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Credit: Credit: Katie Campbell/ProPublica
Events

“Wy-Kan-Ush-Pum (Salmon People)”: A Screening and Panel Conversation

Join ProPublica and OPB for a screening of this documentary film, which features the plight of the Columbia River salmon and the Native people whose lives revolve around them.

In partnership with Oregon Public Broadcasting.

This event is free and open to the public, tickets are not required. Seating is limited and offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

Last year, ProPublica and OPB collaborated on an investigation detailing the disappearance of salmon from the Pacific Northwest. The reporting also revealed levels of toxic chemicals in Columbia River salmon that state health agencies deem unsafe when consumed at the quantities that many of the region’s 68,000-plus tribal people consume.

Over the last few decades, fish hatcheries were built to make up for the decline. Today about 80% of the salmon swimming up the Columbia River were bred in government-funded hatcheries. But those hatcheries have never — in 40 years — delivered the numbers of salmon the government promised. Poor ocean conditions have further ravaged salmon populations and the tribes’ harvests. Because of climate change, scientists project that salmon survival will decline by as much as 90% over the next 40 years.

During this public screening of “Wy-Kan-Ush-Pum (Salmon People): A Native Fishing Family’s Fight to Preserve a Way of Life,” a documentary film produced as a part of the series, attendees get a firsthand look at the plight of the salmon of the Columbia River and the Native people whose lives revolve around them.

When the salmon are running up the Columbia River, Native people are there with them. They live, eat and sleep at the river. Their children grow up at the river. They catch salmon for subsistence, for ceremonies and for their living.

This is the life of the Wy-Kan-Ush-Pum, the Salmon People. It is a life Columbia River tribal people have lived for generations and have fought for decades to protect.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the individuals who helped bring this film to life.

Doors will open at 7 p.m. and the screening will begin at 7:30 p.m. Please note that seating is limited and offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Appetizers will be served for the first arrivals.

Parking is available onsite.

Need an accommodation to make our event more accessible? Email us at [email protected].

This event has ended.