Dune (Eyak Athabaskan) will portray the ongoing battle to protect the natural salmon ecosystem and indigenous cultural landscape against an onslaught of corporate resource extraction. His mission is to preserve, restore and celebrate wild salmon culture and habitat through awareness, education and the promotion of sustainable livelihoods within the communities of the Copper River and Prince William Sound watersheds of Alaska. His work ensures that the salmon will continue to return to their birthplace and nurture the ecosystems of which they are a fundamentally important species. Essential to local economic sustainability is bioregional conservation, and his little corner of the world is a microcosm baseline model for the planet. This is one of the last wild places on planet earth where we still have a chance to get it right, by leaving it alone- wild and thriving.

This speech took place at the 2012 Indigenous Forum, co-produced with the Cultural Conservatory, at the Bioneers National Conference.