Whatever happens to the salmon, happens to us,” says Chief Caleen, who leads the Winnemem Wintu in fulfilling a promise her people made at the beginning of time: to forever speak up for the salmon.

 

Violently dispossessed of their lands, federally unrecognized, and reduced to just 126 members, the Winnemem Wintu’s deliberate eradication parallels the salmon’s devastating decline and the construction of Shasta Dam blocking their way home. For decades, the tribe fought for the salmon, yet today, they are on the brink of extinction.

 

By resurrecting an ancient war dance, the tribe discovered their salmon thriving halfway across the world in the glacier-fed rivers of Aotearoa, New Zealand. This astonishing fact was foretold by a 150-year-old prophecy and confirmed through genetic testing. Now, Chief Caleen and her son, Michael, must bring two Indigenous nations and two governments together to return the salmon home.

 

If successful, they will spend years restoring the salmon to native waters. In the shaded intimacy of the river, we witness a new friendship forming between fish and humans. As Michael and Caleen pass this responsibility to the next generation, we are invited to redefine what a true and meaningful relationship with nature can be.