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Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
April 6, 2022
Tribe gets land back after nearly 400 years
The Rappahannock
Tribe has reacquired 465
acres of sacred land at
Fones Cliff, Virginia.
“We have worked for
many years to restore this
sacred place to the tribe,”
said Anne Richardson,
chief of the Rappa-
hannock Tribe.
“With eagles being
prayer messengers, this
area where they gather
has always been a place
of natural, cultural and
spiritual importance.”
Fones Cliff is the an-
cestral home of the tribe,
located on the eastern
side of the Rappa-
hannock River in Vir-
ginia.
The area, located in-
side the Rappahannock
River Valley National
Wildlife Refuge, will be pub-
licly accessible and placed in
trust with the Bureau of In-
dian Affairs.
The tribe plans to educate
the public about their history
by constructing a replica
16th-century village and ex-
panding their ‘Return to the
River’ program, which trains
tribal youth in traditional
river knowledge and prac-
tices.
“The department is hon-
ored to join the Rappa-
hannock Tribe in co-steward-
ship of this portion of their
ancestral homeland,” said
Secretary of the Interior
Deb Haaland, who is of the
Pueblo of Laguna Tribe,
New Mexico.
“We look forward to
drawing upon tribal expertise
and Indigenous knowledge in
helping manage the area’s
wildlife and habitat,” Sec-
retary Haaland said.
“This historic reacqui-
sition underscores how
tribes, private landowners,
and other stakeholders all
play a central role in this
administration’s work to
ensure our conservation
efforts are locally led and
support communities’
health and well-being.”
The cliffs play a central
part in the history of the
tribe. In 1608, the tribe
first encountered and de-
fended their homeland
against English settler Cap-
tain John Smith, who
played an important role
in the first per manent
English settlement in
America at Jamestown,
Virginia.
Hope for spring chinook on horizon
It’s early, but for once
in what seems like for-
ever, spring chinook are
neither late nor scarce,
according to counts at
Bonneville Dam on the
Columbia River.
Through mid last
week, about 460 adult
chinook and 77 jacks had
been counted there. That
is about double the 10-
year average.
“We have already had a
couple of Rapid River (fish)
over Bonneville, which is
pretty early,” said John
Cassinelli, anadromous fish
manager for the Idaho De-
partment of Fish and Game.
“Anything can happen but
the early returns are promis-
ing. The next few weeks will
be telling but things look good
right now.”
This year, fisheries man-
agers are predicting
122,900 spring chinook
bound for tributaries
above Bonneville Dam
will make it at least as far
as the mouth of the Co-
lumbia River. That num-
ber includes about 73,400
chinook headed for the
Snake River and its tribu-
taries, an increase of
about 20,000 compared
to last year.