Undamming the Elwha River

For the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, the Elwha River is life. However, since the river was dammed, the community has been greatly affected. The dams on the Elwha River demonstrate how such infrastructures serve to reinforce and structure inequality.

The Community Dynamics of Source Water Protection: The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe

I report here on an environmental anthropology fellowship project that examined how Native American land use issues effect the ability of local tribal communities to adopt Source Water Assessment and Protection programs. My fellowship work was sponsored by the Community Development office of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe in Port Angeles, Washington. Project goals and activities were designed through a collaborative process involving the Elwha Klallam Tribe, EPA sponsors, and SfAA mentors, and included an ethnographic assessment of current Source Water Protection practices in the Elwha community, as well as a comprehensive analysis of how this local phenomena is shaped by policies and political trends at the national level. Key concerns included the status of land use planning, and how land use affects tribal and federal oversight of tribal source water protection programs.