Seventeen-year-old John Auneki had harvested Pacific lamprey only once before. By the end of the day at Clackamette Park, he was learning a skill passed down through generations: how to clean and prepare one of the Northwest’s most important tribal foods.

A member of the Yakama Nation, Auneki worked alongside Rosie Johnson, 60, of the Warm Springs and Wasco tribes, who has harvested lamprey at Willamette Falls since she was 7, according to the Oregon Capital Chronicle.

Their lesson was part of the fifth annual Willamette Falls Lamprey Celebration on June 25, where tribal members shared the history, cultural importance and future of a species that has been disappearing from Northwest waterways.

The celebration followed a traditional harvest at the base of Willamette Falls, where more than two dozen tribal members collected several dozen lamprey by hand. Most were returned to the Yakama Valley for community sharing, while others were transported near Bonneville Dam to help them reach spawning areas beyond Columbia River barriers.

Pacific lamprey, an eel-like jawless fish, has been a First Food for many Northwest tribes for thousands of years. Harvesters collect the fish from rocks at the falls as they use their suction mouths to climb upstream.

But the species has declined sharply. Annual counts at Bonneville Dam have fallen from roughly 400,000 adult lamprey more than 60 years ago to fewer than 20,000 today, according to the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission.

Willamette Falls remains one of the few places where tribal members can continue harvesting lamprey. Members of the Yakama, Warm Springs, Nez Perce and Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation retain access to the falls under treaty rights.

Tribal biologists say the harvest also plays a role in conservation. Moving lamprey to healthier spawning areas can help restore populations by returning chemical signals, called pheromones, that guide future generations of fish upstream.

The June celebration drew several hundred people to Clackamette Park for traditional foods, including lamprey and salmon, cultural demonstrations and boat trips to view the falls. Speakers included Yakama tribal leader Jeremy Takala, Oregon Senate President Rob Wagner and former Gov. Kate Brown, who now leads the Willamette Falls Trust.

The trust is working to restore public access and habitat around Willamette Falls. Oregon lawmakers approved $45 million for the project in 2025, and the organization is seeking additional private funding and an agreement with Portland General Electric over property near Moore’s Island.

A date has not yet been announced for the 2027 lamprey celebration.