The indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast are salmon people. Each species of salmon, with its seasonal order of appearance dictated human activities, and indeed, their wealth. Historically, the sea’s bounty was so great and easily harvested, that the Northwest Coast had one of the densest non-agricultural populations on earth. This resource freed time to develop a highly complex culture.

This is a formline depiction of a spawning female and male Oncorynchus tshawytscha, known commonly by various names: Chinook, Spring, King, Tyee, Blackmouth, and in the Haida language, Taawaan. They are the largest of all the Pacific salmon, and being anadromous, hatch in freshwater, spending time in estuaries and shorelines before going to sea, then returning to their birthplace stream to spawn anywhere from their second to seventh year. Travel in the freshwater spawning migration can be extensive; up to two thousand river miles over a sixty-day period. The human figures within the design signify the valuable role salmon play in our lives and our need to honour and respect that relationship.


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