Pages

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Fishing Season on The Rogue


Here we are in Gold Beach, 23 miles south of us, at the mouth of the Rogue River.  This river is still wild, meaning that it doesn't have damns and distractions.  The adult chinook salmon that enter the river to go spawn in their ancestral habitats are fat and happy at this time of the year.  The first rains have blasted the opening of the river, and here you can see the small boats all trying to catch the big one.


Fishermen are allowed two catches per day.  They hope to get a big one, this time of the year, as the salmon has spent years at sea before returning to spawn.

The female will die after spawning, exhausted by the activity, and at that point she will be a delightful meal for a hungry bear.  Bears have been known to scaveng in town, close to camping grounds before the salmon's return to spawn.

This cycle of life and death takes place every fall.

There is a ceremonial run, called The Run to the Rogue, performed by the native population, the Siletz and other tribes, from their reservation in the north part of the state, down the coast to the Rogue, where their hunting and fishing places used to be before the white men displaced them forcefully.  They gather at Agness, a small town up the Rogue River, barely accessible by mountain roads, where they have a pow-wow, a gathering, called The Gathering of The People.  On their run down the state, they stop at each community, and are welcomed and fed by townspeople, until they reach their final destination.

Should you want to read about The Run to the Rogue, visit our paper or look up "Run to the Rogue" on your google bar to learn about this event and other Native American events and cultural facts.

17 comments:

Karen said...

Great picture. That was interesting, thanks for this post. Have a great week.

Maggie May said...

I have seen programmes on TV about salmon and their cycle of returning to their birthplace and then the spawning and subsequent death in an ever ending circle.
Beautiful photos and an interesting post.
Maggie X

Nuts in May

Marguerite said...

Great pic and post! I love wild caught salmon and it was interesting to read about them. There's a little surprise for you, over at my place!

Everyday Goddess said...

It's just so interesting this time in so many places.

That run sounds pretty adventurous too.

Karen Jones Gowen said...

Mmmm getting a sudden craving for salmon with dill sauce.

ellen abbott said...

A river that hasn't been dammed? what a rarity.

Brian Miller said...

how cool is that...would be wonderful to see and to feed them...and that cycle of life continues...

Donna said...

Fascinating! I am a salmon eater too but don't really like to think about my food. This was interesting however. Beautiful pic!

Trish and Rob MacGregor said...

Fascinating. Terrific photo, too. Makes me have second thoughts about eating salmon!

Amy said...

We just came through your area and saw all the fishing action. So it's great to know what was going on, thank you!

Ruth said...

You live in a part of the country where I lived one semester (Ashland). I just love Oregon.

Thank you for your encouragement yesterday, and I'm happy to meet you too!

Rob-bear said...

I'm familiar with Salmon runs, on places like British Columbia's Fraser River. The cycle of life and death, indeed.

Thanks so much for sharing the information about your native population. I so often wish we were that "in tune" with the world around us.

Kate said...

Fascinating. I love that phrase 'the Run to the Rogue'.

Arkansas Patti said...

Not too many "wild rivers" left. In Florida they spent millions rerouting rivers only years later to spend millions more trying to get them back to their original path. Aren't we smart?
Will check out more on the "run to the Rogue". Thanks.

Tess Kincaid said...

Fascinating post! And what a wonderful pic taken crossing the bridge! Now I must check out Run to the Rogue, since my Native American DNA is starting to tingle...

Woman in a Window said...

Oh, I love to hear about the indigenous peoples and how they try to maintain their ties with nature and their past. It saddens me though that it is only an annual event. There is great story that spans that fact.

I love that they are welcomed and treated in communities along the way. I've attended Pow Wows but just learned that many local Pow Wows are free (I unfortuantely had to pay at the last one I attended) and they feed everyone who comes for free. This sense of community is staggering to me.

xo
erin

RNSANE said...

Wonderful post, Rosaria. Kind of sad but that is nature's way of providing for the future and, of course, it puts that delectable fish on our tables, as well.