Two Rivers: The Politics of Wild Salmon, Indigenous Rights and Natural Resource Management

Abstract

This paper compares two rivers, Tana River in Northern Norway and Columbia River on the northwest coast of the United States of America. Both rivers host indigenous populations, the Sámi and the Nez Perce, whose cultural and material existence depends upon salmon. Because these people live indigenously within highly industrial, postcolonial societies, their lives have been part of larger economic, political and legal structures for substantial periods of time. In these rivers, peoples have been, and are currently dealing with the possibility of salmon extinction. This article is concerned with how such a crisis has been interpreted and acted upon within two nation's natural-resource management regimes. We observe how the threat of extinction has initiated commotion where nature, economies, legal instruments, politics and science have come into play, in ways that reveal differences in the Norwegian and American constellations of interests and powers, manifested as differences in natural resource management regimes' hierarchies of positions. The outcome is the protection of different entities, which could be labeled cultural and biological sustainability. In the Columbia River, cultural sustainability was promoted while in the Tana, biological sustainability became prioritized. By way of our comparison we ask if the protection of one kind of sustainability has to be to the detriment of the other. OPEN ACCESSSustainability 2013, 5 479

Verbing meahcci: Living Sámi lands

“… 21. The politics of this (mis)translation are colonial, deeply significant, and run through other major controversies in Sápmi including: how meahcci is codified into Norwegian law as usufruct rights; how national parks are established and maintained; how the Norwegian state seeks to protect the environment beyond those national parks; and how its policies for conserving salmon stocks are created. See Ween and Lien (2012), Ween and Colombi (2013), Benjaminsen et al (2015), Østmo and Law (2018) and Joks and Law (2017). …”

Tough places and safe spaces: Can refuges save salmon from a warming climate?

“…The Columbia River basin is inhabited by numerous populations of anadromous salmon and steelhead listed as endangered or threatened under the US Endangered Species Act ( NMFS, 2016 ), and that have been the focus of extensive research and conservation efforts. These culturally, economically, and ecologically important species ( Bottom et al, 2009 ; Stouder et al, 1997 ; Ween & Colombi, 2013 ) are increasingly likely to encounter warm temperatures at sublethal levels during summer and fall upstream reproductive migrations ( Isaak et al, 2012 ). Average summer river temperatures have increased by ~2.5°C since the 1950s ( Isaak et al, 2016 ; Keefer et al, 2018 ; Quinn & Adams, 1996 ).…”

Árbediehtu ja biologalaš diehtu Deanu ja luosa birra: Mo nannet luossanáliid?

“…Dan olis guorahalan mo árbediehttiid cuiggodeamit leat gieđahallojuvvon dan diehtovuogádagas, mii lea vuođđun háld dašeapmái. Deanu báikkálaš luossabivdit dávjá navdet ahte háldda šeapmi ja luossadutkan leat vuoigatmeahttumat ja oaivvildit ahte dat eai doarvái ane árvvus ja vuhtiiváldde árbedieđu ja luossabivddu kul tuvrralaš mearkkašumi (Ween & Colombi 2013;Hiedanpää ja earát 2020).…”