Covenant of the Salmon People
57 min Emmy-Nomated documentary feature
roles: Cinematographer, Editor, Art Director
dir. Shane Anderson
release: Fall 2023
A story told in partnership with the Nez Perce tribe and Swiftwater Films, Covenant of the Salmon People is the stunning cultural portrait of a people fighting for a way of life they have sustained for millennia– until now.
The Nez Perce have taken an active role in replacing energy hydropower energy, which only produce an average of 3% of the region's power. But will governments and agencies form the political will to breach these dams before it’s too late for Salmon?
With the advent of dams and the modern fish hatchery system, the revered Chinook Salmon has been on the decline for decades. Exacerbated by climate and human impacts, Chinook populations on the Snake river in Idaho and Oregon hover dangerously close to the edge, jeopardizing a central piece of cultural and ancestral lineage for the Nimiipuu, or Nez Perce people.
According to the best available science, the lower 4 dams on the Snake River pose the biggest threat to migrating salmon. Fish must cross through these dams 8 times in their lifecycle, and 50% don’t make it. Nez Perce tribal leadership have begun taking the political steps needed to make dam breaching a reality.
