of
purchasing specific materials from other tribes at gatherings. This allows
them to continue the cultural practices of their ancestors; an example of
community-based intertribal cooperation (Morganroth, 2008).
Long-term responses for the tribes involve moving the lowermost
villages to higher ground. This is no easy undertaking for any community
and is a political task for both tribes. The tribes must appeal to the federal
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government for land, but this is made even more complicated with the
surrounding land designated as National Park.
Moving a village is a big task when you have lots of people
involved. – Viola Riebe, Hoh Elder
The Quileute Tribe also has a land zoning issue with the National
Park Service, which adds tension to the request. When the Quileute
Reservation was created in 1889 the mouth of the Quillayute River was
located north of its current location. In 1910 a storm hit the area and
“caused the river’s mouth to close and the river to move southward”
(Jaime, 2008a). The change in the river mouth left a parcel of land cut off
from the Quileute Reservation. Following the storm, a 1916 survey was
done that excluded this parcel of land from the Reservation (Jaime,
2008a). This survey is now commonly termed the ‘erroneous survey of
1916’.
In 1953 the coastal Olympic National Park was designated.
Unfortunately for the Quileute people, the Park boundaries were drawn
from the erroneous 1916 survey, which failed to recognize the original
Reservation boundaries of 1889 (Jaime, 2008a). The cut off parcel of land
was deemed part of the Olympic National Park and is the current location
for the Rialto Beach parking lot. This change in boundaries has added
political tension for the tribe’s request for higher ground from the National
Park Service.
Presently, the Quileute Tribal Council has drafted up a bill for
Congress and is awaiting President Barack Obama to back their request
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(Hobson, 2008). The hope is that the political change over will help pass
the bill for additional Quileute Trust Land, out of harms way from
tsunami, sea-level rise, and increased storm surges.
The Hoh Tribe is also in pursuit of higher ground out of the Hoh
River channel migration zone and tsunami danger. U.S. Congressman
Norm Dicks along with the Hoh Tribal Council drafted Bill 7073, “The
Hoh Indian Tribe Safe Homelands Act” which he introduced during the
2009 congressional legislative session.
The bill is requesting that 260 acres of private land purchased by
the Hoh Tribe, along with 160 acres transferred over from the Washington
Department of Natural Resources, and 37 acres from the National Park
Service, be added as Hoh Trust Land. This addition would provide the
tribe with a continuous parcel of land from the ocean to Highway 101,
which includes higher ground for village relocation. Councilwomen
Marie Riebe reminds us that if this bill passes it will be the second move
for the Hoh people. The first move was in the mid-1970s when the
lowermost village, along the ocean, was abandoned due to flooding
conditions (M. Riebe, 2008).
The Hoh and Quileute tribes’ land requests will provide safe
homelands that can be used to respond to rising sea-level and increased
storms and flooding. Global sea-level has already risen 18 centimeters
(7.1 inches) in the past century (Pendleton et al., 2004) and is projected to
rise an additional 48 centimeters (18 inches) by 2100 (IPCC, 2007b). Sea-
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level rise will continue to shape policy responses for the Quileute and Hoh
Tribal Councils into the future. But for now the tribes are responding to
the most imminent dangers of flooding, tsunami, and ocean surge.
Marine Sanctuary
In addition to the land acquisitions with the National Park Service,
there is a new entity on the Washington coastline that the Quileute and
Hoh tribes are working with to help safeguard marine resources. The
Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary was established in 1994 to
preserve the unique habitats along the coastline from the Canadian boarder
south to Copalis River. The National Marine Sanctuary encompasses the
usual and accustomed fishing grounds of the Makah, Quileute, Hoh and
Quinault Nations, making it of fundamental importance that all tribes
work with the Sanctuary to ensure their resources are protected and
preserved for future generations. Mel Moon the Director of Quileute
Natural Resources stated the tribal resource concerns with the creation of
the Sanctuary.
We were concerned that the MPA [marine protected areas] would
create issues with no take zones and wouldn’t recognize treaty
rights, and would just kind of create a park out there. The
Sanctuary and the tribes have not had the greatest relationship,
but we finally came to a point where we realized we need to
change…we are trying to get a better relationship established
through a committee called the Intergovernmental Policy
Council, and hopefully we will have a better relationship in the
future. We don’t see them being able to do a fisheries management
[without] staff. [At] this point in time it’s really not there.
– Mel Moon, Quileute Natural Resource Director
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Though the Marine Sanctuary has caused concern for tribes along
the coast, a level of resource protection is also desirable to address
declining salmon runs. Partnering with the Olympic Coast National
Marine Sanctuary, and having a voice through the Intergovernmental
Policy Council (IPC), the Quileute and Hoh tribes (along with the Makah
and Quinault Nations) can begin to work together to find answers for
changing ocean conditions. Communications through the IPC will
hopefully bring collective information from coastal tribes, NOAA, and the
State, on the domoic acid and dead-zone events, changes in sea-surface
temperatures, and shifting species that have been witnessed along the
coast. Their collective responses may shape policies that will safeguard
resources for all peoples into the future.
CHAPTER 6 – DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION
Native peoples are the world’s early warning system that climate
change is affecting human communities. With place-based oral histories
of their homelands stretching back centuries, Native Americans hold vital
knowledge of ecological change in the United States. For Native
communities climate disruptions are impacting hardest on their placebased rights and way of life. On the northern coast of Washington State,
Traditional Ecological Knowledge gathered through in-depth interviews
strongly suggests climate change is impacting the Quileute and Hoh
Reservations. Both tribes live on low-lying coastline, bordered on three
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sides by the Olympic National Park, and are susceptible to sea-level rise,
extreme storm surge events, and shoreline erosion.
In response, the tribes are requesting higher land within the
Olympic National Park for village relocation. Quileute and Hoh peoples
are already experiencing and responding to increased winter storms and
flooding associated with increased precipitation, coinciding with high tide
at both the Quillayute and Hoh River mouths. With little higher ground
for relocation out of the river migration or ocean surge zones, the tribal
communities must request higher ground in order to preserve their cultural
connection to the place of their ancestors.
In the ocean, species range shifts are becoming more common with
the arrival of new warm-water species. The most notable are the brown
pelican and Humboldt squid, which are consistently arriving along the
Washington coastline. TEK of the Quileute and Hoh communities reports
that these are new species to the area. As top predators, together the
brown pelican and the Humboldt squid pose a threat to the marine food
web. The Humboldt squid has been termed a ‘voracious predator’ that
may further devastate salmon populations (Blumenthal, 2008).
Declines have been exhibited in traditional resources in the
terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments, along with an increase in
invasive species, hypoxia, and domoic acid events. Domoic acid is
frequently tested in shellfish to ensure traditional foods gathered are safe.
Rapid testing is now available on the Quileute Reservation.
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Increased storm severity and flooding prompted the Quileute
Natural Resources office to obtain a fair weather fisheries agreement with
the State. This agreement will hopefully help stabilize their subsistence
economy during winter storm seasons when it is impossible to get out of
the narrow harbor.
In response to increased storms and flooding on the Hoh
Reservation, emergency radios and satellite phones have become available
to all residents on the geographically isolated Reservation.
Intertribal cooperation is increasingly relied upon in order to
maintain traditional practices. With declines in bear grass, smelt, tomcod,
sturgeon, flounder and other important resources, intertribal
communications and trade have become a key way to maintain cultural
livelihoods. Tribal members need trade and commerce with their northern
neighbors to maintain ties to species that have shifted out of their
homelands, and to educate their neighbors about desired or invasive
species headed their way.
Traditional Ecological Knowledge is a critical resource for
understanding and responding to environmental changes already occurring
on the coast. Through this project it is clear that TEK is crucial in
understanding environmental changes on natural resources and the
ecosystem as a whole. It provides more immediate warning of changes
underway, allowing more time to prepare responses.
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Future for the Quileute and Hoh Communities
Oral history tells the Quileute and Hoh peoples that they have
prepared and survived major environmental changes in the past. Chris
Morganroth III goes back in time and tells the story of the ancestors who
were warned by the Great Spirit that change was coming for their people.
Through this process “Our people prepared for the ice age.”
The Great Spirit told people a long period of ice and snow was to
come. People stored food away. Leaders [when food wasn’t
lasting] prayed food would be available. Thunderbird appeared
over them. People were scared. Thunderbird flew out to the ocean
and got lost. Two to three weeks later thunderbird came back with
whale. It was thundering, and lightening was shooting out of
Thunderbird’s eyes. Whale was in Thunderbird’s mouth [which] it
dropped at the feet of the Quileute people. [Whale provided
the nourishment to make it through the ice age].
– Chris Morganroth, Quileute Elder
Like their ancestors before them, the Quileute and Hoh peoples see
changes happening in their environment and have begun to take action to
prepare for the worst.
With the new White House administration there is hope that
change is on its way for many Native communities. For the Quileute and
Hoh communities this change will hopefully come in the form of higher
ground acquisitions. Continued congressional monitoring is important to
fully know what is in store for these communities as they prepare for
climate change.
Following the anticipated receipt of higher ground, village
relocation can begin for the Hoh Tribe; making permanent sand bags a
memory. The K-8 Tribal School in the Quileute lower village will finally
105
have safe grounds without the fear of continued storm surges and tsunami
dangers.
Model for Coastal Communities
Native and non-Native coastal communities can begin to
understand the impacts that are present in their own communities and the
importance Traditional Ecological Knowledge has in documenting and
responding to them. The approach of connecting TEK and natural science
in this project is transportable to other Indigenous communities.
Information gathering may be easily found through any tribe’s natural
resources department, which is almost certainly working on issues related
to climate change. Within all communities there are groups of people who
meet to share information on particular resource gathering and traditions.
For example, fishermen meet on a regularly basis to share information on
new quotas; during these meetings changes in the environment are often
the topic of discussion. Recording the TEK and LEK of fisheries during
these meetings will help identify some of the changes being seen and will
help resource managers work with governments on appropriate responses
and adaptations.
For changes found in the terrestrial environment weaving circles,
are a good example that hold vast TEK on traditional resources required
for the practice of gathering weaving materials. These groups will be able
to identify changes, not only in weaving materials, but also plants, animals
and weather cycles that are often experienced when out gathering. For
106
example, in this thesis project, one weaver in particular spoke candidly
about the declines in the amphibian species, such as frogs and salamanders
she would often see in the forest (E. Penn, 2008).
Recommendations
Climate change is a global problem that has vast implications for
ecosystems around the world, many of which are still unknown. For any
research project it is impossible to cover all the angles and questions that
could be asked. This final section contains a few suggestions on followup projects and studies for the Washington coast and the Quileute and Hoh
tribes.
As a follow-up to this project, it is important to continue
documenting changes on the coast, such as species range shifts, changes in
natural resources, storm surges, and sea-level rise, as well as documenting
the continued responses of both the Quileute and Hoh tribes. The
Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary (OCNMS) has been studying
the unique habitats of the Sanctuary, but more needs be done to ensure that
communication about the current and projected climatic changes are
included in the Sanctuary’s master plan.
The best preparation for the low-lying reservations of the Quileute
and Hoh tribes is to continue to pursue higher ground to retreat from sealevel rise and increased storm surges. Storms have already increased in
severity and it is likely they will only worsen in time as sea-level rises.
107
Intertribal cooperation on local and regional scales must continue
to be utilized to ensure that traditional practices and foods survive for
future generations. More reliance on intertribal cooperation and
continuing to form trading partnerships with First Nations across the
Canadian border is crucial. Since species range shifts will be moving
northward (as well as higher in elevation), sharing knowledge of plants
and animals with neighboring communities to the north will need to
become a common practice, as groups prepare for change.
Continuing to build and strengthen ties that have long sustained
intertribal trading must continue to prepare for adaptation to the unique
changes and challenges being felt in each community. This is a time for
all levels of tribal governance to make strong efforts to communicate with
other Indigenous nations and with their own tribal members, to share plans
and advice on adaptive approaches from education to village relocation.
There is much to be shared. In the introduction to this thesis I list a few
examples of Native communities beginning to adapt, but there are many
more.
Preparation and response cannot be limited to tribal government
and agencies. Though resources may be available to tribal natural
resource staff, adaptive responses must come from all levels of the
community to be successful. Response and adaptation is too important to
be left up to staff that already have large-scale projects within their job
108
descriptions. Fortunately for many Native communities, there is still a
sense of ‘community’ that can bring everyone together.
Youth is an important part of community response to climate
change, as it will continue to affect future generations. Involving youth
action is a very powerful force for any community. Youth are already
heavily involved in community care and awareness. Committees that join
together many age groups, from students to elders, are ideal outlets for
developing community and individual focused responses to climate
change impacts. This is the time for positive action that will steer people
away from despair when it comes to large scale environmental changes.
For the Quileute and Hoh tribes, youth have already been involved
in activist roles by peacefully demonstrating the dangerous location of the
Tribal School on the Quileute Reservation. This type of youth action can
be extended to forming an environmental health club. This club could
focus on healthy choices, but also empower youth by involving them in
community level planning for environmental changes. Another source for
student involvement can be through the student summer employment
opportunities, Youth Opportunity Program (YOP) offered to Tribal High
School students.
Along with this, the Quileute and the Hoh tribes must continue to
strive for inclusion in all discussions regarding the designation of
protected areas under the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary
(OCNMS). It is of fundamental importance that communications are
109
strengthened with the Sanctuary to ensure that the distribution of
environmental benefits are equal while treaty rights are upheld for all
coastal tribes. OCNMS is perceived as threatening to Native livelihoods
because additional park-like presence in the ocean (including no-take
zones such as Marine Protected Areas) could negatively impact tribal
subsistence economies. The uneasiness and fear felt by many tribal
members primarily centers on the exclusion of traditional fishery
practices, at a time when climate change is increasingly constricting these
practices. For the Quileute and Hoh peoples this is especially worrisome
since relationships have not always been positive with the National Park
Service for accessing land resources. The Sanctuary has begun to show
invested interest in hearing all feedback from local communities, but more
needs to be done, such as a community forum with the Sanctuary.
Communities around the globe are beginning to come together to
plan for adaptation and mitigation strategies on the local level. TEK
within the tribal communities already points to changes occurring on the
coast. Communities in the Pacific Northwest, such as the Quileute and
Hoh tribes have access to a leading climate research team, the Climate
Impacts Group (CIG) at the University of Washington. To aid in planning
large scale projects (such as village and school relocations), the CIG has a
Community Planning Guide. TEK points to specific impacts, such as
locations of flooding and storm surge events. The CIG Planning Guide
can help coastal communities map environmental impacts and at risk
110
areas. Community mapping can lead to the development of adaptive
response strategies to current and perceived environmental impacts. As a
next step, the designated planner in each tribal office can consider
incorporating a long-term plan for climate change adaptation. Much of
this is currently being done as both tribes make plans for the higher
ground acquisitions and the CIG’s guide can help make the connection to
climate change adaptation and mitigation.
Community forums and conferences on climate change have been
the focus of many tribal gatherings throughout the PNW. As a final
recommendation, community gatherings on climate change implications,
adaptations, and mitigations must be held by Washington coastal tribes.
Coastal reservations will see the worst of climate change impacts with sealevel rise, flooding, and increased storms. It is essential that these
gatherings are organized for sharing information specific to coastal
impacts. TEK holds vast knowledge of previous change and adaptation,
and it will provide solutions for coastal tribes facing climate change.
In a final note regarding the tribes’ request for higher ground,
theirs is a request of environmental justice. The Quileute and Hoh
communities must have a “safe and healthy environment” out of harm’s
way from tsunami, storm surge, and flood zones. This is environmental
justice that must be recognized; otherwise the cultures of these peoples
will remain at risk of surviving to future generations.
111
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APPENDICES
1. The Chemakum Tribe is not federally recognized because their
numbers were so “reduced that they were absorbed into the S’Klallam,
Skokomish and other groups by the 1850’s” (Wray, 2002).
2. Canning (2001) reports that during the 1997-98 El Niño a high water
level occurred with 10-15 cm water higher then the high tides
predicted for January 2, 1998. As a combination of high winds and
high sea level “strong wind-induced waves” caused severe shoreline
erosion, a 15 meter retreat, at Point Brown in Ocean Shores,
Washington. In addition it caused “widespread wave runup” into
primary dunes from Cape Shoalwater to Copalis Head (Canning,
2001).
3. In October 2004 and November 2006 Hoh River flows reached 62,100
and 60,700 cubic feet per second (cfs). These are extreme high flow
peaks that are not seen on records dating back to 1961 (Figure 14).
4. In 1910 a storm hit the coast that caused the Quillayute River mouth to
shift south. As a result a 10-acre parcel was cut off from the rest of the
Quileute Reservation. Following this event an official US government
survey was completed by the General Land Office in 1914 and was
approved in 1916. The survey had key errors that failed to recognize
the 10-acre parcel boundary and it excluded some privately held lands.
When the coastline was added to the Olympic National Park in 1953
the erroneous 1916 survey was used to create the new boundaries.
This resulted in the incorporation of the 10-acre parcel within the
National Park. Subsequently the disputed 10-acres became the parking
lot for Rialto Beach (Hobson, 2008; Jaime, 2008a; Ralston, 2008).
5. Freshening is the addition of freshwater into the ocean that causes the
ocean’s salinity to lower in concentration, particularly at the ocean
surface. Fresh water coming from increased precipitation and melting
of land-based ice is suspected to increase ocean freshening in the
decades to come (Fedorov et al., 2007).
119
