Salmon Journeys

Sawalmem

Salmon Journeys

A mixed-reality game to restore rivers, fund Indigenous-led restoration, and re-awaken spiritual and ecological consciousness.

Redding, CA, USA

USA

Nonprofit

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We are addressing the collapse of ecosystems, Indigenous cultures, and spiritual knowledge—all deeply intertwined and facing erasure. In our community, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, we’ve been displaced from our homelands, our sacred river blocked by Shasta Dam, and our salmon relatives nearly extinct. We are federally unrecognized and lack the land and funding necessary for full cultural and ecological restoration. Globally, Indigenous Peoples steward 80% of Earth’s biodiversity, yet we are systemically excluded from education, funding, and climate solutions. Our songs, ceremonies, and traditional ecological knowledge are disappearing, and our youth are disconnected from both land and identity. Meanwhile, digital spaces and games rarely represent us authentically. We are solving this by building our own platform: a mixed reality game rooted in Indigenous story, ceremonial odes, and restoration. It uses immersive technology, NFTs, and digital economies to fund real-world restoration and cultural resurgence. By turning gameplay into land care and spiritual experience, we are creating a new economy and a new way to teach the world—and ourselves—how to remember what it means to be human. This is not just a game; it’s a tool for survival, truth-telling, and restoring balance between people, place, and spirit.

Our solution is a mixed reality video game called Salmon Journeys, which uses immersive technology to fund and inspire real-world environmental and cultural restoration. Players embody a salmon born in the McCloud River, facing physical and spiritual dangers as they journey through Indigenous homelands, urban waterways, and ocean ecosystems. Along the way, they interact with Indigenous guides, witness and take part in virtual “prayers,” and earn NFTs and digital tokens for completing restoration quests. These in-game actions are tied to tangible outcomes—NFTs fund sacred site protection, salmon restoration, and Indigenous landback efforts. The game uses a combination of AI-driven storytelling, blockchain for transparency and ownership, and MR/AR to link players with places along the river, some of them sacred,—both virtually and physically. By blending Indigenous knowledge, gameplay, and real-world impact, our solution builds a regenerative digital economy. It redefines how games can teach, heal, and fund the world back into balance. The game’s economy is based on reciprocity, where value flows to what restores life. It’s more than a game—it’s a cultural transmission system, a ceremonial tech platform, and a new path forward that transforms storytelling into strategy for re-flourishing the land.

Our solution primarily serves the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, the Chinook salmon, and other tribes of the McCloud and Sacramento Rivers in Northern California. These rivers and species are vital to our culture, identity, and ceremonies, but have been devastated by dams and ecological destruction. Our aim is to restore the salmon, protect sacred sites, and empower Indigenous peoples to lead these efforts. The solution also uplifts global Indigenous communities beginning with the Māori of Aotearoa (New Zealand), who now care for McCloud River salmon, and are restoring their own sacred species like the longfin eel. We also stand with Mauna Kea protectors in Hawai‘i and the Ainu of Japan—all connected through sacred mountains and salmon cosmologies. Our mixed reality game helps these communities share their stories, uphold ceremony, and access new forms of funding through NFTs and digital tokens. It builds an Indigenous-led ecosystem for cultural survival, youth engagement, and ecological restoration. By blending ancient knowledge with modern technology, we support communities in healing their waters, lands, and people—while offering the world a powerful and playful pathway toward reciprocity, spiritual responsibility, and climate action.