Join Meaningful Movies Tacoma & Gig Harbor for an inspiring film and compelling conversation.

Register HERE

🌟 The Event

Meaningful Movies Tacoma is excited to present a screening and community conversation highlighting this powerful documentary, which serves as a portrait of the Nez Perce Tribe’s ancient covenant with salmon. The film follows their efforts to uphold this ancient relationship as dams and climate impacts threaten one of the cornerstones of their culture.

🎥 The Film

“Genetically salmon has imprinted on our DNA,” said Nakia Williamson, Nez Perce Tribe Cultural Resources Director. “Now we are only left with a handful of places that have the numbers of salmon that we can actually fish and continue that way of life.”

The homelands of the Nimiipuu span across modern-day Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and Montana. This includes major waterways and tributaries, including the Snake River, where four dams threaten the future of salmon and the tribe. From the beginning, the Nimiipuu contested the construction of the dams, yet despite their cries of concern the dams were built. Today, mere single-digit percentages of salmon return to their natural spawning grounds, after having to pass through eight barriers including the four dams on the Lower Snake River.

🎥 Guest Speakers

Jeanette Dorner, Executive Director – Nisqually Land Trust / Board of Directors – Pierce County Conservation District

Jeanette joined the Land Trust in November 2020 as Executive Director. She grew up in south Pierce County on the banks of Muck Creek, a tributary to the Nisqually River. She has a B.S. in Earth Sciences and a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Pacific Lutheran University and an M.S. from the University of Washington’s College of Forest Resources with a focus on Restoration Ecology. She worked for 11 years as the Salmon Recovery Program Manager with the Nisqually Tribe, coordinating the protection and restoration of salmon habitat in the Nisqually watershed. She then moved to work on Puget Sound-wide and Central Puget Sound salmon recovery for the last decade. She is so pleased to have returned to her home watershed and the Nisqually family (Nisquamily) to help protect and steward these special places.

Joseph Bogaard, Executive Director – Save Our Wild Salmon

Joseph began working for the Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition in 1996. He first got hooked on Northwest salmon restoration efforts while in graduate school where he authored a paper in the early 1990s, exploring the then-relatively recent Snake River salmon listings under the Endangered Species Act, and how it might impact the region and its federal lands and dams. Before joining the SOS team, Joseph spent many years teaching and working in the forests and mountains of the West. Today, Joseph lives on Vashon Island with his partner Amy and two children Liesl and Jeremiah. He is a former commissioner of Water District 19 (King County) and currently serves as a board member with the NW Energy Coalition and Braided River.

🎟️ How to Join:

RSVP: Reserve your spot for the in-person screening here.

Access Information: 2 hours before the event, you’ll receive an email with a link to sign into Eventbrite for the virtual screening.

Spread Awareness: Encourage your friends, family, and neighbors to participate in this crucial conversation by sharing the event details.

Cost: Screenings are always free and open to all. We gratefully accept donations to help offset the costs of our venues, film licensing, and selected guest speakers.