Changing Course: A River’s Journey of Reconnection – Full Documentary

The 2000-kilometre Columbia River flows through the heart of the Pacific Northwest, beginning its journey in British Columbia’s Rocky Mountains and emptying into the Pacific Ocean in Oregon. This transboundary river is critically important for its cultural, social, economic, and ecological values. Telling the story of this majestic river, Changing Course offers a deep sense of the importance of freshwater management—and the complexities added when a river flows across human-defined borders.

The film explores the degradation of what was once one of the most productive salmon rivers in the world. It looks at the dams and storages that eliminated wild salmon from the main stem of the river in Canada, and how this loss cut the heart out of Indigenous culture throughout the basin. The film also touches on the Columbia River Treaty, which came into force between Canada and the United States in 1964. At the time, it had a very narrow focus on flood control and hydropower. Sixty years later, however, new thinking is needed to ensure a sustainable future for this important river.

In Changing Course, leading voices from Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities eloquently express the need for new approaches to water management and governance that are more connected to nature, account for climate change, and meaningfully include First Nations leadership.

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