In this Oct. 19, 2016, file photo, a chinook salmon, below, and a steelhead, above, move through the fish ladder at the Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River in Washington state. Credit: Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review via AP

A free documentary screening and panel discussion in Bangor on Thursday night will tell the story of the Nez Perce Tribe’s decades of efforts to preserve the Chinook salmon as dams are built along Idaho’s Snake River.

“Covenant of the Salmon People” centers on the question of whether the federal government will breach four dams on the river to increase salmon population. The Nez Perce, one of the oldest known civilizations in North America, describe an ancient promise to protect the fish.

The film “explores the intertwined fate” of the people, the salmon and the land they evolved from.

Locally, the Wabanaki Alliance and Penobscot Nation are partnering to present the film Thursday night with conservation organizations. 

Doors open at 6 p.m. and the movie begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Gracie Theatre at Husson University. A panel discussion will follow. Free tickets can be reserved at sierraclub.org/maine/events.

Elizabeth Walztoni covers news in Hancock County and writes for the homestead section. She was previously a reporter at the Lincoln County News.

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