How some Northwest tribes cultivate land for first foods and traditional medicines

Every time Jeremy Wolf heads out into the woods, it is an opportunity – more than just spending time in nature.

“It’s for us, just being Indian. Just doing the things that we have been taught over the years – being out here and telling the land who we are,” Wolf said.

Recently, he and his two daughters, all members of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, headed to the Rainwater Wildlife Area just outside Dayton, Wash. They were collecting small, fluffy fir boughs for their sweat lodge.

“We try to gather these because we sweat all year long,” Wolf said. “These (fir boughs) will last in the sweat house for maybe a month. It depends on how enclosed I keep it. It's definitely noticeable when they dry out and it's not that comfortable and loud.”

Branches snapped as he started breaking off smaller pieces. He said he began collecting thinner boughs after an older relative complained his branches were too rough to sit on.

“The idea is to layer it,” he said, explaining how the sweat lodge is set up.

The trio moved onto an open area, collecting more branches as they went.

“It just feels like these places, they kind of pull on you,” Jeremy said. “It’s like, ‘Alright, it's time to get up in the hills, time to get up in the mountains.’”