Paper short abstract:

We offer the relational theory of cw7it "shared abundance" within the St’át’imc fishing way of life. This theory underlies a Salish 5-point governance model built on practical engagement, ceremony, multispecies communication, sacred laws of the land and a (re)conciliatory dialogue for posterity.

Paper long abstract:

This paper focuses on the mid-Fraser River Sxetl’ fish camp where St’át’imc Salish families learn to fish and maintain sacred and vital relationships through time and space. Based on more than a decade of action anthropological collaboration and friendship, we examine the various social continuities and changes to the Fraser River and its (subsistence) fishery We illustrate the polysemic meanings that fish, camp, fishing technologies and the river have for St’át’imc fishers, fisheries scientists, the government and industry by examining the recent historic political and legal challenges known as ‘fish wars’, current camp practices and the sacred First Salmon Ceremony. We argue that the camp and the river continue to function according to an architecture of co-domestication that serves as fundamental framework for the enduring stewardship, health and shared abundance of salmon, people and the river.

Drawing on current theories of Indigenous life projects, animist and situated knowledge systems and stewardship principles, it argues that there is a resilient governance system in place to maintain fish and fishing for a ‘good life’. This paper includes key insights from the historical fishing context and reflects on the impacts of the recent Mt. Polley Mine disaster, an unprecedented ecological disaster that fundamentally threatens the fishing way of life.