FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 28, 2023
Contact:
Pete Nichols, Chapter Director, Sierra Club Maine
pete.nichols@sierraclub.org
707-845-0832
Sierra Club Maine and Tribes Host “Covenant of the Salmon People” Film Screenings
Sierra Club Maine in partnership with the Nez Perce tribe of Idaho, Wabanaki Alliance, and the Penobscot Indian Nation will be hosting two screenings of the film Covenant of the Salmon People—one in Brunswick on April 17, and one in Bangor on April 18 Doors open at 6pm.
The evening will include a screening of the film followed by a panel discussion focusing on restoration efforts of wild salmon populations, particularly the recovery of Atlantic Salmon here in Maine. Chairman Shannon Wheeler of the Nez Perce tribe will be in attendance for both screenings. In addition to the Nez Perce, Wabanaki Alliance and Penobscot Indian Nation, panelists will include the Atlantic Salmon Federation, Downeast Salmon Federation, and the Natural Resources Council of Maine.
Covenant of the Salmon People is a 60-minute documentary portrait of the Nez Perce tribe as they continue to carry out their ancient promise to protect Chinook salmon, cornerstone species and first food their people have subsisted on for tens of thousands of years. The covenant with salmon is woven into their culture, history, and now their modern-day species restoration efforts. The Nez Perce people are the oldest documented civilization in North America, with archaeological sites along Idaho's Salmon River dating back 16,500 years.
The Atlantic salmon, dubbed the ‘king of fish’, once numbered in the hundreds of thousands in the United States and ranged up and down most of New England’s coastal rivers and ocean waters. But dams, pollution and overfishing have extirpated them from all of the region’s rivers except in Maine. Today, only around 1,000 wild salmon, known as the Gulf of Maine distinct population segment, return each year from their swim to Greenland.
Numerous organizations and institutions have been working tirelessly for many years to bring our rivers back to life and to returnAtlantic salmon home to Maine in historic numbers. From the precedent-setting removal of the Edwards Dam in Augusta in 1999 to scores of smaller dam removal and habitat restoration projects, these dedicated individuals and organizations are champions of this effort.
These film screenings are sponsored by the partner organizations and the Maine Community Foundation and Bangor Savings Bank. For tickets and information please visit sierraclub.org/maine/events.
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Sierra Club Maine is one of 64 chapters nationally with 4 million members and supporters. Working in Maine for over 40 years, Sierra Club Maine has over 20,000 members and supporters across the state. As a volunteer-run, grassroots organization, Sierra Club Maine believes in the power of people working together to make change happen. Their mission is to explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth; to practice and promote the responsible use of the earth’s ecosystems and resources; to educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and to use all lawful means necessary to carry out these objectives.