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7327009 
Book/Book Chapter 
Watching for the signs 
Charlie, W 
2012 
Oregon State University Press 
Asserting Native Resilience: Pacific Rim Indigenous Nations Face the Climate Crisis 
43-46 
English 
Editors' note: This interview was conducted by Zoltán Grossman on May 17, 2010. We've been noticing the huge impacts of climate change in intricate ways. The different things we are noticing around us include the snow-capped mountains. At one time our elders would predict the following winter according to the snow packs. There was one mountain close to us; its traditional name in Hul'qumi'num Salish is Theeth-uhl-kay. Everyone knows it today as Mount Cheam. My grandfather used to predict the following winter according to that mountain. It would never go bare, but today quite frequently it does go bare. We're so dependent on fish. We're the river people, and to us, food is fish. In these past few years, multiple impacts have diminished the returns of the salmon to us. This includes overfishing on the ocean and at the entrance of the mouth of the Fraser River. With everything that's dumped into the river, it's so polluted now, and the fish have to swim through that. The water has become so warm and shallow now because of climate change. The fish are strained from swimming in polluted, warm water, so they can't make it to their destination, or if they do they're stressed. It's the same with overfishing, on the sandbars and the riverbanks that are lined up with sportfishermen who supposedly catch-and-release. What strain and stress is that putting on the fish? It's not just one thing- not just the snow pack diminishing, not just the water warming up and being polluted, not just the overfishing- it's all of them together. © 2012 Zoltán Grossman and Alan Parker. All rights reserved.