Under Solen Media

“I think when you include native communities who have managed these lands, since time immemorial, you're going to come across systems that have been proven to be successful. There was a time where we were living with the salmon as equals and even more so where we considered them to be more important than human beings. I think just having that space and even making some elbow space for native communities to speak and let you know what is important to them, is really a good way to start moving toward meaningful change.” - Jessica Matsaw, @river.newe From our friends at @nrdc_org : In case you missed the LIVE conversation with Jessica & Sammy Matsaw on January 15th, @nrdc_org pulled some of the highlights for you 💕 You can watch the full film, River of Return, and support @jessicamatsaw and @smatsaw ’s work to reconnect Indigenous youth with their ancestral lands and waters at /. And make sure to follow @river.newe . Since this conversation, a historic proposal has been put forward to restore the Snake River and build a new vision for the Northwest. You can take action to support a collaborative process to help wild salmon populations, protect endangered orcas, and honor commitments to Northwest Tribes by urging Congress to work together on legislation now: /TheSnakeRiver #RiverOfReturn #RiverNewe

Big news from our home state today! ✨✨✨Oregon senators @RonWyden & @SenJeffMerkley introduced landmark legislation to protect 4700+ miles of #OurOregonRivers in the River Democracy Act of 2021.✨✨✨ This legislation is a direct result of a nomination process where Oregonians recommended their favorite rivers for permanent protection. Senator Wyden’s office received over 15,000 nominations for thousands of miles of rivers from residents across the state, showing both the key role these rivers play in our communities and the strong local support for protecting them for the benefit of future generations. Democracy works. Local buy-in works. We're so humbled and honored to get to work with you all. Let's pass this thing! The #RiverDemocracyAct of 2021 is a testament to Oregonians’ commitment to conservation, healthy living, and outdoor recreation. Please like, share, and follow @OurOregonRivers . And no matter what state you live in, please give a thanks to our kick-ass Oregon senators @RonWyden & @SenJeffMerkley ! 🙏🏽🌊 #WildAndScenicOregon

Together, we are #NorthwestStrong. From the heart of the Tetons to the Lower Snake winding through the Palouse, and the mighty Columbia to the Pacific, we don’t just live in the Pacific Northwest—we are the Pacific Northwest. So proud of this project with @americanrivers @river.newe @nimiipuuprotectingenvironment @friendsofthetetonriver @nrsweb @nsiafishing @fishtheswing , Lucii Simpson and Amy Grondin. When it comes right down to it, we all have a whole lot more in common than not. We’re excited to do big things with y’all. Join us at the link in bio and let’s get to work.

“The salmon holds so much power. It’s medicine. And there’s the high respect of what that salmon had to go through to be here. Again, that is a reflection of our people.” - Jessica Matsaw, Shoshone-Bannock (Tukadeka/Agaideka) of River Newe Join us TODAY January 15th at 4pm PT for a screening of River of Return, a love story told through the lens of one couple’s journey to reconnect Shoshone-Bannock tribal youth to their ancestral homelands while whitewater rafting. The film will be followed by a conversation with @river.newe ’s founders @smatsaw and @jessicamatsaw and @nrdc_org ’s Giulia Good Stefani. ✨ Registration is required to join the event. RSVP LINK IN BIO. See you there! ✨ #riverofreturn #rivernewe

“Those salmon are our knowledge system. They are our Socrates, our Plato, our Aristotle. And they’re still teaching us today. But they are going extinct. It’s just heartbreaking….It’s not just an animal, it’s not just a fish. There’s a whole people and culture that can be lost.” Dr. Sammy Matsaw in this powerful NRDC post. We continue to be deeply humbled and honored to work with @smatsaw @jessicamatsaw and our colleagues at @nrdc_org to bring about the largest river restoration in history — and most importantly, right historic wrongs and chart a path toward healing and justice. “All of the personal traumas Jessica and I have been through, and all of the traumas our people are going through, that is the definition of perseverance. They’ve been trying to tear us down, tear us down. But we’re still here. We’re not extinct yet. And we won’t go down without a fight.” Read the full story at the link in @nrdc_org bio and follow @river.newe to join the fight. With you. 🌊🌊🌊 Video from @smatsaw + @jessicamatsaw ’s film, #RiverOfReturn, a love story about the power of hope, perseverance and healing. Made by @skiparmstrong @nrsweb @americanrivers .

This election like so many events of this year have shown us that we've got a lot of work to do. But today, let's celebrate the wins along the way and let them fuel our fight ahead. ✔️We showed up. We broke a 120-year record on voter turnout. More people voted for @joebiden for president than ever before. #CountEveryVote ✔️ @sarahemcbride is the nation’s first-ever openly trans state senator.  ✔️ @coribush is Missouri’s first-ever Black Congresswoman. ✔️ The Northern Cheyenne Nation elected women to all open seats on their Tribal Council for the first time in history.  ✔️ @maureeturnerok is the first Muslim person to serve in Oklahoma's state legislature and the first openly non-binary state lawmaker in America. ✔️ @kimforgeorgia is Georgia's first openly LGBTQ+ state senator. ✔️ @taylorsmallvt is Vermont's first openly transgender lawmaker.  ✔️ A record number of women will serve in the 117th U.S. Congress, including a record number of Native American women— @repdebhaaland @repdavids @yvetteherrell2020 . ✔️ All members of “The Squad”— @aoc @ayannapressley @ilhanmn @rashidatlaib —won re-election. ✔️ Mississippi voters struck down a Jim Crow-era law designed to dilute Black votes, and replaced the state’s Confederate-themed flag with a magnolia flower. ✔️ In every state—Arizona, Montana, Mississippi, New Jersey, Oregon, South Dakota and Washington, DC—where marijuana legalization or another drug policy reform was on the ballot, it won. Oregon became the first state in the US in modern times to decriminalize all drugs. To name a few... Keep going. Here comes the sun. 🌞 #undersolen #usfaves #whenweallvote #votesaveamerica #iamavoter #iwillvote #bidenharris2020

"And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can." @BarackObama Who out there has been volunteering to get out the vote this week? Thank you! It's different this year, right? We're not knocking doors or driving people to polls or crammed into HQ next to our friends. Our sense of camaraderie is in the physically distant shared hunger for connection, hope and decency. It's in recognizing that there is an actual human on the other end of the line who is lonely and longing to talk to someone. Sure, some people opt out or send an angry reply, but what's coming through in full force is our common humanity. I have found myself celebrating with people, talking to them about what they're making for dinner, holding the line as they share how tired they are, and exclaiming as so many agree with me, "I can't wait to hug again!" It's the woman who is taking care of her husband with Parkinson's, but still made time to drive the bag boy at the grocery store to vote this week. It's the man who felt like his vote didn't matter, but after talking about those fears and my own for awhile, he made a plan to vote this weekend. It's the college student who wrote in all caps that this was her FIRST TIME VOTING. It's the woman who is going through chemo and phone banking between treatments because this election is too important to sit out, and who signed off, "Thank you. It's healing just to be seen by you and your friends." And just as I wrote to her, I write to you: I believe in you. I believe in us. We've got this—together. If you haven't voted, please vote. If you have, please sign up to volunteer. Go to @votesaveamerica or message us and we can work it out together. We've got you. We need you. Let's do this. With all the love and good stuff, @emilynuchols and the Under Solen Team.🌞 #undersolen #usfaves #votesaveamerica #whenweallvote #iamavoter Dream team photo of me with some of my favorite humans @burnyourart @justinclifton @krystlejwright 💛

Part 3/3 addressing this Q: When you’re creating an environmental protection campaign that involves polarized communities, how do you create a message that avoids stress and further polarization? Remember: before you're a conservation advocate or a grassroots organizer or a policy expert, you're a human being. Facts don't change people's minds. Emotions do. We're human beings first. Good things to remember while phone, text and friend banking in these final days. Thank you for doing the important work out there. #undersolen #homefiresessions

Part 2/3 addressing this Q: When you’re creating an environmental protection campaign that involves polarized communities, how do you create a message that avoids stress and further polarization? As @brenebrown says: "Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind." Simple. Powerful. Swipe for our advice on getting specific. Thank you for doing the important work out there. It's seen and appreciated. Have a question? Submit yours at the link in our bio! Please know that even if we don’t answer yours right away, we’re bringing you advice and tips on a rolling basis and you may see your question addressed in the coming weeks. 🌞 #undersolen #homefiresessions

"I don’t want to be recognized for being the first kid to make a paddle in one hundred years, I want to be recognized for bringing back a way of life." — Devin Reuben Meet the Nimiipuu canoe carvers, a group of people who are bringing back a way of life that was taken from them more than 100 years ago. Until now... Two years ago, Julian Matthews, Lucii Simpson, Louis and Devin Reuben and their community returned a traditional Nimiipuu canoe to their home waters for the first time in generations. Their sense of place and belonging goes beyond sentiment. It’s in their DNA. Since time immemorial, the Nimiipuu navigated the waters of the Selway, the Lochsa, the Clearwater, the Salmon, the Snake and the Columbia in their dugout canoes. As they peeled back the layers of the log to reveal the canoe’s shape, the carvers resurfaced wisdom lost and discovered a new source of hope for the future. Congratulations to the team for screening A Healing Journey at @portlandfilm this week. Watch it at nimiipuuprotecting.org and make sure to follow @nimiipuuprotectingenvironment and support their important work if you can. Happy Friday! #usfaves #undersolen #pdx

Monday was #IndigenousPeoplesDay, an opportunity to honor our nation’s indigenous people, to learn and to listen. Here in Portland, Oregon we live in the territory of the Chinook, Cowlitz and Clackamas. And given the rivers, salmon and trade routes here, it’s hard to count or overstate the connections to many additional tribes across the region who have been a part of this landscape for time immemorial. We encourage everyone to educate themselves and others as a good first step toward becoming a stronger ally, but it's only a first step. Last year we talked with @alastairbitsoi , a writer and communications director for Utah Diné Bikéyah (@protectbearsears ), an organization that supports the five Tribes (Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, Ute Mountain Ute, and Uintah Ouray Ute) who are leading the call to protect the #BearsEars cultural landscape. Alastair urged us to think about land acknowledgement “as more than a Twitter trend”—meaning, it’s not just a box we can check to appear progressive. “We’ve got to go further and listen to the tribes,” he said. This week and every day, let's commit to educating ourselves and listening. Want to dig in with us? Here are a few books on our reading list: —> As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock by Dina Gilio-Whitaker @dinagiliowhitaker . —> An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz —> The Nez Perce Indians and the Opening of the Northwest by Alvin M. Josephy, Jr. —> Yellow Wolf: His Own Story by L.V. McWhorter #undersolen #homefiresessions #standwithbearsears

Listen. Learn. Respect. Uplift. It's Indigenous Peoples’ Day and you can start by reading these powerful words from @mrslittleaf and @littleleafguides : "Need to recognize this day as it should be. Our people are not in our state of origin, but we are still here. #StrongResilientIndigenous Working with what the government gave us, the little slice 640,000 acres Warmsprings reservation and ceded lands to fish hunt harvest our first food's. To continue to live our way of life. None would be possible without water 💧 #waterislife Hence why we are so vocal about our natural resources. Why we advocate, donate , volunteer, speak publicly, podcasts, articles, or rally opposed threats to our way of life. Being a voice for our first food's is essential, like our ancestors have done since time immemorial! ✊🏽🧡✊🏽 Our treaty was established 1855 a year before Oregon became a state. Our Wasco people are descendants of the Chinookins' from the Astoria Oregon area. Can only imagine how life would be with unlimited bounty of salmon. Thriving living where we are originally from." Humbled and honored to work alongside @littleleafguides @nimiipuuprotectingenvironment @river.newe . Please give them a follow and support their incredible work. Photos 1: @mrslittleaf @littleleafguides Photo 2: Standing with @dabventuresoflou and @nimiipuuprotectingenvironment to free the Snake River, honor the treaties, recover wild salmon and return access to ancestral homelands. 📍Nimiipuu and Palouse homelands. Photo 3: @smatsaw and @jessicamatsaw of @river.newe running through the heart of their homelands on the Middle Fork Salmon in their film, River of Return.📍Shoshone-Bannock and Nimiipuu homelands. #indigenouspeoplesday #honorthetreaties