Salmon and the Adaptive Capacity of Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) Culture to Cope with Change


Change due to natural disturbances and disasters, population growth and decline, economic crises, and environmental and climate change creates significant cultural challenges. 1 Rapid change and the transformation it brings also involve complex relationships between sovereign tribes, resources, and the global system. This article explores how salmon and the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) people who depend upon them survive given invasion and treaty making, population decline and growth, destruction of salmon habitat and damming of streams, and impending climate change.