All Our Relations Snake River Campaign
September 23 – October 1, 2023
The campaign, like our campaigns in 2021 and 2022, was dedicated to the intertribal effort to bring down the Snake River dams in the Columbia River basin. Removing the dams is crucial to the survival of the salmon and the orca populations that depend on them, for the continuity of indigenous lifeways, and for recovering the health of the Salish Sea.
The campaign was the result of nine months of planning and covered a total of 2,000 miles, eleven days, and the work, words and wisdom of tribal leaders and elders, tribal ceremonialists and guest speakers such as Shannon Wheeler, Chairman of the Nez Perce Tribe, Judith Le Blanc, Director of the Native Organizer’s Alliance and Ben Jealous, Executive Director of the Sierra Club.
Events were held in tribal communities, places of worship, and town hall centers from Olympia to Portland, up the Columbia River basin to the land of the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce Peoples), Sacajawea State Park, Spokane and back to Seattle.
The massive metal sculpture entitled All Our Relations (shown below with its creator the renowned Lummi artist and Se’Si’Le Board Member Cyaltsa April Finkbonner) was created for the journey and brought deep ceremony and remembrance to each of the events.
All Our Relations sculpture with creator Lummi
The campaign created an historic and enduring coalition including the Nez Perce Tribe, Nimiipuu Protecting the Environment, Children of the Setting Sun Productions, Native Organizer’s Alliance, the Sierra Club, Save Our Wild Salmon, Columbia Riverkeepers, Earth Ministry, Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center, Northwest Coalition for Responsible Investment, Paths to Understanding, Earth Ministry, Washington Conservation Action, Giving Voice Since Time Immemorial, Native Vote Washington, and the Defenders of Wildlife. This unprecedented coalition is continuing its work on the Snake River dams and will also serve as a platform for direct action for the overarching climate crisis.
Gallery
