The iconic river of the west, the mighty Columbia River, was once the source of the greatest salmon runs in the world. But massive dams have blocked salmon from returning to the vast headwaters of the upper Columbia River in Canada for over 80 years.

BRINGING THE SALMON HOME is the story of three Indigenous Nations who are upholding their sacred responsibility to reintroduce the salmon, working with US Tribal relations and allies along the river. First person stories are combined with vivid landscape and underwater salmon footage, and archival film reels, to tell the long-hidden story of these Salmon People. The losses have been immense. Nation members recount how they were offered tins of Spam as they were starving from the lack of salmon, at the same time as their children were wrenched from their homes through a genocidal Indian residential school system. Today the Syilx Okanagan, Secwépemc, and Ktunaxa Nations are working to bring the salmon home, for the benefit of all.

BRINGING THE SALMON HOME offers new beginnings while acknowledging the past. It prompts necessary reflection and action to support self-determination and decolonization. It proposes early steps towards understanding what reconciliation requires. Of working collaboratively through an Indigenous-centred process that includes all Columbia River basin residents. Of finding solutions to complex challenges by combining traditional Indigenous knowledge and western science, and cultural renewal. This is a vital film that calls on the inspiration and commitment of present and future generations.

ANCESTRAL RIVERS explores the Indigenous Youth River Guide Training (IYRGT) program that aims to remove barriers and create opportunities for youth to learn land-based skills such as flat-water and whitewater canoeing, wilderness medicine and whitewater rescue training in order to become wilderness guides. The goal is to improve self-esteem, leadership, self-determination and expose youth to potential career opportunities all while centering Indigenous languages and knowledge. This is the first IYRGT cohort's story.

When the largest dam removal project in history begins, a group of indigenous youth learn to whitewater kayak in hopes of becoming the first people to paddle the restored river from source to sea. With jaw-dropping aerial cinematography and moving storytelling, PADDLE TRIBAL WATERS
is a fully immersive experience, showcasing the unbreakable bond between people and their ancestral lands. The film gives viewers a bird’s eye view as an unforgettable group of young people training for the adventure of a lifetime.

In 8 BILLIONS: WE ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE, Ailton Krenak, Indigenous leader and thinker, talks about the pain of the Watú (or Rio Doce in the Krenak language). Sick with the biggest environmental disaster in Brazilian history, the Mariana Dam disaster, the river asks for help. From the impacts on his village on the banks of the river, he creates an overview of the current Anthropocene period and invites all human beings to a collective journey of reflection and self-criticism, aiming at the urgent but necessary paradigm shifts.

In ECHOES OF THE RIO, a woman living on the U.S./Mexico border invokes the voice of the Rio Grande which guides her through the history of migration and the symbiotic relationship with the Indigenous people of the land. As the river speaks, echoes follow, ultimately exposing the socio-ecological destruction caused when the river became a border and a political weapon.

SAMQWAN: WATER is a short documentary about the current threats to the world's water systems from the extractive industry, and the need for us to support Indigenous water protectors on the front lines of protecting the earth's water sources. It is set within the context of my home reserve - Eel River Bar First Nation - and the water sources on Mi'kmaw territory.

This short doc was adapted from a podcast I created for imagineNATIVE 2022 for the FLOW exhibit. I decided to take that podcast and turn it into a short, educational documentary with a powerful call to action take-away for viewers.

I specifically designed it for a social media audience in terms of how people absorb social media content. Many social platforms are designed around fast-paced, short content that is visual, auditory and that can maintain the viewers attention by consistently changing the visual components every 8 seconds or less.

Similarly, the visual content is expected to keep pace with the narration - matching images to words. The reason the documentary was done this way, is to increase audience size and accessibility, and thus increase the impact of my call to action.

The only way to save the water is for Canadians and Americans to join with Indigenous peoples while we protect the water for all life on Mother Earth. #waterislife