WA Secretary of State Blogs

New Material for Lummi Island Heritage

schuler Reefnet fishing in Row 3, ca. 1956.
Click image to see full record.

From the desk of Evan Robb

For the second year in a row, Lummi Island Library (Whatcom County Library System) has built upon its Washington Rural Heritage collection by documenting the history of reefnet fishing around Lummi Island, Washington. First practiced by the Lummi Indians using cedar nets and stone anchors, this salmon fishing technique saw a resurgence in the early 20th century; as many as 70+ reefnet boats once set their gear around the Inner Puget Sound, and a small number of reef netters still practice today.

The Friends of the Island Library (FOIL) led this 2008 grant project, bringing together a truly diverse set of materials, most of which came from the private collections of island residents. The new collection includes: maps showing reefnet gear locations in various years; records of the Puget Sound Reefnetters Union; images of traditional fishing gear; and a variety of documents telling the story of a 1954 initiative which threatened to eliminate the reef net fishery altogether.

lummilabelEdola Brand Label, Lummi Bay Packing Co.
Click image to see full record.

Perhaps the most exciting material in the new collection comes in the form of roughly 50 oral histories recorded by islander Kim Gardner, daughter of a reefnet fisherman and reef netter herself. Kim sat down with a number of veteran fisherman this summer and got their stories about everything from the evolution of reefnetting techniques, to record catches, to legal battles surrounding the reefnet industry.  Below are some of our favorite interviews (when the record displays, click on “Access this item” to download the mp3):

View Lummi Island Library’s entire collection at: www.washingtonruralheritage.org/lummi. To view their newest 2008 grant material, click here.




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One Response to “New Material for Lummi Island Heritage”

  1. Just minutes after I posting this, the folks at Lummi uploaded a few new photos to their collection, including this one of “humpies” (aka pink salmon) being caught by reefnetters in 1975: http://content.statelib.wa.gov/u?/lummi,1087.

    This is particularly timely; humpies return to spawn in Washington rivers on odd-numbered years, and 2009 is turning out to be a great season for humpies.