You’re invited! Join Indigenous Knowledge Counsel and Youth Salmon Warrior representatives of Bringing the Salmon Home: The Columbia River Salmon Reintroduction Initiative for a free online webinar Tuesday November 22 at 10am PT / 11am MT.
This virtual event is hosted by the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y) Ethical Space series. This session will include an overview of the Bringing the Salmon Home initiative and presentations by Indigenous Knowledge Counsel members and Youth Salmon Warriors from the Syilx Okanagan, Secwepemc and Ktunaxa Nations.
Guest speakers: Valerie Michel, Troy Hunter, Fred Fortier, Chad Eneas, Martina Escutin and Jade Montgomery-Waardenburg. Register now!
BRINGING THE SALMON HOME – Y2Y WEBINAR
TUES 22 NOV 2022 @ 10am-11:30 PT/11am-12:30 MT
1. INTRODUCTION TO THE BRINGING THE SALMON HOME INITIATIVE
Valerie Michel is a member of the Adams Lake Indian Band from the Secwépemc Nation. Valerie has held many positions at the Adams Lake Indian Band for the past 20 years. She is the Bringing the Salmon Home Outreach & Engagement Organizer for her Nation. Valerie also works with the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council as the Columbia River Treaty Project Manager.
2. INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE COUNSEL PRESENTATIONS
Fred Fortier has served many leadership roles with the Secwépemc Nation. For many years his work has focused on fisheries. Fred has become well-known for his work to recover wild fish populations, and as an advocate of Aboriginal rights and responsibilities in fisheries. Fred is a member of the Indigenous Knowledge Council with the Bringing the Salmon Home Initiative.
nk’lxwcin Chad Eneas is a Traditional Knowledge Keeper (TEK) of the syilx Okanagan Nation and is an apprentice to calyx Richard Armstrong. His kinship ties span from the last Salmon Chief at Kettle Falls to the last Chief of the Northern Arrow Lakes. Chad’s passions are to be in the mountains, practicing traditional activities in harvesting and ceremony. Chad is Chair of the Indigenous Knowledge Council with the Bringing the Salmon Home Initiative.
Troy Hunter is ?Aq’amnik of the Ktunaxa Nation. His professional experience includes working for Indigenous organizations in the Interior Plateau region of BC. Troy developed and operated the Ktunaxa Kinbasket Interpretive Centre at the St. Eugene Mission Resort, a former Indian residential school, and he made a short documentary about the loss of salmon on the upper Columbia River. In 2013, Troy was called to the bar as a member of the legal profession. He is currently completing a master’s degree in constitutional law. Troy is the Bringing the Salmon Home Outreach & Engagement Organizer for the Ktunaxa Nation.
3. YOUTH SALMON WARRIORS PRESENTATION
Martina Escutin is a Ktunaxa youth from the [Ah-kis-kinuk] ʔAkisqnuk First Nation. ʔAkisqnuk means “two lakes” and is also known as Windermere, BC. Martina currently resides in Syilx territory where she works as an Indigenous Student Advocate in a high school. Her time at the Salmon Warriors gathering taught her that, much like the Salmon’s Journey, reclaiming one’s Indigeneity can feel like an upstream battle; the journey is long, but it is necessary, and the result will have a ripple effect for generations to come.
Jade Montgomery-Waardenburg is one of the Salmon Warriors. Jade lives in her homelands of Smelqmex / lower Similkameen located in the town of Keremeos BC. She works for the Lower Similkameen Indian Band as an early childhood worker. Outside of work, Jade loves playing basketball, volunteering as a Syilx basketball coach, volunteering with the South Okanagan Similkameen Pride society, and spending a lot of her free time with her family or on the land.
Please join us on Tuesday November 22 from 10am PT / 11am MT. Register here!
