WE BELONG TO THE LAND
NIMÍIPUU MEANS
THE PEOPLE
NIMÍIPUU PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT carries forward the responsibilities of our people across the lands & waters our treaties protect. Salmon, roots, berries and other First Foods have sustained Nimíipuu people for thousands of years. Our treaties guarantee access to these foods and the lands and waters where they grow, but those rights are constantly challenged. Our work reaches beyond reservation boundaries and tribal lines, reflecting how Nimiipuu people have always lived and moved across this land.
We are guided by knowledge passed down across generations and by the responsibility to make sure that knowledge doesn’t stop with us. Youth learn directly from elders through canoe work, gardens, and hands-on cultural programs that respect & revitalize traditional knowledge. We work closely with youth, because this is their future to inherit, and alongside other Tribes and communities, because these responsibilities do not exist in isolation.
Nimíipuu Protecting the Environment grew from real struggles - from industrial threats on Nimíipuu homelands & traditional territories to showing up for the salmon, wolves, and landscapes that shape our lives. Today, the work spans from defending treaty‑protected areas and pushing for things like breaching the lower Snake River dams to working alongside elders, youth and community members promoting gardening, food security and Nimíipuu foodways or reviving canoe culture, river skills and traditional practices.
Nimíipuu Protecting the Environment is about staying in relationship with our rivers, our foods, our treaties and each other - defending salmon, protecting wildlife, reclaiming buffalo, restoring rivers, maintaining gathering grounds for roots, berries and game. Our work is not about preservation alone; it is about living, moving and caring as Nimíipuu in our lands today. At its core, our work is about keeping treaties alive by living them. Guided by elders and strengthened by youth, NIMÍIPUU PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT is a voice for our lands, our waters and our futures.
WE ARE NIMÍIPUU PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT
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JULIAN F. MATTHEWS
Board Member & Executive Director
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DOROTHY SHERWOOD
President of the Board of Directors
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SHANNY SPANG GION
Board Member
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KASSANDRA TOWNSEND
Board Member
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BECKY WITINOK-HUBER
Board Member
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EMMA CARSCALLEN
Board Member
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ALEXANDRA KOUBEK
Garden & Orchard Project Manager
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HERMOSA OTERO
Administrative Assistant
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JIM JAMESON
Master Carver
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LUCINDA SIMPSON
Cultural Advisor
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DAVID & AK SCOTT
Cultural Advisors
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SPECIAL THANKS FOR
Nez Perce Circle of Elders
ALL RELATIONS
All People have an inherent right to protect and live well with the natural world. We affirm everyone's right to social and economic progress, especially bringing disenfranchised groups and individuals must be brought into the fold to realize their dreams. We do not discriminate against any individual based on any perceived difference but welcome all from whatever segment of society, socio-economic level or cultural background. We believe that as a group we can create positive change for our People and our neighbors. By educating youth, community and allies on environmental threats to Mother Earth, we ensure a strong future for coming generations.
WORK WE CARRY
The earth is part of my body; I belong to the land out of which I came. The earth is my mother.
~ Too-hool-hool-zute
PROTECT MOTHER EARTH
Treaties are a written testament of our relationship with the environment and our way of life and how that sustains itself – whether hunting, fishing or gathering. Our spirituality is directly connected to our environment, our Earth, our Mother.
Creator made this world for us to take care of, not for corporations to exploit. It’s a part of us.
We’re all connected - all lives, the air, the water, land…You can't diminish one and not affect the others.
Nimíipuu Protecting the Environment protects Treaty Rights because our treaties protect the rights of Mother Earth.
WE ARE SALMON PEOPLE
What happens to the salmon, happens to us.
We need to breach the dams to restore the Snake River. This is not just for our future. This is for our entire planet.
PROTECT SACRED RELATIVES
EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED
A long time ago, there was a sacred promise made to the salmon people. And that is that we would take care of them as long as they took care of us. And they have never broke their promise.
Our duty as indigenous people is to speak for the salmon on their behalf.
Whether it’s over-trapping beaver, decimating buffalo, overfishing or the dams…when you take away one part, you can't have the whole.
We need clean, running, cold water to survive. Just like the salmon and steelhead.
Whatever happens to the salmon happens to us. We're intimately connected with salmon in the rivers.
OUR FUTURE IS INDIGENOUS
It’s About Respect for the Earth
We protect our lands and waters - we preserve our plants, roots, wolves, grizzly bears, everything…because they're all connected - connected to the fish that make that wheel go around in Our Life.
OUR TREATIES PROTECT MOTHER EARTH & OUR PEOPLE
If you look at animals or plants as spiritual beings, that will give you a different perspective on how you treat them.
Just like those treaty signers, we want to make sure that we protect those treaty rights for future generations.
We organize and host events to protect us from threats to our treaty rights and sacred lands and to educate and engage the public.
Everything is connected from the smallest animal to the largest animal. We're all important, and we all play a key part of getting these dams removed.
The rights of nature are at stake. And we're counting on all of you to stand with us when it comes to defending these rights.
We’re dealing with the end product of over-extraction. Whether it’s decimating beaver, buffalo, grizzlies, wolves or salmon, when you take away one part, you can't have the whole.
Dam removal is important for not only indigenous lives, but for all lives. All of us depend on rivers, free flowing rivers.
This is not just for our future. This is for our entire planet.
Our hope is a better future for our grandchildren and generations to come.
We’re counting on all of you to stand with us to make a difference.
NIMÍIPUU MEANS THE PEOPLE
FREE THE SNAKE RIVER
We are Nimíipuu, the People of this land, and Protecting the Environment is our shared commitment.
Our life force is that fire from the generations before - is that treaty that lets us rise as young people.
We are part of the salmon. They have helped us. They've nurtured us.
We are a voice for the land, water and circle of life.
The more that we speak up for the salmon and for all creatures - the butterflies, whatever it is, we can't go wrong.