Salmon Recovery as a Cultural Imperative
Saving salmon is not separate from culture — it is culture. Protecting cold, clean water and rebuilding salmon runs is essential to treaty-reserved fishing rights and to Nimiipuu identity across generations.
Mission Statement
Our core mission, in its fullest form:
Nimiipuu 54 Mission Statement
Our mission is to uphold the rights reserved under the 1855 Treaty with the Nez Perces by passing on Nimiipuu traditional knowledge, skills, and responsibilities to our children and youth, including fishing, hunting, canoe building, and care for the land and waters, while supporting Tribal-led efforts to protect, restore, and sustain salmon for future generations.
Two shorter versions that carry the same core commitments:
Concise version
To carry forward Nimiipuu treaty-reserved lifeways by teaching youth traditional skills and stewardship, and by supporting the protection and restoration of salmon for generations to come.
Formal version
To preserve and strengthen Nimiipuu treaty-reserved lifeways through intergenerational teaching of traditional skills, cultural knowledge, and stewardship practices, while advancing Tribal-led salmon recovery and protection for present and future generations.
Grounded in the 1855 Treaty
Our work begins with the rights that Nimiipuu people never surrendered. The 1855 Treaty with the Nez Perces, concluded on June 11, 1855, affirmed in Article 3 what had always been true: Nimiipuu people retain the right to fish at usual and accustomed places, to hunt on open and unclaimed lands, and to gather roots and berries — rights that belong to the people, not to any administration or era.
Article 3 — What It Secures
Article 3 of the 1855 Treaty secures fishing in reservation waters, fishing at "usual and accustomed places," and the privilege of "hunting, gathering roots and berries." These are not past-tense rights. They are alive today and must be actively exercised, taught, and defended.
Canoe knowledge and building is not named word-for-word in Article 3, but it is inseparable from the traditional knowledge and lifeways that allow Nimiipuu children to exercise and understand their treaty-reserved rights.
We support programs that pass on fishing, hunting, canoe knowledge and building, and other traditional teachings to Nimiipuu children and youth as part of the ongoing exercise of rights reserved under this treaty. We also support Tribal-led efforts to restore salmon, because healthy salmon runs are essential to culture, food systems, and the meaningful exercise of treaty-reserved fishing rights.
What We Stand For
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Intergenerational Teaching
Traditional knowledge must be lived, not archived. We support direct transmission of skills — canoe building, paddle carving, fishing, hunting, food preparation, and land stewardship — from elders and experienced practitioners to children and youth.
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Treaty Rights as Living Rights
The 1855 Treaty was not a historical event. It is a set of present obligations — to Nimiipuu people and to the United States. We believe those rights must be exercised, defended, and fully recognized.
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Tribal-Led Action
Effective salmon recovery, land stewardship, and cultural education must be led by Nimiipuu people and the Nez Perce Tribe. Our role is to support and amplify that leadership — not to replace it.