Native Cultural Resource Management in the Pacific Northwest: The Ctuir Tribal Historic Preservation Program and the Lake Humtepin Experience

Cultural resource management (CRM) is nothing new in Indian Country. American Indians have always managed their natural and cultural resources with respect by remembering where we originated from—Mother Earth. Remembering those who came before us Native peoples inherit the responsibility to protect our traditional tribal way of life for generations to come. The Mid-Columbia River tribes known as the Umatilla Cayuse, and Walla Walla have been forced into many battles over land and resources since the passing of Lewis and Clark in 1805. Many of these battles have been simply to gain recognition as indigenous people who have the aboriginal right to manage those resources connecting us to our ancestral cultural heritage. This is a difficult task when simultaneously observing the desecration, or outright destruction, of aboriginal resources during the recent historic past.