It was the first of 30 fish released. A truck transported the salmon up and around the dam, in northeastern Washington. A chain of people lined up shoulder to shoulder. They passed bags filled with one salmon at a time from the truck to the river.

Colville tribal member Crystal Conant released the final fish of the day. She said returning salmon to the upper Columbia will help heal the tribe and the ecosystem.

Since the construction of Grand Coulee Dam, she said, “we haven’t had our salmon, and we haven’t had our ways. For 80 years, this has been taken from my ancestors. To be a part of the first people to put it back, it’s hard to even talk about without getting emotional.”

As she released the salmon, she prayed for it to have a healthy life.

“It felt good to touch that salmon and talk to that salmon — to know that my prayers went directly into the river with that salmon,” Conant said.