“Today it’s the grizzly, but what is it going to be next week? We want to protect the salmon. We want to protect the water. Now it’s the grizzly and the water, so what will it be next? With the signing of this document, I believe that we brought awareness to our people here on the Colville Indian Reservation. We now have this treaty, this cooperative agreement for all Indian tribes in the United States and Canada, and we all need to sign it and stand together because all tribes have battles and these battles are never going to end. We have to protect the water. We have to protect the grizzly, the salmon, and all of these sacred beings that we revere, and all of these things that these forces arrayed against us are constantly trying to take away from Indian people as a whole. I am thankful that we have this document and this opportunity to bring awareness to our ongoing battles.”

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Chief Joseph’s great-great-grandson, Keith Soy Redthunder