Shuswap Salute to the Sockeye celebrates importance of sacred salmon to Indigenous culture

Shuswap Salute to the Sockeye celebrates importance of sacred salmon to Indigenous culture

Published 10:52 pm Thursday, October 1, 2026

As they have for generations, our Secwépemc neighbours will welcome home the salmon in this year’s dominant Adams River sockeye salmon run at Tsútswecw Provincial Park.

Returns are much lower than expected this year, with a Pacific Salmon Commission, Fraser River Panel pre-season forecast of 7.7 million dropping to an Aug. 25 estimate of 2.8 million. But the joy of seeing the sockeye return to their home to spawn is awe-inspiring and will be well celebrated as past dominant runs have been.

The Salute to the Sockeye Festival brings people together to honour the salmon, celebrate Indigenous culture, and recognize the important role salmon play in the health of our ecosystems and communities.

Cultural events for the 2026 Salute to the Sockeye, which runs from 8:30 to 4:30 daily from Oct. 9 to 25, are being hosted by the Adams River Salmon Society and Skwlāx te Secwepemcúl̓ecw with their partner bands Adams Lake, Neskonlith, Splatsin and Shuswap from Invermere.

New this year, Skwlāx Fisheries is partnering with Secwépemc Fisheries Council to share knowledge about salmon and the importance of sacred salmon to Indigenous way of life in an education tent that will be open daily from 10 a.m to 4 p.m.

Fisheries education will be offered to more than 5,000 students from School Districts 73 and 83, as well as Vernon and Kelowna.

“Skwlāx is coordinating all the heavy lifting for the cultural ceremonies, so it’s pretty awesome,” said Michelle Comeau, executive director of the Adams River Salmon Society, who notes other key partners include BC Parks, Shuswap Tourism, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Columbia Shuswap Regional District, Shuswap Community Foundation, the Village of Chase and the Pacific Salmon Foundation.

Opening day will feature a Welcoming Song and drumming performed by students from the Chief Atahm School in Chase, along with a salmon ceremony and other Indigenous songs and stories.

Participate in interpretive guided tours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and hike along the trails to watch the sockeye return for their quadrennial spawn. Volunteers wearing red jackets and holding fish on a stick will be another great source for information.

Comeau says the bridge damaged in the 2023 wildfire is back in place re-opening the Island Loop, with all the trails again providing access to the island link and down to the river. Those who like a longer hike are invited to follow the 1.7 kilometre trail from the main festival plaza along the Wade Road trails above the Adams River Bridge to the winter home.

Hikers may notice some of the river restoration that has been done by Skwlāx Fisheries, the Pacific Salmon Foundation and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, who partnered to began a multi-phase restoration project with the goal to enhance spawning habitat for returning salmon.

“This is a multiphase project so more work will be undertaken in future years,” said Comeau.

First Nations elders and river guardians will be telling stories at the First Nations winter home between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. daily during the festival. The Wade Road parking lot will not be open.

An admission fee of $15 per vehicle goes to the not-for-profit Adams River Salmon Society to provide free education programs to schools throughout the year.