At Upper Skagit event, telling fish tales is a way to introduce children to tribal ties, nature

UPPER SKAGIT — Wriggling and splashing, a rainbow trout escaped 3-year-old Ella Simpson’s hook. The half-pint-sized daughter of a fisherman gamely tried again.

With a little adult help, Ella of La Conner caught her first fish from one of the tanks at the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe’s hatchery.

“It’s a fish,” said Ella, holding up the plastic bag that held her prize.

Her brother Ethan, 5, also caught a trout. A more experienced fisherman, he knew how to tell fishing stories.

“It was like a shark,” said Ethan and then poked his index finger in the trout’s mouth.

The Simpson siblings were among about 70 children, aged 3 to 5, who attended the tribe’s annual Kids Fishing Day. The children came from the Upper Skagit Early Childhood Advancement Program and the Susan Wilbur Early Education Center on the Swinomish Reservation. This year, children from schools in Burlington and Clear Lake also attended.

Besides an opportunity to hook their first fish, the children also potted cedar saplings, prepared cedar bark for weaving and listened to an Upper Skagit tribal member describe life before conveniences, such as stoves, grocery stores or television.

Doreen Maloney, a member of the Upper Skagit Tribal Council, explained how plants, animals and even stones provided everything indigenous peoples of the Northwest needed to survive.

She passed the children baskets and furs and explained how stones found where the creek meets the river can be used for hammers and wedges. The bark and wood from cedar trees became shallow bowls and bentwood boxes were used for cooking, she said. Bulrushes were woven into mats. Pelts from beavers, mountain goats and foxes were cured and stretched for clothing or bedding.

“If you lived a long time ago, your mom maybe made you a cradle out of cattails,” Maloney said.

Scott Schuyler, Upper Skagit natural resources director, started the fishing day in 1995.

The event’s goals include hooking the children’s interest in the environment and introducing them to the tie between Northwestern tribes’ cultures and the natural resources, such as salmon, cedars and wildlife, Schuyler said.

“It’s an opportunity to get hands-on experience touching fish and, of course, the activities with the trees, being in tune to the environment at an early age, and spark that little bit of interest that we hope will grow through their developing years,” he said. “All of our culture is based on those resources. We hope they will carry that through the rest of their lives.”

Marta Murvosh can be reached at 360-416-2149 or .