The first time I drove to the Taholah village on the Quinault reservation, it was a beautiful summer day over ten years ago. What I saw was shocking to me and for the first time I really understood, climate crisis was not a future problem. The water had risen over the incline of the grassy bank, overtaking the sidewalk, and encroaching into the road. All I could think of were the memories that were being engulfed by the rising waters. I could easily see the children who must have played on the grassy hill, the lovers who once sat by the water’s edge. All those precious memories are now disappearing a little more with every year, engulfed by the very real and present climate crisis. The Quinault tribe has been forced onto the front lines of the battle for climate justice. The Quinault people have more than answered this call as they fight for their lands and everyone’s right to a future her on this planet with clean air, water, and safe lands.
The Quinault tribe have been stewards to the Northwest Coastline since time immemorial. The Quinault Reservation even now spans the Pacific coast of Washington, primarily in northwestern Grays Harbor County, with small parts extending north into southwestern Jefferson County, 45 miles north of Hoquiam. Although it is just a fraction of their original territory, they are one of the largest tribes in the state of Washington. The Quinault tribe tends to over 208,150 acres including the major water ways in between. The Quinault people are the very definition of resilience, demonstrating adaptability, and stewardship of their lands with dedication, love, and devotion.
A conversation with Lia Frenchman, a Quinault citizen also from the Lower Chehalis, Chinook, Shoal Water, and Delaware tribes touches on the importance of acting now, so we have hope of a future. Lia is the Quinault Nation’s Tribal Historic Preservation Officer and for her working to restore and protect cultural resources both relates to and correlates with climate crisis in a variety of ways. “Because of climate crisis events in our control and the climate events that are out of our control important historic sites are being threatened, we need help. We are constantly having to prove the threat to these important sites, not just from development, but also the changes caused by climate crisis.” In the time it takes to prove their claim of threat to the land and sites, important history is being lost. The help comes begrudgingly slow if at all.
“Our people have always been adaptive in the way we move with the landscape.” Lia explains that there have always been natural disasters, but now more than ever we are witnessing the severe changes inflicted by man-made greed-based choices. “We, and I mean we collectively, as in all people on earth need to stop what we are doing that is contributing to the harm inflicted upon our environment. We need to figure out what to do to heal our world.”
Sitting and talking to members of the Quinault Nation is not just inspiring it is a story structured with hope, woven with the determination founded in resilience, and also built on the wish to provide the best future possible for the next generations. No one embodies this positive nature more than Tyson Johnston. Tyson is a proud citizen of the Quinault nation as well as the tribe’s Executive Director of Self Governance and the Policy Representative for the Quinault tribe in their Chehalis Based Treaty Area. Tyson has this to say about the Quinault people’s adaptation to their current situation based on the current climate crisis facing his tribe. “We are intrinsically connected to the land, so we have always adapted to and with the land. What we have seen lately in these last several decades has been a very accelerated change. An example of this accelerated change can be seen in our lower Taholah village.”
What is in danger is not just the land and ecosystems, to the Quinault people it is not just a village that the current climate crisis is taking from them. It is the memories shared in Taholah and the loss of salmon runs that have already been lost or are at risk due to loss of natural habitat. The Quinault tribe is a strong and very proud Nation, they are stewards of the land, and they take their roles and responsibilities very seriously.
The Quinault are salmon people, so it is natural for them to take the necessary actions needed, to protect and preserve the water ways against the greed of fossil fuel giants. The Quinault tribe has been forced onto the front lines of the climate crisis battle because of their role as protectors of the lands, and water ways. Instead of giving up, the Quinault tribe has stood up against fossil fuel industry giants. They continue to lead the way for real change and a future in which we can work together to heal our planet, creating a sustainable future that is attainable now.
Tyson urges, the time to act is now. We cannot afford to wait any longer. It is not all doom and gloom, yet. We are at a crossroads, and if we work together now, it is still possible to turn the climate crisis around. We all must come together! Every single one of us, we all have a role to play, and we all have a responsibility to the generations to come. About this Tyson says, “Even the smallest things have a collective impact. One drop can become many drops, creating a whole ocean.”
Tyson wanted you to know his tribe has lived on these lush lands and have been nurtured by these waters since time immemorial. On July 1st, 1855 the Quinault Nation signed the Treaty of Olympia at the Quinault River, that is approximately 30 years before Washington even became a state. “We are a natural resource-based economy. We are salmon people. We are the caretakers of this vast forest. We are stewards to over 210 acres on the reservation and much more land off the reservation. We work to maintain and protect the major water ways from the Pacific Ocean down to the Columbia River. Our homeland is very important to us. We are very concerned about the change and shifts that we have seen.”
Fawn Sharp, a Quinault citizen who is also from the Yurok, Salish, and Kootenai Nations is the current Vice President of the Quinault Nation, she is a powerhouse fighting for climate justice not just within her tribe, but also on state, national, and international levels. When asked how Fawn first became aware of climate issues, she had this to say. Fawn said she remembers an instance from her 8th grade class. “We had a tribal elder talk to our class, and he said ‘Someday, water is going to be more valuable than gold.’ At the time it was counterintuitive but look what we are paying for water now.”
Fawn Sharp
Fawn goes on to explain. “There is a basic business principle of supply and demand. Right now, the destruction of nature, the depletion of our finite resources, this is just an additional cost of doing business to ensure corporations continue to make profits and commercial gain (without any real responsibility or insight into the long-term cost). When the supply drops (when our finite resources are depleted), the demand increases. When this happens, the prices associated to these finite resources will rise, making the “commodity” (water, clean air, safe lands) more valuable (higher cost, restricted access).”
Fawn feels strongly that part of her leadership role is to protect her community from the existential threat of climate change. This commitment to her community can be seen in her efforts to move their current village to higher grounds and the efforts to protect existing salmon habitat. Part of this is holding those doing the most damage to fragile ecosystems accountable at the state level as well as the national, and the international levels.
Fawn has worked in this capacity to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable by pricing carbon. The first push to hold the fossil fuel giants responsible was through I-1631, the fossil fuel giants spent 33 million to undermine and destroy that initiative. Even after I-1631 fell to the multimillion-dollar war waged by the fossil fuels industry giants, Fawn never gave up. Fawn instead kept moving forward with other climate protectors to price carbon once again in the Climate Commitment Act. Fawn also helped to launch the Global Indigenous Leadership Network with Vice President, Al Gore in January of 2024. Fawn will continue to use her platform as a Global Indigenous Leader to share her nations story, because climate crisis is a global crisis every community that calls earth home needs to address now.
The unnaturally brought about climate crisis has forced the Quinault nation to build a new village, to install tsunami warning systems and evacuation measures to protect the Quinault people and the habitat they are stewards to. “We are not here to manipulate the environment, we are resilient, we take a holistic approach to reserving and rebuilding.” Tyson Johnston.
My interview with Ryan Hendricks, 6th Councilman of the Quinault Nation is a testament to the strong ties and resilient nature of the Quinault Nation and the land they steward. Ryan describes himself as a born and raised Quinault citizen. He tells me that the Quinault Relocation Project started with a mug with those words on it. The relocation plan grew from there, ideas blossomed into the current movement you see today. Ryan says in the beginning they would just go get dirty. Picking up shovels and getting to work on the new development. The clearing of the land and the initial building was done completely by Quinault tribal members who saw the need and took the initiative to fix the problem.
Having to relocate things like homes, gravesites, and community services is hard. There are elders who don’t want to move despite the dangers. The elders stand strong in their belief that underwater or above, the village where it stands is their home. The memories that tie the people to the land are powerful and run deeper than any possible threat. Loss of land can be tied to cultural erosion; the loss of the land is also a loss of ceremonies, traditional foods and sacred spaces. Ryan says, “Our people are our most important resource”. That is why everything they do in the relocation effort is tied to the tribe’s wellbeing, now and in the future.
The federal government calls the Quinault tribe’s relocation efforts a pilot project, using the Quinault people to test the outcome of the relocation effort. Funding is always an issue, so the tribe is always looking for financial help. They are working on phase 1 of 3 which will hold 59 lots. They have effectively wiped-out invasive plant species to build back up the land into healthy homes. Phase one is ground zero for the relocation land efforts. Ryan says he worked hard for so many years building other people’s dreams, that it feels good to bring his skills, his knowledge, and his resources home to build dreams for his tribe members.
Funding is an issue that continues to plague the Quinault tribe as they push forward. The first phase of the relocation and sewer systems are 95 percent complete; water is 85 percent ready to go. They are ready to lay the asphalt and grow the grass. There are so many hopes and so much love that has gone into building the new school where they will finally have a football field, a baseball field, and so much more. They have put in place an emergency response team and have the capability to shelter 150 people for 10 days.
Ryan had this to say about having to move their current village to a whole new site. “They can change where we are, but they cannot change who we are”. Ryan talks about the dead spots in our ocean, Garbage bundles the size of Texas, and water rising to the point of washing homes away. There is no way to deny climate crisis today. He has a message to all the Nations and people out there today, it is never to early or too late to step up in this battle to protect our Mother Earth. The most important part is to step up. He is right. That first step will lead to another and then another, as you walk forward, others will see you and even if you don’t inspire someone else’s movement forward, you are doing your part to protect our planet and our future here.
The Quinault tribal members are leading the way in advancements to protect ecosystems and to reduce their carbon footprint as they relocate their village and reinvent the use of resources so they can leave a better tomorrow to leave for the next generation. I hope that we will all look to the Quinault Nation for inspiration as we move forward to save our Grandmother Earth’s land and waters. To echo Tyson’s words, it is not doom and gloom yet. We can make a difference, if we act now. We still can create a future of hope built on our loving actions and inspired by our united voice calling for real change. Enough is enough! We can live without oil, but we cannot live without our land, our waters, or our clean air.
By Rae Rose
Rae Rose is a Pacific Northwest author of Paiute, Mayan, and Japanese heritage. She writes historical fiction, poetry, picture books. “Stories are very important to me, I hope you enjoy these stories I share with you.” You can follow her @Rae_Rose7