The Columbia Gorge Tribal Food Sovereignty Initiative, formed in 2019, is dedicated to empowering Indigenous communities in the Columbia Gorge region to reclaim control over their food systems, build resilience, and advance community-driven solutions that ensure meaningful systems change.
“The salmon is sacred to our people. We have been in the Gorge since time immemorial so it has a special meaning.”
– Buck Jones
Gorge Grown Board President & Co-Chair of the Tribal Food Sovereignty Initiative
The Initiative is led by Indigenous people who are dedicated to revitalizing traditional food practices and restoring the health of their communities, rivers, and lands. With 85% of participants identifying as Indigenous, the initiative represents six tribes, including the Warm Springs, Nez Perce, Yakama Nation, and Cayuse/Umatilla. Key organizations involved include Nch’i Wana Housing, Columbia River Intertribal Fisheries Commission, NW Tribal Food Sovereignty Coalition, Natives Along the Big River, Gorge Native American Coalition, and Columbia Land Trust, among others.
Initiative Co-Chairs:
- Buck Jones (Cayuse/Umatilla) GGFN Board President and Field Specialist in Salmon Marketing for Columbia River Intertribal Fisheries Commission
- Debra Whitefoot (Yakama Nation) Executive Director of Nch’i Wana Housing and first foods gatherer
The Tribal Food Sovereignty Initiative has successfully advanced key projects, including:
Securing Access to Land: Collaborating with local land trusts to ensure Indigenous people can access traditional food gathering sites and engage in land stewardship.
Workshops for Indigenous People: Organizing free food preservation workshops led by and for Indigenous community members.
Food is Medicine: Indigenous leaders played a crucial role in ensuring that tribal food sovereignty and equitable food access are central to the region’s Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP).
The Columbia River Gorge has been home to Indigenous peoples for centuries. Nch’i Wana (the Columbia River) and the surrounding region are central to traditional foodways, and also the site of historic and present-day trauma. Most notably, when the Bonneville Damn was completed in 1957, Wy-am (Celilo Falls) and historic Native fishing grounds along the river were submerged in water. Now much of the land is privately owned, limiting access to traditional food sources. Hydropower dams, pollution, and climate change threaten key species like salmon and undermine Indigenous food sovereignty.
Before colonization, indigenous people of the Columbia Gorge stewarded an abundant food-rich landscape. The Columbia Gorge Tribal Food Sovereignty Initiative aims to revive Indigenous foodways and heal the fractured food system.
The Tribal Food Sovereignty Initiative centers indigenous voices and participation. To inquire about joining or supporting this initiative, email communications(at)gorgegrown.com. We offer honorariums, mileage reimbursements, childcare, culturally relevant meals and inclusive facilitation at gatherings to honor participants’ unique lived experience.