When Debra D’Angelo left for Paris last week, she lugged a suitcase full of fish.

A founding member of Salmon is Life-Bainbridge, D’Angelo had been tasked with distributing salmon-decorated lanterns to hundreds of dancers for the COP21 demonstration scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 12.

Three hundred and fifty silk batik sockeyes would swim through the streets to deliver a simple message: take a stand for salmon.

Each was a labor of love, taking seven hours to complete. Members of Bainbridge Island Watershed Council, Arts and Humanities Bainbridge and Earth Art Bainbridge hand-painted 80 of them back in November, and others poured in from Oregon and elsewhere in Washington.

D’Angelo’s friend Denise Henrikson, a community artist, is the one who envisioned the massive display.

“Standing for salmon is standing for nature,” explained Henrikson. “Wild salmon indicate healthy forests and streams. When waterways can no longer support salmon, nature’s ability to continue supporting any life there is also at risk. People all over the world are already suffering the terrible consequences of climate change, but together we can turn this around.”

That was the plan, anyway, as dignitaries gathered for the United Nations convention on climate change, seeking a new international agreement to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius.

“The idea is to show salmon in their full form and full beauty, with a full vision of what’s possible,” D’Angelo added.

But then the terrorist attacks happened, and everything changed.

Public demonstrations were canceled; the city was in a state of emergency; some friends in the activist community were even put on house arrest.

D’Angelo wondered whether she should still go. She spent many sleepless nights sick to her stomach with worry. Everything was up in the air; she no longer had the French government’s permission to protest.

But when D’Angelo looked to her traveling companion, a member of the Lummi Nation, she knew she couldn’t waver.

“Indigenous people all around the globe depend on salmon for their sustenance,” D’Angelo explained.

“I don’t want to be pepper-sprayed; I don’t want to feel a strong police presence. But if that’s what it’s like to be an indigenous person, impacted by these climate issues, I’m willing to get uncomfortable.

“I’m not saying that like a hero or a martyr; there are a lot of people who step into it everyday. It’s the reality of what it’s going to take to make change.”

D’Angelo said her daughter Chiara, famous for the Visconsi tree-sitting protest, is the one who encouraged her to connect with the Lummi Nation over this issue.

“When you’re an activist, you’re always looking at the indigenous and checking in with the tribes because you’re on borrowed land,” she explained. “That’s how Chiara’s taught me and that’s how I do it.”

With public demonstrations canceled, D’Angelo had to scrap her plans and look for new opportunities to bring out the salmon without crossing any lines or causing disruption.

Throughout the week, she found her place alongside her Lummi friends — down the Seine; at the Eiffel tower; at a 500-year-old chateau. She used the lanterns to “amplify the lonely voice” and to draw attention to the indigenous gatherings.

An important one took place on Dec. 6, as delegates from the Northern Washington tribe delivered a proclamation to restore natural animal populations throughout the region to more than 50 percent of their historic levels.

D’Angelo was there, offering her support, along with native storyteller and flutist Paul Cheoketen Wagner.

The flute and fish are a powerful combination, she said.

“When the salmon parade, especially at night, and Paul’s flute guides our steps, something magical happens. A deep connection and inspiration unfolds!”

On Sunday, D’Angelo will wrap up her work and begin her journey home, bringing 20 of the lanterns. Back on Bainbridge, she hopes they’ll continue to work their magic as they find their way into local events.