We wake up around 7:00 a.m. an hour extra to sleep in. I got tired of setting up my tent so I decided to sleep in the van. I have a couple mosquito bites from previous camp sites and I did not want anymore.
Today we met with a tribal member named Barbra Frielander Arida. She is eighty-one years old and has been working for environmental purposes for forty-five years. Barbara spoke about environmental trust within tribes and how important it is to work with other neighboring tribes to fix common problems and not turn against each other. One problem facing the Nespelem community is radiation. Our speaker mentioned knowing people who have been diagnosed with cancer do to radiation in the area. Radiation is not easily removed it takes years. It is a natural part of our environment a range of different sources (man-made or natural) contributes our exposure to ionizing radiation everyday.
Barbra mentioned working with USDA, BIA, USBR, BLM, etc. All of these federal departments aim to better the environment from fishing to hunting, among other environmental sustainable concerns tribal leaders have been dealing over years.
Later that afternoon we went to Hatchery/Spawning location. There we met with Bill who has been working for the hatchery since 1985. The hatchery has been contracted by Pacific Sea Foods, one of the largest company for market distributions. They distribute trout to Local Markets including Costco. In one week I believe Bill said that they harvest about eighty thousand trout.
We also met with Steve a biologist who also works for the hatchery. Steve told us some great facts about the fish. He mentioned how the fish are harvested and ticketed in a refrigerated water. Some fish in their netting stationed have escaped. The tags are meant to recapture them so that they will not go and blend with the rest of the natural fish in the rivers. It takes eighteen to twenty-four weeks for juvenile fish to get big. I witness a lot of small fish on the edges of the river. Bills says that juvenile fish typically stay near shore because they cannot fight currents and become easy prey for other fish. The fish at the hatchery are given pellets for food composed of minerals and proteins. Some fish are feed by employees and others are taken care of by an automated computerized machine. I took off to take a tour of the hatchery on a boat. I saw many fish of different sizes and color. I have seen fish like this in public hatcheries but not as big as this one.
After our visit to the hatchery we went back to the community center to have dinner. After dinner Rick Desautal presented a line of animal furs categorized by family. He spoke about the weasel and how they change colors seasonally and have defensive glands they excrete when they are threated by anyone or anything. Another animal that is known to have a defensive gland is the skunk which is also relative of the weasel family. The skunk is a very alert animal and is only put into a defensive position when it has given all warming signs. Rick mentioned that the skunk has no immunity to its own stench. This is one of the reasons why skunks have a variety of warnings when any animal gets close by before they decide to release that awful smell (I did not know that). Then rick moved on to the badger, otter, wolverine, muskrat, beaver, big horn sheep, black deer, white tailed deer, cougar, timber wolf, coyote, cross fox and the black bear. Rick said that the black bear does not hibernate. I thought all bears hibernate but apparently not. He mentioned how important wolves are to the area because they keep outnumbering populations of animals controlled. Wolves are unwanted by farmers because they kill flocks so they shoot them. There was not many wolves found in the area. At a time they were known to be extinct but they reappeared. Now that they are back more is being done to protect their kind and penalizing anyone who kills wolves for game and trade. Rick mentioned how wolfs have many tactics to catching pray. Wolfs hunt in pack. They might not be able to outrun a deer but when winter comes deer have difficulty running through steep snow and wolfs have a greater advantage so they are able to catch and feed on deer during winter season. Another animal that the wolf is known to enjoy eating is the elk. The elk is a defensive animal and as Rick explains that some elk with offspring's stay put to their positions and charge. Do to there best efforts to protect there offspring they become easy prey to wolves. Elks try to fight off wolfs but when their are numbers of them they do not stand a chance of survival.
We got an opportunity to feel the furs of the animals. Some furs were thick and others silky soft. My favorite was the wolf and cougar furs.
Later that evening Rick took us to a location called Gold lake. We went up there to howl for wolves. They usually come out when it gets dark. We formed a group of about twenty-four which includes Heritage University students, White Swan high school students, Davis High school student, plus faculty, and chaperones so we had to keep our voices as silent as possible because we would definitely scare them wolves away. Rick gave a speech about the area and his work then he explained pin pointed locations on a map where animals like bears and wolves gather. Then we went to a specific location where wolves prey. Rick called it the killing site. Rick picked on different students to howl after waiting minutes for a wolf to pick up on the howling, no reply. Rick continued to pick random students to howl until he came to a conclusion that they probably would not be coming out tonight. He explained that it takes repetition in order to get results. So we howled as a group.
Over all I have had a very educational day. Though the day ends and tomorrow awaits I'm thankful for every opportunity I have been apart of on this camping trip. Today is our last night bonding together and tomorrow our final day before arriving home. Though I want to get back home I will miss hanging out with Heritage University, White Swan and Davis High school students including staff and faculty. It was great meeting every single one of you and I wish you all the best and hope to see you all soon.
