For as long as any can remember, Native American tribes along the Rogue River held a traditional ceremony to honor the first salmon of the season. The practice was centered around a natural feature known as the Stone Chair, but those ceremonies ended when treaties forced tribes out of the Rogue Valley and they lost track of the original ceremonial site.

Tribes have rediscovered the Stone Chair and have renewed the First Salmon Ceremony with a new purpose.

"I know my people were here, standing where we are. We're standing on their indelible footprints," Agnes Pilgrim, a spiritual elder and descendant of the Takelma Tribe, told Oregon Field Guide in this archival video that tells of the return of the ancient ritual. "We are carrying on the culture and traditions of our people," said Pilgrim.

Note: Agnes Pilgrim, introduced in this story as the oldest living descendant of the Takelma Tribe, passed away in 2019.

This story originally aired on Feb. 12, 2014. For more stories like this visit OPB online at https://opb.org.

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