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Interim Communications Director
Portrait of Corinne Sams by Mel Ponder Photography
Corinne Sams has been a steadfast advocate for the restoration of salmon in the Columbia River Basin, acting as a driving force in bringing tribal voices to bear across several initiatives. In 2024, she is being recognized with an Indigenous Leadership Award. Here, she shares her perspectives on what tribal leaders bring to the table in these groundbreaking efforts.
Corinne Sams grew up with tribal politics at the dinner table.
“We were always taught about the rights and responsibilities of tribal members and the unique relationship that we have with the United States government,” Corinne said. “We always had political conversations around the table. I remember that from a very young age. (I knew) I had a responsibility when I got older to uphold the teachings that I was given, to learn about our sovereign government, and to always have in mind that we are here to serve the people.”
Over the course of her professional career, Corinne has served in numerous capacities and various departments for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, including the Departments of Child and Family Services and Education. In 2018, responding to encouragement from elders and other community members, she successfully ran for Tribal elections and is currently serving her third two-year term on the Umatilla Board of Trustees.
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It’s our belief that we have to have a holistic approach on everything that we are responsible for.
—Corinne Sams, Umatilla
“As tribal leaders, we wear so many different hats within our communities. We understand the needs of our people. We understand the impacts that are coming down the road with climate change and (its impacts on) the abundance of our foods, the health of our soils, and the health of our rivers,” she says. “And we know that when those things are unhealthy and we lose that abundance, that makes the people unhealthy. It’s our belief that we have to have a holistic approach on everything that we are responsible for.”
As a member-at-large for the Board, Corinne served on the Fish and Wildlife Commission, eventually being delegated to be Umatilla’s representative to the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, also known as CRITFC.
In addition to providing technical assistance to the member Tribes, CRITFC representatives bring crucial information back to their communities and work to inform populations outside of member Tribes’ ceded territories.
“(CRITFC is) an essential organization that not only helps us put fish back in the rivers, but also tells our story from the perspective of each of the four river tribes,” Corinne notes.
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We believe everything is connected. … We’re not looking at the Columbia Basin in silos anymore.
—Corinne Sams, Umatilla
In September 2023, President Biden issued a memorandum on restoring salmon populations in the Columbia River, citing the critical importance of salmon to the cultural and economic lifeways of Native peoples throughout the basin. Critically, this declaration was followed by the creation of the Columbia River Taskforce in June 2024, an initiative that directs federal agencies to work together to fulfill those commitments.
Tribal leaders, Corinne said, are especially equipped to engage in this intersectional approach to restoring the region.
“We believe everything is connected. All of the departments and all of the programs that we run are connected, and they all come back to who we are and how we take care of the land and our foods and each other,” she says. “We’re not looking at the Columbia Basin in silos anymore. We understand that we have to enhance farming production, we have to enhance recreation. We have to (decarbonize) transportation and use renewable energies in a safe manner that doesn’t kill fish.”
Alongside the creation of the Taskforce, the Biden Administration issued a report detailing the extreme detrimental impacts that dams on the Columbia have had on historically abundant runs of salmon, and consequently on Native peoples.
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We are equipping our youth with the knowledge and teachings that will allow them to one day fill our seats and continue to voice the concerns of their people.
—Corinne Sams, Umatilla
“(That report) was the first time that the federal government had ever really truly told the truth about the impacts that the hydro systems had on us,” Corinne said. “That, in itself, is a form of healing: being acknowledged, having a seat at the table, and knowing that cultural ecological knowledge is being accepted. With this agreement, we now see a little light at the end of the tunnel.”
While the road to repair and restoring salmon runs is long, Corinne is hopeful due in part to the leaders she sees coming after her.
“We’ve seen Indigenous representation in state and federal government like we’ve never seen it before,” Corinne says. “I’m just so hopeful that we will be represented in numbers in the future, because we are equipping our youth with the knowledge and teachings that will allow them to one day fill our seats and continue to voice the concerns of their people. A lot of people say the youth are our future. I think they’re the leaders of right now because of their intuition, their pure hearts, and open minds.”
For Corinne, she knows this is her time to fulfill the call of leadership.
“I had the opportunity to go and view our treaty, our actual treaty, in Washington, D.C., and I have two relatives that signed that treaty: One was a Walla Walla chief, and one was a non-Indian who was an interpreter. It was very emotional, because I understood my place in time, and I understood what I am entrusted with.”
Most importantly, she says, she doesn’t walk alone for what could be several lifetimes of work ahead to restore salmon in the Columbia.
“I couldn’t do this work without the encouragement and empowerment of my people and the partners that we have,” she says. Her strategies for staying the course? “Exercising my treaty rights is an amazing self care activity, spending time with my son, and sometimes taking a step back and recognizing what my place in the timeline is. It’s imperative that I continue to take care of myself so I can take care of my people.”
Corinne Sams’s acceptance speech at the 2024 Indigenous Leadership Awards. Video by Really BIG Video
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The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission coordinates management policy and provides fisheries technical services for the Yakama, Warm Springs, Umatilla, and Nez Perce tribes.
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Wednesday October 16th, 2024 • 5:30pm
The Redd on Salmon Street | Portland, Oregon
The Indigenous Leadership Awards is a celebration of the determination, wisdom, and continuum of Indigenous leadership across the region.
Press release
Group of six leaders will be honored at a ceremony on October 16
Portland, Ore. – September 4, 2024 – Ecotrust is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2024 Indigenous Leadership Awards. …
