Voice Over in Alyssa Pretty On Top’s voice:
This is our home, the home of the Salish, Pend d’Oreille and Kootenai people for too many generations to count.

Camera is flying low over a lake bordered by wetlands. Large mountains are in the background. A flock of birds swirls by the camera.

Voice Over continues:
I have grown up on this land, like my Sileʔ and his grandpa and his grandpa before that.

A line of teepees in a grassy meadow. Hills and a low sun in the background.

My name is Alyssa Pretty On Top, and I live on the Flathead Indian Reservation.

Close up of Alyssa Pretty On Top’s face, a girl about 12 or 14 years old. View shifts to Alyssa and her mother, who is beading a pair of baby moccasins.

Each year we gather along the banks of the Flathead River for Fall Hunting Camp.

Camera is flying above a large river as it passes a group of teepees on the river’s bank.

When we hunt deer or elk or harvest the bitterroot for our feast, we are continuing our traditional way of life.

A group of children and an adult man with bows and arrows. The man shoots his bow and the group walks toward the target.

It’s hard to describe, but there is a softening influence of being in nature.

Alyssa standing meditatively next to a teepee.

These plants and animals are important because they have always been there for us to nourish and to make our lives good.

A group of buffalo with a large bull buffalo in the front that has just raised a cloud of dust.

This year, my brother harvested his first deer. He told his story around the fire. We were all proud of him.

A group of buffalo with a large bull buffalo in the front that has just raised a cloud of dust.

My grandpa says we are dreams and the prayers of our ancestors and that we have a responsibility to leave this world a better place.

Grandpa seated now and singing softly to a baby held by Alyssa, the baby staring intently at him. As he finishes his song, Grandpa claps and then ends it with a soft “Whooo! Whooo!” He laughs

He thinks children today are like buffalo born behind the fence with little awareness beyond their modern trappings.

Children running playfully along a river trail.

He says our ancestors knew the lines and the trails and curves of the hills as intimately as the lines and curves of their mothers’ faces.

Grass covered hills with shadows cast by clouds moving across them

We have to learn how to be in relationship with the Earth again and how our generation can protect it.

Back to scene of Alyssa and her mother sitting by the river, both beading a baby moccasin.

We do it for our baby brothers and sisters, for our little cousins and for everyone that we will love that hasn’t been born yet.

Alyssa’s mother hands her a baby swaddled in a beaded buckskin cradle board.

In the distance I hear the constant coal trains rushing by, and I know there are many choices ahead of how to live on this Earth.

Alyssa’s family is seated at a camp table eating dinner, a line of teepees in the background. Scene changes to Alyssa’s mother combing and braiding Alyssa’s long dark hair in preparation for a pow-wow.

Sometimes it feels overwhelming, but I do believe we can hold on to our traditions.

Alyssa’s mother tying Alyssa’s beautifully beaded moccasins.

This dream isn’t new. It’s been lived since the beginning of time…and we’ve made it this far.

Alyssa standing in a beautiful traditional dress adorned with beadwork, a teepee in the background.

Perhaps like my YaYa’s beadwork, we can make a life that is strong and beautiful one little step at a time, joining many little steps together.

Alyssa walking toward the dance arena, then dancing with other girls. Scene changes to aerial view of river with hunting camp on the bank.

The following credits in white text over a black background:
SKCLivingLandscapes.org
Project Partners
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
Salish Kootenai College
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
FEATURING
in order of appearance
Alyssa Pretty On Top
Ellen Rose Bigcrane
Dillon Pretty On Top
Johnny Arlee
With special thanks to Johnny Arlee
A STORY ROAD FILMS PRODUCTION
By Justin Lubke
Produced by
Germaine White and David Rockwell
Music By
Kyle Sorenson

Voice Over in Alyssa Pretty On Top’s voice:
This is my home, the home of the Salish and Kootenai people for too many generations to count.

Snow covered field with a single old tree two hundred yards away. A single animal track crosses the field and heads toward the tree.

Voice Over continues:
I have grown up on this land, like my Sileʔ and his Sileʔ and his Sileʔ.

Snowy mountain canyon with high cliffs on both sides and conifers in the bottom and on the mountain sides.

My name is Alyssa Pretty On Top, and I want to tell you about the creation stories of our People. These are Coyote stories. They are sacred stories, passed down for thousand of years.

Children, including Alyssa, are moving around in an almost dance-like way. They dressed mostly in ribbon dresses and ribbon shirts and moccasins. Some have masks on, others are dressed as animals.

And just as countless generations have done, we are coming together on this snowy winter evening for dinner and a night of storytelling.

In the large room of the Longhouse the people, children and some adults, are seated in a large circle. At the far side the elders are seated, and in front of them on the floor are four large buffalo robes.

Scene changes to the outside, where show is falling through the trees and bushes and the wind is blowing.

I am excited to hear my elders tell some of the stories again. I have waited all year.

Alyssa Pretty On Top and her grandfather are seated. Her grandfather is telling a story and motioning with his hands as he speaks.

Alyssa’s Grandfather:
At Nč̓mqnétk͏ʷ, at Polson, is where Sttm̓a had his camp. Sttm̓a was a little tadpole. Sttm̓a had his camp there, and he was always fishing.

Alyssa’s grandfather is telling the story.

Alyssa’s Voice Over continues:
Coyote stories are so important to us. Through the stories we learn about the place where we live and our relationships with the animals, the plants, and our relationship with each other. We learn that by living in a good way, people will always have sustenance and good fortune.

A girl with an animal mask is acting out a character in one of the stories, marching and moving her hands like paws, pantomiming a part of the story. Other children, boys and girls are watching and acting out their parts of the story.

A voice of one of the young people acting in a Coyote story being told:
We’re dying of hunger (except me). Laughter from the audience and other characters.

Children laughing.

Alyssa’s Voice Over continues:
Often after telling a story, an elder will say, “this is true, that’s how it is.” They mean that the stories are our history, an oral history of the creation of this place.

Alyssa’s grandfather telling part of a story. A group of young children lying on the buffalo robes stare up at Alyssa’s grandfather.

Alyssa’s Grandfather:
There was stories all over that valley, in the Bitterroot Valley. It was the same as here, with the weather, the origins of the seasons, of the weather, the warm weather and the cold weather.

Alyssa’s grandfather talking.

Alyssa’s Voice Over continues:
They also show just how long we have lived here. Many describe a strange and vanished world when the land was covered in cold, when great ice dams blocked the rivers, and when water flooded the valleys. They describe the retreat of the cold, and the arrival of the seasons we know today. Coyote stories sound a lot like the stories that scientists tell about the last ice age.”

A girl reading a Coyote Story from a storybook to a dozen or so kids seated on the buffalo robes.

Alyssa’s Grandfather telling one of the stories:
Now we have all twelve months, we’ll have it always cold. It will always be cold for twelve months.

Alyssa’s grandfather talking.

Alyssa’s Voice Over continues:
These stories tell us the climate has changed over time. In the past, natural climate change occurred slowly, over thousands of years caused by fluctuations in the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. But now I’m learning how humans are rapidly changing the climate by releasing large amounts of greenhouse gases, which trap the sun’s heat in the atmosphere, causing the climate to warm.

The rotating Earth as seen from space, the Sun shining in the distance. Slowly, the Sun moves behind the Earth and the day changes to night and cities light up.

Chaney Bell, a cultural leader:
There are not too many people that tell these stories anymore, and we’re just really thankful when they’re here with us. And we only tell these stories in the winter, so there’s just a short time, especially with global warming, you know, it’s even a little bit tougher to get these stories in, but we’re doing our best, and doing our best to keep everything alive that’s been passed down from our ancestors.

Chaney Bell talking to the group.

Alyssa’s Voice Over continues:
The stories are so important to us. I’m happy that this winter we have snow, and we are able to come together and tell our stories of how this place came to be.

Children lying on buffalo robes, listening to Alyssa’s grandfather. Girls with acting out a story.

Alyssa’s Grandfather telling one of the stories:
It’s good to listen to stories, but you also got to take those stories and put it in here. Someday you guys will be the storytellers, you guys will have to tell ‘em. A lot of our old people have gone on and taken along with them the stories.

Alyssa’s grandfather talking. Children listening.

Sound of wind blowing through trees.

Snow falling through bare branches. Tall snow covered mountains.

The following credits in white text over a black background:
SKCLivingLandscapes.org
Project Partners
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
Salish Kootenai College
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
FEATURING
in order of appearance
Alyssa Pretty On Top
Johnny Arlee
Chaney Bell
With special thanks to Johnny Arlee
A STORY ROAD FILMS PRODUCTION
By Justin Lubke
Produced by
Germaine White and David Rockwell
Music By
Kyle Sorenson

Soft Pleasant Music
Voice Over in Rylee Arlee's voice:
This is my home. The home of the Salish, Pend d'Oreille and Kootenai people for too many generations to count.

Rylee and Alyssa Pretty On Top are walking with their grandfather on a trail through a field of tall grass to a point that overlooks the river.

Voice Over continues:
I have grown up on this land, like my Sx̣epeʔ and his Sx̣epeʔ before that.

Close up of the three on the overlook, looking out across the river, which lies in the canyon below.

My name is Rylee and I want to tell you about the lower Flathead River, the river that winds through the heart of our reservation and the heart of our culture.

Aerial view of the lower Flathead River, a large blue-green river winding through a canyon that snakes across a prairie. Flathead Lake is in the background.

Salish Wake-up Song
For us, the river has always been a place to camp and tell stories,

Teepees on the banks of the river.

a place to hunt and fish, a place to harvest roots and berries,

Old black and white photo of a Pend d’Oreille man paddling a canoe on the river.

a place to find quiet and peace,

Old black and white photo of a Salish woman in a beaded dress scooping water from the river into a buffalo horn.

and a place for song and prayer.

Old black and white photo of a Salish woman doing beadwork at the base of a large pine tree near the river.

Salish Wake-up Song

Old black and white photo of a Salish or Pend d’Oreille man fishing on the bank of the river.

Soft Instrumental Music
But the river has changed over the last hundred years.

Flying above rapids on the river, the water a clear blue-green.

In the 1930's, a large dam was built on tribal land.

Old black and white photo of the dam site during construction.

The tribes opposed construction of the dam, which changed the habitat for our fish and wildlife on the river and damaged an area sacred to our people.

Old black and white photo of six Indian men, some with full headdress, just below the dam. In front of them, great torrents of water flow through the gates of the dam. Then a photo giving an aerial view of the dam from the same time period. Then photo of the same Indian men standing on a boardwalk overlooking the rush of water coming out of the dam.

After a long battle, we were able to buy the dam. Now we manage the river's flows to reduce the impact on plants and animals. We are working hard to restore areas that the dam has harmed.

Flying above rapids on the river, large boulders in the water.

Rippling Water Now we face other challenges.

Almost eye-level with the river, which is at high flow, just below flood stage. A leafless rose bush is inundated by the flow.

As the climate continues to change, so does the river. Hotter temperatures in the spring lead to faster snow melt, and as a result, high levels of runoff.

Flying just above the rushing waters of the river, which is flowing near flood stage.

We've come down to fish today, but the water is still too high and full of debris. In years past, the fishing was good at this time of the year.

Alyssa and Rylee and their grandfather walking on the bank of the river. All three hold fishing poles.

Rylee’s Grandfather
We were gonna catch some fish, but looks like the fish are probably hangin' on someplace so they don't get washed out too far. (laughing) We can see the water pretty high. You know, look at all the way up here. Normally it's way down. You can be able to get on that trail, get down in there farther.

Close up of the three of them on the bank of the river, watching the water rushing by.

Rylee
That's crazy.

Rylee's Grandfather Water.

Close up of the river at eye-level.

This is precious stuff. You've got to respect the water. Treat it good, and it'll treat you good. So maybe the fish will wait another day for us.

Rylee
Hopefully, right?

Rylee’s Grandfather
Yeah, Alyssa said she was gonna get that great big one. (chuckling)

Close up of the three of them on the bank of the river, watching the water rushing by.

Soft Instrumental Music
Rylee
The river is complex. The climate is complex too. Because of that complexity, my Sx̣epeʔ
says the river needs to be taken care of with an attitude of respect and humility.

They turn to leave, walking on the trail that leads away from the river and passing by purple larkspur flowers.

Soft Instrumental Music

Rippling Water

Aerial view of the river at high flow, peaks of the snow-covered Mission Range in the background.

The following credits in white text over a black background:
SKCLivingLandscapes.org
Project Partners
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
Salish Kootenai College
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
FEATURING
in order of appearance
Alyssa Pretty On Top
Johnny Arlee
Chaney Bell
With special thanks to Johnny Arlee
A STORY ROAD FILMS PRODUCTION
By Justin Lubke
Produced by
Germaine White and David Rockwell
Music By
Kyle Sorenson

Soft instrumental music:
Voice Over in Alyssa Pretty On Top's voice:
This place is our home. The home of the Salish, Pend d'Oreille, and Kootenai people for too many generations to count.

Flying above a long, finger-shaped lake that lies at the bottom of a timbered canyon. A snow covered peak lies at the head of the canyon.

Voice Over continues:
I have grown up on this land like my Sileʔ, and his grandpa, and his grandpa before that. My name is Alyssa Pretty On Top, and I want to tell you about the Mission Mountains Tribal Wilderness. Ryan Adams, a tribal wildlife biologist, is taking me into the backcountry to learn more about bears. As the climate changes, many of the food sources that bears depend on, like berries and pine nuts, are affected. These changes ripple through the entire food chain.

A man and a girl, Alyssa Pretty On Top, hike in the canyon on a trail that runs along the base of a cliff. The camera view changes to an aerial shot of the two walking, then to a view of their feet as they hike up the trail.

Ryan Adams:
So, Alyssa, the peak that we're looking at, McDonald Peak, is actually part of a special grizzly bear management area set aside by the tribes. We set it aside back in the 80s in an effort to protect feeding grizzlies. Every summer, from mid-July through September, the area is closed recreation hiking, climbing, in an effort to protect the grizzlies that are feeding in the area on important food sources. Climate change is really impacting bears by affecting their foods directly. A lot of the berries, like huckleberries and chokecherries, are ripening a month early. Up higher, the whitebark pine nuts are disappearing, because the trees are dying. You know, if we don't do something to protect these resources, the bears are going to start running out of these natural foods and start coming down lower and lower into the valleys, possibly getting into trouble, and that's one thing that we're trying to prevent.

The two stop at a rocky outcrop overlooking the lake. At the head of the canyon is a large mountain, McDonald Peak. Ryan talks as they look out across the wooded canyon.

Alyssa's voice over continues:
I am glad that we have set aside areas like the Mission Mountains Tribal Wilderness and the grizzly bear conservation area. Now, more than ever, these bears need large, connected landscapes to survive and avoid contact with humans.

Alyssa looking through binoculars, scanning an area across the canyon, looking for bears. Scene changes to a mother grizzly bear with two small cubs. All three are watching something in the distance. The cubs stand on their hind feet and watch intensely.

As I've learned today, changes in our climate affect all living things, from grizzly bears to small berries and nuts.

Scene changes to Alyssa and Rylee, her cousin, walking with their grandfather along the shore of the McDonald Lake, the large lake in the bottom of the canyon.

Alyssa and Rylee's grandfather:
People did a good thing when they put this land aside for the animals, for their relatives, you know. We're taking care of them. They took care of us for many years. Now, it's our turn, you know, to treat them in a good way, to help them survive. We could learn from these animals. They have a lot to teach us. But we need to really get reeducated again. You guys got a lot of responsibility to carry on for the future here, to save all the animals, all of them, our relatives.

Alyssa and Rylee sit on a large rock on the lake shore, listening to their grandfather, who is leaning against a boulder.

Alyssa's voice over continues:
I think of what my Sileʔ told me. We believe the animals are our relatives, and just like they take care of us, we need to take care of them.

Scene changes to large adult grizzly bear, that appears to be standing, its head filling the camera frame.

As we face climate change, there is so much we can and need to do to help our relatives. The future of human beings is tied to the future of bears and all the other animals and plants.

Scene changes back to Alyssa, Rylee, and their grandfather at the lake shore, as the camera flies over and past them and up the canyon above the lake.

Soft Instrumental Music

The following credits in white text over a black background:
SKCLivingLandscapes.org
Project Partners
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
Salish Kootenai College
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
FEATURING
in order of appearance
Ryan Adams
Alyssa Pretty On Top
Johnny Arlee
Rylee Arlee
With special thanks to Johnny Arlee
A STORY ROAD FILMS PRODUCTION
By Justin Lubke
Produced by
Germaine White and David Rockwell
Music By
Kyle Sorenson

Soft instrumental music:
Voice Over in Alyssa’s Grandfather's voice:
A long time ago, a lady, she had silvery hair, was very sad.

Aerial view of the Flathead River in black and white.

Voice Over continues:
There was no more food for her people, for her children. And she was gonna go to the river to die in the sadness. And the sun sees what's happening,

A historic black and white photo of a woman with two children: one, a toddler, stands next to her; the other, a baby, rests in a cradleboard.

and the sun sends a spiritual bird to come down.

Camera is flying down the river toward a setting sun.

The bird gave her a blessing. Her silvery hair becomes a plant. Her tears of sadness goes into this root.

A historic black and white photo of an old woman peeling bitterroot. Next to her is a burlap blanket covered with cleaned bitterroot.

The silvery hair is the plant itself that grows near the ground, and becomes food for the people.

A digging stick, sunk into the prairie earth, works the soil, gently lifting a clump that contains a bitterroot plant. A hand then works the clump, peeling the soil away from the roots of the bitterroot plant.

(soft instrumental music)
Alyssa's voice over:
This place is our home. The home of the Salish, Pend d'Oreille, and Kootenai people for too many generations to count. I have grown up on this land like my Sileʔ and his grandpa, and his grandpa before that. My name is Alyssa Pretty On Top, and I want to tell you about the gift of the Bitterroot, the first food of our seasonal round.

Alyssa Pretty On Top and her mother walk through sagebrush along a low prairie ridge.

How each spring we welcome it, like we are welcoming a loved one we have not seen for a long time. Bitterroot is a visitor, it is only here for a short time each year, and so the feast is when we come together as a tribe to welcome it back.

A digging stick is pushed into the soil to lift another bitterroot. Alyssa and another girl are crouched a few feet apart, each is working to clean the soil from a bitterroot plant. Alyssa places the cleaned root into a basket that hangs from her shoulder. Scene changes to the feast at the Longhouse, a large room, filled with people seated at tables.

It is our first food celebration. Families do not dig Bitterroot or harvest any other plant for their own use until after we have the Bitterroot Feast. We never know exactly when the Bitterroot harvest and feast will be.

Various scenes from around the room. Cultural leader speaking, people at tables listening, people serving themselves with food from large bowls.

The plant has to be ready for us to welcome it. So beginning in April, the elders and others who know Bitterroot observe it, watching for subtle changes in its leaves. Bitterroot tells us when it is ready. The harvest and feast has taught me some important things. First, how important it is to be observant of the natural world. In our culture, to be observant means to be fully present, fully engaged, enough to know and understand the plants and animals that feed and help us.

Bitterroot harvest. Lots of people gathered, many with digging sticks. Transition to various scenes small and large groups of people and individuals digging bitterroot.

Bitterroot tells us when it is ready. That requires knowing the plant as one knows a loved one.

Child cleaning bitterroot roots.

The second thing I have learned is the importance of flexibility.

Mother working with two young children, teaching them how to clean bitterroot.

Because the climate is changing, getting warmer, the time for the Bitterroot Feast has been changing.

Woman carefully and lovingly cleaning bitterroot.

In some years, it has been much earlier than ever before.

Woman showing child how to clean roots and rebury heart of the plant.

But we are adaptable and resilient. We can change, just as our ancestors have so many times in the past.

Child looking intently at plant for the heart.

Agnes Vanderburg:
Bitterroot's got a heart, they got a heart like, just like anybody's got a heart and it's what they know. And if you don't do follow the old ways, they go back in.

Old film of older woman, Agnes Vanderburg, peeling away bitterroot, looking for heart.

Alyssa's voice over continues:
My Sileʔ says the seeds that we water are the seeds that will grow. He means the cultural values we nurture are the ones that will flourish. So we keep them in our hearts.

Alyssa’s hands working a bitterroot plant, peeling away root to find the heart. She finds it, a small pink seed-like piece, and carefully returns it back into the earth so it will grow again.

Soft instrumental music

Alyssa, her mother, and a friend walk through the sagebrush

The following credits in white text over a black background:
SKCLivingLandscapes.org
Project Partners
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
Salish Kootenai College
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
FEATURING
in order of appearance
Alyssa Pretty On Top
Ellen Rose Bigcrane
Agnes Vanderburg
A STORY ROAD FILMS PRODUCTION
By Justin Lubke
Produced by
Germaine White and David Rockwell
Music By
Kyle Sorenson

Soft instrumental music:
Voice Over in Alyssa’s Grandfather's voice:
This is my home, the home of the Salish and Kootenai people for too many generations to count.

Looking out across a broad valley from the air, a large lake in the foreground and a tall range of mountains in the background. The sun is just cresting the snow-covered Mission Mountains.

I have grown up on this land, like my Sileʔ and his grandpa and his grandpa before that.

A long row of teepees in a grassy field with hills in the background.

My name is Alyssa Pretty On Top, and I want to share with you what I'm learning about the climate.

Close up of Alyssa’s face. She is a girl of about 12 or 14.

The stories are a lot like the stories told by my teachers.

A single teepee and outside of it, Alyssa, her mother, and her grandfather sit on a bench, a campfire burning in the foreground. Her grandfather is telling a story, gesturing with his hands as he speaks.

They talk about the last Ice Age too and they talk about how the climate is changing now, getting warmer.

Alyssa sitting in a classroom with other students.

Shandin Pete: Well, hydrologists we're interested in exact measurements, right? We want to know exactly what the temperate is. So we measure it. You guys been swimming this summer? Anybody? No? You guys don't swim?

Tribal college instructor Shandin Pete is standing before the class, lecturing.

Alyssa:
Shandin Pete is a tribal hydrologist who studies the streams and rivers and snow on the reservation. He has seen how the warming temperatures have affected our rivers and creeks.

Shandin Pete:
One of the things we're concerned about is the temperature of streams and rivers because things live in there.

Shandin lecturing.

So if we look at a graph of Earth's average atmospheric temperature we can see that over time

Shandin spreads his arms and a transparent graph appears. It looks as though he holds it with his hands.

Earth's temperature has slowly risen.

A line showing temperature appears, climbing across the graph. It shows rising temperatures, and Shandin points at and follows it with his finger as it climbs.

Alyssa:
The average temperatures are rising at a much higher rate now than any other time in history.

Alyssa listening.

Humans are burning and releasing far too many greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Shandin Pete:
It forms like a blanket around the Earth so those greenhouse gases can't escape. They just accumulate over time in our atmosphere.

Alyssa:
As the gases build up, they act like a warm blanket covering the Earth.

Shandin now holds his hands out as if he is cradling a large ball. Suddenly a transparent globe of the Earth appears, the continents in white. Red clouds of gas suddenly appear and surround the Earth.

Imagine being forced to wear a thick buffalo robe on a hot summer day. That's basically what we are doing to our planet.

Four kids are sprawled out on a blanket on a dry lake bed, tall mountains in the background. Several other kids carry a large buffalo robe and lay it on top of the kids.

Shandin:
If you think about a mere two degrees, it might not sound like much when you're swimming in a stream or a lake but that two degrees can have a pretty devastating effect on all creatures on the Earth.

The kids, looking out from beneath the robe, begin to grow hot.

Alyssa’s grandfather:
I see sweat coming off you already. So, that's kind of what it feels like. This is what's happening to Mother Earth.

Alyssa’s grandfather standing above the kids, talking to them.

The world's in trouble, it's burning up.

Looking down on the kids as the camera rises higher and higher.

Alyssa:
In short, the Earth is out of balance. Our very survival is at stake. So we must try to live in balance with family, our community, and the natural world.

The camera rises so high the buffalo robe is the size of a postage stamp on an expanse of dry, brown, lake bed. People in chairs are seated near by, watching.

Soft instrumental music

The following credits in white text over a black background:
SKCLivingLandscapes.org
Project Partners
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
Salish Kootenai College
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
FEATURING
in order of appearance
Alyssa Pretty On Top
Ellen Rose Bigcrane
Shandin Pete
Johnny Arlee
With Special Thanks to Johnny Arlee
A STORY ROAD FILMS PRODUCTION
By Justin Lubke
Produced by
Germaine White and David Rockwell
Music By
Kyle Sorenson

Soft instrumental music:
Voice Over in Alyssa's voice:
This is my home, the home of Salish, Pend d'Oreille, and Kootenai people for too many generations to count.

Flying above the Flathead River on a clear, bright day. The sky is blue, and the river’s waters are a deep blue-green.

I have grown up on this land like my Sileʔ and his Sileʔ and his Sileʔ.

A jagged rocky peak. The focal point of the camera gradually shifts and, as the mountains go out of focus, a branch with chokecherries comes into focus.

Alyssa’s grandfather, Johnny Arlee:
My great grandmother, she took one berry off, and she said, "I'm so thankful to see you again.

A hand reaches up to pick some of the small round cherries.

"It's been years since I saw you. "I'm glad that I'm alive, and I ask you to pray for my family, for all the people, that they get enough food for them to eat for the year."

Alyssa, her grandfather, and her mother stand beneath the chokecherry bush. Her grandfather holds a single chokecherry.

That's your prayer, you're giving thanks to the berry for our supply for the year.

Johnny hands the cherry to Alyssa, and she puts it in her mouth.

Alyssa:
My name is Alyssa Pretty On Top. We have lived here for thousands of years and have learned by observing the plants and animals and by listening to our elders. We learned when the fish returned, when the roots are ready, and where they are. When the berries are ready to harvest. When to gather medicinal plants, and when to hunt. Tribal people have always understood how populations of plants and animals change over time.

Alyssa and her mother picking chokecherries and placing them into small cedar-bark baskets tied to their waists.

Across seasons, years, decades, and even centuries.

A limb loaded with chokecherries.

But my Sileʔ says its more than all this. That our relationship to this place, to its land and water, is in the heart of the people.

Alyssa, her grandfather, and mother beneath the chokecherry bush, her grandfather holding a single cherry. Alyssa smiles.

In the Salish language, our name for September means month of chokecherry.

Alyssa’s mother pours chokecherries from one of the small cedar baskets into a hand-crank grinder.

But now, chokecherries are ripe in mid to early August.

Alyssa’s mother grinding chokecherries into a bowl.

Our name for August means month of huckleberry. Now we pick huckleberries in July. It is that way with all of our foods.

Johnny and Alyssa sit at a table. In front of them are two cedar baskets full of chokecherries, and in front of those, dried cakes of ground chokecherries.

The plants, the fish, and the animals. Our calendar, thousands of years old, is shifting.

Alyssa’s mother cooking chokecherries in a stainless steel pot on a stove.

My Sileʔ teaches us to hang on to the beauty and strength of our culture through this time of rapid change.

Johnny:
Let's give a little bit of thanks to the spirit, to the grandfather, for the final taste of the berries that we first saw on the tree and here it is that we're getting to taste it, and to make us think way back, our ancestors.

Alyssa’s grandfather, Alyssa, and Rylee sit at a table as Alyssa’s mother serves them bowls of chokecherry soup. Alyssa’s mother then joins them with her own bowl, and they begin to eat.

(fire crackling)

The following credits in white text over a black background:
SKCLivingLandscapes.org
Project Partners
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
Salish Kootenai College
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
FEATURING
in order of appearance
Johnny Arlee
Alyssa Pretty On Top
Ellen Rose Bigcrane
Rylee Arlee
With Special Thanks to Johnny Arlee
A STORY ROAD FILMS PRODUCTION
By Justin Lubke
Produced by
Germaine White and David Rockwell
Music By
Kyle Sorenson

Soft instrumental music:
Voice Over in Rylee's voice:
This is my home. The home of the Salish, Pend d’Oreille, and Kootenai people for too many generations to count.

Flying over a lake toward snow-covered mountains

My name is Rylee I have grown up on this land like my Sx̣epeʔ and his Sx̣epeʔ before them.

Rylee, his grandfather, and Alyssa Pretty On Top walk on a trail toward the river.

And I want to tell you about the Jocko River and bull trout, a fish that is very important to our people.

An underwater view of a large bull trout swimming through clear water saturated with bubbles. The speckled fish is a greenish color on its back and sides and pink on its belly. Its fins are lined on the leading edge with white.

The Jocko flows through the heart of our homeland and has nurtured our people for countless generations providing everything we have needed to live good lives.

Flying over the Jocko River, a cold mountain stream. Its banks covered with dense, green riparian vegetation. A black and white historical photo of a fish trap with several teepees in the background.

Fish were important because they were always available.

A black and white historical photo of an Indian man fishing from a traditional canoe. He is using a hand line and leaning over the side of the canoe.

Even during difficult times when other foods were not.

A black and white historical photo of two women and a man fishing on Flathead Lake.

My Sx̣epeʔ says that, like bitterroot and grizzly bears, bull trout have always been at the center of our culture and that we have a sacred agreement to protect them, an agreement we must honor.

Rylee and his grandfather standing by the river. The scene transitions to an undewater view of a bull trout swimming through icy blue water full of bubbles, then transitions back to Rylee and his grandfather standing by the river.

But now bull trout are threatened. The rivers waters are warming and scientists are worried more than ever about the bull trout's future.

Looking down through the clear waters of the Jocko River at the colored cobbles on the river bottom.

Losing bull trout would be devastating for both the tribal and aquatic communities.

Underwater close-up of a bull trout’s head followed by an underwater close-up of the fish’s tail.

Today we're meeting up with Casey Ryan, a tribal hydrologist to learn how the tribes have done watershed restoration to help bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout.

Casey Ryan, followed by Alyssa and Rylee, walk on a trail through lush green riparian vegetation toward the Jocko River.

Casey Ryan:
So this is the Jocko River. It's one of the important rivers on our reservation, and we're gonna talk about the different parts of the river and what humans have done to impact it, and we'll talk about the efforts that our tribes are undertaking to restore the river.

They stand on the river bank as the river rushes by.

Imagine, it if you will, use your imagination. For thousands of years the river corridor looked much like this. There was healthy riparian vegetation all along the river. And there were lots of native fish.

Casey standing before a small crossection of the river. The riparian vegetation is dense, the river flowing clear and has native fish swimming in it. A black bear walks across the bank.

But then in the early 1900's this river began to change. Farming and ranching came to the valley and homes, roads and railroads were built, often right in the floodplain. Riparian vegetation was cleared. Water was taken from the river for irrigation. Habitat for fish and for other species declined.

As Casey talks, the crossection of the river transitions, the riparian vegetation replaced by a farmhouse and haystack. Cows walk pass the haystack and a dog sits and then lies on the bank. The river water is cloudy and the fish are now non-native species.

Non-native fish like brook trout rainbow trout and brown trout were introduced.

Alyssa and Rylee listening, watching Casey as he talks.

As a result Bull Trout are now threatened and westslope cutthroat trout are in trouble.

Camera zooms from the crossection as Casey continues to talk.

Rylee:
We learned from Casey Ryan that the Tribes are working to restore the river because native fish matter. We need to do our part to help them as they helped us for thousands of years.

Alyssa and Rylee listening, watching Casey. Scene transitions to a small waterfall. The camera goes underwater at the base of the falls where we see two large bull trout spawning.

So we are putting meanders and pools and large woody debris back in. We are removing invasive species like non-native fish.

Aerial view of the Jocko River. A view of the river with two large fallen logs crossing it. Another view of the river with water rushing by large boulders.

As a result the river will look and function more like it did 200 years ago. The water will be cooler because there is more shade.

Looking down from high above the river as the camera follows the course of the river.

It will be clearer because banks will be more stable, so less sediment will enter the river.

A closer view of the river from above, looking down at clear water running over colorful cobbles and boulders.

All this protects critical habitat so native fish can be resilient as the climate warms.

A view where the river is at eye-level, then an underwater view of a large bull trout opening its mouth wide and then closing it. The water is an icy blue and filled with bubbles.

The Jocko River Restoration Project is a way of giving back.

Rylee, Alyssa, and Casey stand on the rivers bank smiling and talking as they watch the river rush by.

My Sx̣epeʔ says that we have a responsibility to treat the river and bull trout with respect.

Alyssa and Rylee stand with their grandfather on a ridge overlooking the river. Their grandfather is talking to them, gesturing with his hands.

We have to help keep the water cool so that native species can survive in the future.

An underwater scene of a large bull trout swimming through bubbles.

This is how we give back to the animals and plants that were here long before us.

Bison cows and calves grazing on a grassy area overlooking the river.

This is how we honor our sacred agreement.

Rylee and Alyssa’s grandfather talking in a prayer-like way to a group of bison.

This is how we act in the face of climate change.

A grand view of the Mission Valley as the sun rises over the snow-covered peaks. The valley floor is green and speckled with dozens of ponds and lakes.

(soft instrumental music)
(the sound of water flowing)

Two bull trout swimming side-by-side, scene from above.

The following credits in white text over a black background:
SKCLivingLandscapes.org
Project Partners
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
Salish Kootenai College
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
FEATURING
in order of appearance
Johnny Arlee
Rylee Arlee
Alyssa Pretty On Top
Casey Ryan
With Special Thanks to Johnny Arlee
A STORY ROAD FILMS PRODUCTION
By Justin Lubke
Produced by
Germaine White and David Rockwell
Music By
Kyle Sorenson

Soft instrumental music:
Voice Over in Rylee's voice:
This is my home, the home of Salish, Pend d'Oreille, and Kootenai people for too many generations to count.

View from a helicopter flying into a steep, wooded canyon. The air is smoky, the far end of the canyon obscured by haze.

I have grown up on this land, like my Sx̣epeʔ, and his Sx̣epeʔ before that. My name is Rylee.

Rylee walking toward and then entering a blue helicopter.

We're going into a wildfire to see how the climate affects a burning landscape.

Helicopter taking off.

With ever-increasing temperatures due to climate change, severe wildfires are becoming the new norm.

Helicopter flying over forested mountains, columns of smoke rise from the trees.

Ron Swaney, a fire management officer, has been fighting fire here for decades. He's seen firsthand how fire behavior has changed.

Back on the ground, Ron Swaney, Rylee, and Rylee’s grandfather stand in front of a red and white fire-fighting airplane. Ron greets them and they shake hands.

Ron Swaney: Three things that cause fires to spread: fuels, weather, and topography. And the only one that's the variable is the weather. We're getting hotter, we're getting drier, and the potential is only increasing for wildfire, based on just the climatology and the changes that have occurred. So it's been a dramatic change, both in the number of fires that we get and the amount of acres that we burn.

Ron talks as Rylee and his grandfather listen.

Rylee:
As these brave firefighters work to manage ever bigger and more frequent wildfires, it's important to remember that not all fire is bad.

Pilot of the plane sits in the cockpit, readying the plane for flight. Another man walks toward the plane and hands the pilot a bottle of water.

My Sx̣epeʔ tells me how the tribes use fire as a tool to care for the land.

Rylee’s grandfather taking to Rylee.

The forests were kept healthy by thousands of years of burning by our ancestors.

Black and white historical photo of two teepees set among the trees next to a lake.

Rylee’s grandfather: Respect the fire, use it a good way, it'll help you. So with the huckleberries, the people knew this a long time ago.

Rylee:
Yeah?

Rylee’s grandfather:
And they'd burn back so in a few years they'd get back that berry patch and the berries are bigger and cleaner. And it makes food for all the animals out there to come in. It's kind of a natural thing, you know, for the fire burning.

Rylee’s grandfather talking to Rylee.

Rylee:
He says there was a position of great honor in the tribe, that of Sx͏ʷpaam, the one who makes fire.

Black and white historical photo of a group of Salish and Pend d’Oreille people on horses, two men in the foreground, dressed finely, look directly into the camera.

The old ways are still relevant.

Helicopter taking off and flying toward the mountains.

What the Sx͏ʷpaam used to do they now call prescribed burns. They are the same thing.

Rylee, wearing a helicopter flight helmet, looking out from the flying helicopter. The sky is filled with smoke.

Fighting fires at a time of year when it will help the forest instead of hurting it. That makes dangerous fire less likely.

View from the helicopter looking down at a line of fire burning through trees near a road.

It is hard for us to imagine today, because for over 100 years, we have been trying to keep fire off the land.

A firefighter in the helicopter looking down at the fire.

The result is that the forests have grown dense, and are now much more prone to fire.

Ron Swaney:
Our fire seasons start earlier; they last longer.

View from the helicopter looking out at a tree covered mountain, crisscrossed with roads. Columns of smoke rise in multiple places from the mountain. The sky is filled with smoke. A more close-up view of the forest, smoke everywhere.

We'll go into October, close to November, with very little moisture, elevated temperatures, and still quite a bit of fire potential.

Ron Swaney talking to Rylee and Rylee’s grandfather.

Rylee:
If we have the courage, compassion, and endurance of these firefighters, we can face the challenges of climate change head-on.

Fire Fighting plane turning on the runway then taking off.

I think we have a lot to learn by looking at how our ancestors used fire.

Rylee and his grandfather smiling and laughing, a fire-fighting plane in the background.

The land needs the help and knowledge that comes from thousands of years of living in this place.

A high mountain lake, it’s waters a deep blue-green color. Scene transitions to a row of teepees in a grassy meadow.

(soft instrumental music)

(gentle wind rustling grass)

The following credits in white text over a black background:
SKCLivingLandscapes.org
Project Partners
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
Salish Kootenai College
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
FEATURING
in order of appearance
Rylee Arlee
Ron Swaney
Johnny Arlee
With Special Thanks to Johnny Arlee
A STORY ROAD FILMS PRODUCTION
By Justin Lubke
Produced by
Germaine White and David Rockwell
Music By
Kyle Sorenson

(Alyssa and Rylee’s grandfather, Johnny Arlee, praying in Salish)

Johnny Arlee stands before a group of four or five bison, talking to them in a prayer-like way in Salish, his hands gesturing as he speaks. The bison, on a green grassy ridge with juniper trees in the background, watch him. Several move forward in his direction.

(soft instrumental music)
Alyssa:
This place is our home, the home of the Salish, Pend d'Oreille, and Kootenai people for too many generations to count.

An aerial view of a green mountain, a river flowing at its base. Snow covered peaks rise up in the background.

Rylee:
My name is Rylee. My cousin Alyssa Pretty on Top, and my Sx̣epeʔ, Johnny Arlee, and I live on the Flathead Indian Reservation.

Rylee, Alyssa, and Johnny stand together beneath a blue sky, the sun shining above them.

My Sx̣epeʔ says that q̓͏ʷiq̓͏ʷáy has always been at the center of our lives.

A loan cow bison standing in grass atop a mountain, the river far below in the distance, flows through a mountain valley.

Alyssa:
He talks about how each year, when the wild roses were blooming, our ancestors knew the buffalo calves would be fat, and that it was time to return to our homeland on the Plains.

Johnny talking to Alyssa and Rylee with a few bison standing in the distance. Snow-covered peaks are in the distance.
A group of bison walk along a ridge top, surrounded by the blooms of balsam root, bright yellow, sunflower like flowers.

So we journeyed across the mountains to the grasslands to go after buffalo as our people had done for thousands of years.

An aerial view of a lush green landscape with wooded mountains in the background. A few scattered bison graze as the camera moves away across a grass covered plain.

(Johnny Arlee singing the Buffalo Calling Song)

Johnny:
Those songs were at a time when they'd like they'd go out on the plains and go hunting, and they don't say nothing. And they're, they need the game to feed their families, and so they call on the medicine man, and he sings these songs. They'll put on a ceremony for one night.

Rylee:
They were our most important source of food. Our ancestors used all the parts of the animals they harvested, they wasted nothing.

(Johnny Arlee ending the Buffalo Calling Song)

Johnny is singing to a group of bison.

Alyssa:
By the late 1870s, non-Indians had hunted the buffalo to near-extinction.

A historical black and white photo of cowboys riding horseback behind a herd of two dozen or so bison.

Johnny Arlee:
A lot of hardships that the buffalo went through.

A lone bull bison stands in the grass, looking at the camera.

They were being slaughtered just for their hide. Their carcasses were left out in the prairies.

A lone bull, lying in the grass.

Their lives are just so parallel with ours.

Johnny standing with Alyssa and Rylee, looking at bison, with the snow covered peaks in the background.

Alyssa:
The last year of the traditional Pend d'Oreille buffalo hunts, the hunters only harvested seven animals.

An aerial scene of a green, grassy plain with five bison grazing on it. The camera slowly flies over the plain.

The tens of millions of buffalo that had once blanketed the Plains, the animals that fed and clothed our people for thousands of years, were gone.

Camera is looking up at Johnny, the sun behind his head. He has a sad, thoughtful expression on his face.

Rylee:
My Sx̣epeʔ tells the story of a Pend d'Oreille man, Ɫatatí, as the species teetered on the brink of extinction, Ɫatatí made a long journey with about six buffalo calves to bring them home to the reservation.

Gray clouds moving quickly over a landscape of dry hills.
Scene changes to a close up of a rust colored buffalo calf. Scene shifts to a flowing river, then back to two buffalo calves lying in the grass and wildflowers.

Alyssa:
This small herd grew to hundreds, and eventually numbered 1,000.

A group of bison walking through the grass, the river in the background. Another group of perhaps two dozen bison feeding in a grassy field with wildflowers.

They became the nation's trust of free-roaming wild bison.

A group cow bison close up, a calf walking along side its mother.

The animals were taken to Canada and Yellowstone, and helped bring buffalo back to the landscape.

More bison, some with calves, feeding on a hillside above a large river flowing in the distance.

Johnny Arlee:
The buffalo were strong. They've survived for all these years. And so have we, we're still going. You guys are young, young people here are gonna, got a lot of things to look and research your background, to be proud of who you are, to tell your children the good news,

Johnny talking to Alyssa and Rylee.

that you was up here close to the buffalo, that we sang a song for him, to honor him, for his many years yet to come.

A cow bison licking her calf. Other bison graze nearby.

For our children, for our great-great-grandchildren, and generations yet to come. That they'll still have beauty around them.

Johnny talking to Alyssa and Rylee.

Alyssa:
I've learned that buffalo are survivors. They have been here since long before the last Ice Age.

A large bull bison rolls in the dirt, sending up a cloud of dust that is carried away by the wind.

During that time, they saw all kinds of changes, and they survived.

Camera pans out to show many bison scattered across the landscape.

Now the earth is changing again.

The tops of several teepees with the sun behind them, the teepee poles reaching high into the sky. Scene changes.

The climate is changing, but we are resilient Native people.

Alyssa stands near a teepee. She is dressed in a fine beaded dress and holds a fan of white feathers and a beaded purse.

We know how to take care of the Earth, how to give back, and we know how to adapt when the Earth does change.

She walks forward a confident, subtle smile on her face.

Rylee:
So like my Sx̣epeʔ, I am hopeful too.

The camera is looking up at Johnny, the sun shining behind him. He is looking out across the landscape and has a broad smile on his face.

(soft instrumental music)

(buffalo snorting)

The following credits in white text over a black background:
SKCLivingLandscapes.org
Project Partners
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
Salish Kootenai College
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
FEATURING
in order of appearance
Johnny Arlee
Rylee Arlee
Alyssa Pretty On Top
With Special Thanks to Johnny Arlee
A STORY ROAD FILMS PRODUCTION
By Justin Lubke
Produced by
Germaine White and David Rockwell
Music By
Kyle Sorenson