Water sustains all life on earth, and we need to respect and protect it. Jamie Dixon (Mus-Swiya), a Shishalh Nation elder, tells Clarissa and Wilfred about their traditional soup made with fish eggs and how important salmon is to his people. At the salmon fish hatchery David Burnett explains how they help increase the salmon population, and the questers get to release some smolts, young salmon ready to swim to sea. 

In an animated story, ‘Sally the Salmon”, heads upstream to spawn. Kai created a diorama to demonstrate how waters can become polluted. 

Dr. Leroy Littlebear describes native science as the search for knowledge in the natural world, having curiosity, and learning about the ecological relationships between living things. In the kitchen of Dionne Paul we see how traditional medicine plants can be added to jams.

Chickasaw Nation astronaut, John Herrington, explains that fish are important in indigenous life, and one traditional fishing technique developed was fishing weirs, fence like structures that were used to catch salmon at the mouth of rivers.
Biologist Kyle Bobiwash from Mississauga First Nation stresses the importance of bee pollination and biodiversity to agriculture and plant growth. And the key word in Coyote’s riddle was “Anadromous”, fish that mature in the sea then migrating up rivers to lay their eggs.

COYOTE’S CRAZY SMART SCIENCE SHOW (Coyote Science) is a fun, educational science series designed for elementary students. Drawing on wisdom from pioneers in Indigenous education, including Dr. Leroy Little Bear, Amethyst First Rider, and Dr. Lorna Williams, Coyote Science bridges the worlds of Indigenous and Western science, teaching kids scientific concepts through discussions with Indigenous scientists, storytelling, animation, music, and experiments.

BIO: Created by Loretta Todd, a Métis–Cree filmmaker who was one of the first Indigenous women to pursue film studies at Simon Fraser University in BC. Loretta is an amateur science geek who always wanted to inspire Indigenous children and youth to learn more about science, especially Indigenous science. Using her creative skills as a creative, L. S. Todd is an internationally acclaimed, award-winning filmmaker known for powerful, visual storytelling and cultural leadership.