A community mourns loss of Yakama fisherman Simon Sampson and wife, Diane
With his wife by his side, Simon Sampson fought for his Yakama treaty hunting and fishing rights until he died on June 14. He was 71. Two weeks later, on June 28, his wife of 50 years, Diane Sampson, died from COVID-19 complications. She was 69. Their deaths have left somber clouds over their hometown of Toppenish on the Yakama reservation and along the Columbia River, where the Yakamas have fished since time immemorial. In town, the Sampsons were community activists working to improve public safety, education and good will to others. On the river, Sampson known as the Slammin Salmon Man, was a voice for tribal fishermen and their indigenous fishing rights preserved in the treaty. Sampson was fighting a federal conviction in the U.S. Court of Appeals of the Ninth Circuit when he died. >click to read< 10:30
Leave a Reply