0:05

Hey everyone,

0:07

this is Georgia Wright. I'm one of the co-creators

0:09

of Inherited. Inherited is on

0:12

hiatus right now, but today we wanted to share

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some beautiful climate storytelling from our friends

0:16

at Wonder Media Network. Their show,

0:18

As She Rises, brings together local poets

0:20

and activists throughout North America to

0:23

depict the effects of climate change on their home

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and communities. Today, you'll

0:27

hear an intimate genre blending episode

0:30

from As She Rises' latest season.

0:32

Enjoy!

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1:02

Sacred Water One

1:09

We inherit Every

1:11

gathering pool a blessing Formed

1:15

by careful hands Each

1:17

monsoon a heartbeat Turquoise

1:20

vein

1:22

The sound of underwater Brimmed

1:25

with mosses Here

1:27

laps the quiet tide of

1:33

Two In

1:36

the summers We would flock

1:39

to my great aunt's swimming hole

1:41

Down the canyon Dizzy

1:44

from the jumbled journey in a truck bed Poke

1:48

at the tadpoles squirming in the

1:50

red clay My

1:52

mother watched from orchard shade

1:56

She had been down here many years before

1:59

with her sister

1:59

her brothers picking

2:02

apples, following the bend

2:05

of the river, leading the

2:07

goats to the wayside to

2:09

drink.

2:11

Now the water zooms

2:14

with calm in your uranium.

2:17

We trace the mud with our eyes,

2:19

watch the petroglyphs stretch

2:22

in the shadows, miss the

2:24

feeling of the sun, wicking

2:26

river from her skin.

2:32

In 1956,

2:37

the Glen Canyon Dam began construction

2:40

with an explosion. It

2:46

was hit with a demolition blast keyed

2:49

by the push of a button in the

2:51

oval office, the bottom of the canyon,

2:54

dotted by Navajo,

2:55

Ute, Paiute footprints,

2:58

still pooling. The explosion,

3:01

a scar in the earth, still

3:03

aching with uranium mime, yellow

3:06

cake, yellow corn, tumbled

3:09

in the runoff, what do you call

3:11

infestral homestead, stopped

3:14

like a kitchen sink. The water

3:16

of your people redirected to ranches,

3:19

fattened cattle that render the sand wan

3:22

undrinkable, quenched the white

3:24

men in bars that don't admit indians,

3:27

water and mineral, packed into

3:29

bombshells. How do you drown

3:32

by your own artery? Today the

3:34

lake has never been shallower,

3:35

a drought of its own becoming,

3:38

not even time to weep

3:40

before the crossing, before

3:42

the fleeing marina of familiar

3:44

fossils, zebra mussels scour

3:47

the bones of old adobe stilled

3:50

beneath the surface. The

3:52

ancient sun rendered closer every

3:55

day as the ranchers

3:57

lament the withering. The

4:00

tourists, sticky with thin,

4:02

docked their houseboats. The

4:05

people who have known this land

4:08

see the slick rock

4:10

still emerging. Four.

4:18

In the third world,

4:21

Coyote took the water monster's

4:23

baby. So the water monster

4:26

decided to make it rain endlessly.

4:30

The water rose and flooded

4:33

and choked the peaks of sacred mountains.

4:37

The beings that lived there did not

4:39

know where to escape the flood. What

4:42

saved the world was a reed

4:45

curling into the sky, a way

4:47

to climb out into a fourth

4:50

world. There

4:54

were things

4:55

that remained stolen.

4:59

That holy people weeped for.

5:02

And others looked to us with upturned

5:04

hands, asked where the reeds

5:07

come from, flee to

5:09

the highest peaks, dream of

5:11

another world they can scurry

5:13

into. Through a wound in the

5:15

sky they created, we

5:18

have no answer for them.

5:21

We have known this the entire

5:24

time.

5:25

Tell our stories,

5:27

go to the water, tend

5:30

this land, and remember.

5:44

In 1956, President Eisenhower

5:47

pressed a button in Washington, D.C.

5:50

An instant later, 2,000 miles

5:53

away in the southwestern American

5:55

desert, an explosion shook

5:58

the air. The

6:01

explosion was in Glen

6:02

Canyon, a ravine

6:04

located near the border of Utah

6:06

and Arizona. Like

6:08

the Grand Canyon, Glen Canyon

6:11

was carved out by the Colorado

6:13

River. Centuries ago, the

6:15

ancestral pueblans grew crops

6:17

at the bottom of the canyon.

6:20

They would chisel footholds into the

6:22

nearly vertical sandstone walls to

6:24

climb up and down. The

6:26

canyon's red rock holds a whole

6:29

people's history. But

6:31

for nearly half a century, Glen

6:34

Canyon's walls have been hidden from

6:36

sight. That's

6:38

because that day, in 1956, Eisenhower's

6:42

explosion kicked off the construction

6:44

of the Glen Canyon Dam. The

6:47

dam worked like a kitchen sink stopper,

6:49

preventing the Colorado River from flowing

6:52

through Glen Canyon. Eventually,

6:55

the entirety of Glen Canyon was

6:57

submerged underwater. An

6:59

entire desert ecosystem

7:01

drowned. The body of

7:03

water the dam created was named Lake

7:06

Powell.

7:10

The poem you heard at the top of the episode,

7:13

called After Sacred Water, is

7:15

about Lake Powell and the canyon it covers.

7:18

It was written and read by Kinsel Drake,

7:21

a Dene poet who used to spend summers

7:23

with her family by Lake Powell. Like

7:28

the canyon it covers, Lake Powell is

7:31

long and thin. It

7:33

snakes through the red desert running southwest

7:35

through Utah, ending at the top

7:38

of Arizona, curving in concert

7:40

with the huge sandstone walls that

7:42

hem it in. From

7:45

above, it looks like a human artery.

7:48

From the inside, it's idyllic. The

7:51

water is crystalline. Every

7:54

year, millions of people flock to the lake

7:57

to fish, canoe, and hike. If

8:00

you decide to take a swim in the lake's waters

8:02

and look up, a couple hundred feet

8:04

above your head, you'll see a stark

8:06

white line running along the red sandstone

8:09

walls. Locals call

8:11

it the bathtub ring. The

8:14

bathtub ring marks where the lake's waters

8:16

used to sit. The line

8:19

is a visual reminder of the fact that

8:21

the lake is shrinking.

8:26

Right now, the American Southwest is in

8:28

a mega-drought, a regular drought

8:31

made way worse by the effects of climate

8:33

change. The longer this mega-drought

8:36

continues, the more water disappears

8:38

from the Colorado River.

8:40

Today, Lake Powell is around a

8:43

fifth of its original size. Pools

8:45

that used to be deep enough to dive into

8:48

have turned into puddles of mud.

8:51

The water that American policymakers

8:53

have been trying to control for decades

8:55

is slipping out of grass. And

8:58

as water disappears, the forgotten

9:00

canyon beneath re-emerges. And

9:05

as the drowned ancestral footholds slowly

9:07

come back into view, we're pushed to

9:09

remember the stories of the people

9:11

who have lived in the Southwest for millennia

9:14

and ask, what

9:16

can we learn from them about how to restore

9:18

and renew our relationship with the water

9:21

we all depend on? I'm

9:24

Leah Thomas. I'm the founder of Intersectional

9:27

Environmentalist, an organization

9:29

dedicated to amplifying the voices

9:31

of communities of color fighting against

9:33

environmental injustice. And

9:36

I'll be your host for this season of As

9:38

She Rises. This

9:41

season, we're listening to stories of resilience

9:43

from the Colorado River basin. The

9:48

Colorado River is a vast and

9:50

powerful body of water. It's

9:53

the main source of water for 40 million

9:56

people living in the American Southwest.

9:59

And it connects in ways we don't often

10:01

realize. The river is responsible

10:04

for watering 90% of America's winter

10:07

vegetables. If you've eaten broccoli

10:09

or lettuce in the past few months, you

10:11

have the Colorado River to thank. And

10:14

now, it's in crisis. A

10:16

crisis we all have to contend with.

10:21

Today, we're starting our journey just

10:23

south of Lake Powell on Navajo

10:25

Nation, the homeland of our first

10:27

guest, Emma Robbins. The

10:32

sounds that I remember growing up specifically

10:35

are when it rained, and that sort of sound

10:37

when it hits the sand. And

10:40

I think where I

10:42

am today, it's raining, and it's something that always

10:44

transports me back to home, and it's related,

10:47

you know, not only to water, but our interaction

10:50

with land. My

10:53

name is Emma Robbins, and I am the

10:55

Executive Director of the Navajo

10:58

Water Project, and I

11:12

am the founder of the Chapter

11:14

House. I am originally

11:16

from the Navajo Nation, and I live

11:19

here on Tongva Land or in Los

11:21

Angeles. I always

11:23

say you can't be native or you can't

11:26

be indigenous and not have some sort of connection

11:28

to water. You

11:30

know, I can only speak for my own tribe, but

11:33

being a Dineh woman and growing up

11:35

traditional in our culture

11:37

and our beliefs, we're so tied

11:40

to our land and we're so tied to our

11:42

water. And that's something that you just

11:44

can't separate with who you are. The

11:48

Navajo Nation is the largest reservation

11:50

in the United States. If it

11:52

were a state, it'd be the 10th largest

11:55

in the country. The nation's

11:58

northwest border is partially

11:59

by the Colorado River.

12:02

There are many different communities within the

12:04

reservation. Some people live

12:06

in rural areas, others in more

12:08

urban areas, and each different

12:10

community has its own unique relationship

12:13

to water and land. Imma

12:17

grew up in Tuba City, the

12:19

largest community on Navajo Nation.

12:22

Tuba City has a pretty robust water

12:25

infrastructure, which means most

12:27

residents have access to running water.

12:30

But just 30 miles south in

12:32

Cameron, Arizona, that's not necessarily

12:34

the case. I

12:37

grew up with two sisters

12:40

and my parents and we were

12:42

very fortunate enough to have running

12:44

water and a flush toilet in our homes. And

12:47

on the weekends I would spend time with

12:50

my grandparents in Cameron

12:52

and that was a really special time for me.

12:55

They did not have running water, they

12:58

used an outhouse and you know

13:00

it wasn't really something that I thought about growing

13:03

up,

13:03

it being an issue. There

13:05

are so many people who are like myself who

13:08

would spend weekends with their grandparents or the evenings

13:11

and I think most of us

13:13

until we got older didn't realize that not

13:16

having access to running water was

13:18

a problem.

13:19

There are 30% of people on

13:21

the res who don't have access to clean running water

13:23

and so it's a big part of

13:26

everybody's lives. It's not like

13:28

there are the others who don't have water and there are

13:30

some who do, you're always intertwined in

13:32

that.

13:36

It's not a coincidence that so many

13:38

people who live in Navajo Nation

13:40

don't have running water. It's

13:42

a direct result of US government water

13:44

policy. Over a hundred

13:46

years ago the US created the Colorado

13:49

River Compact. The compact

13:51

was created at a time when colonial

13:53

settlers were moving west en masse

13:56

and everyone was trying to stake their claim

13:58

to the Colorado River's water. So

14:00

the government stepped in and drew

14:03

an invisible line through the middle of the river,

14:05

right around where it crosses from Utah

14:08

into Arizona. The states

14:10

above the line, Colorado, Utah,

14:13

New Mexico, and Wyoming, were called

14:15

the Upper Basin. The states

14:18

below the line, Arizona, California,

14:20

and Nevada, were called the Lower

14:22

Basin. The Upper and Lower

14:25

Basins were each allocated 7.5 million

14:27

acre feet of water

14:30

per year. That's enough water

14:32

to turn the state of Delaware into a 5

14:34

foot deep pool.

14:37

The Colorado River Compact had a huge

14:39

impact on how states treated the river. Lake

14:43

Powell was created in part to hold

14:45

all the water promised to the Upper and Lower

14:47

Basins, and today the compact

14:49

still governs how much water

14:51

each state gets.

14:54

But here's the problem. The people

14:56

indigenous to the land the Colorado River

14:59

runs through weren't included at all

15:02

in the compact's negotiations, and they

15:04

weren't included in the compact's allocations.

15:08

Over the years, the government has signed

15:10

a number of trees with the Navajo Nation,

15:12

promising certain amounts of water

15:15

and water infrastructure. But

15:17

as they struggle to reallocate water in

15:19

the face of drought, the government

15:21

still tends to leave indigenous communities

15:24

out of the conversation. Today, 29 Native

15:26

American tribes

15:29

in the Colorado River Basin technically

15:31

hold senior rights to 20% of the

15:34

water in the basin. But in

15:36

the Navajo Nation, land that

15:38

sits right up against the river, many

15:40

people still have no access to

15:42

clean running water. Here's

15:45

Emma.

15:46

I think first and foremost it's important

15:49

to know that this is a direct relation

15:51

to violation of treaty rights and

15:54

not respecting our sovereignty and the federal

15:56

government not following through with promises.

16:00

So that includes keeping

16:02

us so spread out from each other, not having infrastructure

16:05

like roads or systems that make it

16:07

easy to transport things. Lack

16:09

of funding is a really big thing for putting

16:12

in water lines. It's

16:14

something that also affects people who don't have

16:16

water is generally they don't have electricity

16:18

as well. And so seeing a lot of these elders

16:21

grow older and not have

16:23

running water in their home really played a big

16:25

part in the way that I thought about it. Because

16:28

you know Navajos really believe in caring

16:31

for the elderly and taking care

16:33

of those people who took care of us.

16:36

And so seeing them having to do things

16:38

like haul water or travel far distances,

16:42

it took a toll on them physically and

16:44

mentally and it took a lot of their

16:46

time. And so I think growing

16:48

up I always knew that I wanted to help change

16:50

that because I did want to help care

16:52

for our elders.

16:54

But Emma wasn't sure exactly

16:57

what that would look like until she

16:59

learned about a nonprofit spearheading

17:01

an exciting new project. We'll

17:04

be right back after a word from this episode's

17:06

partner.

17:19

Hello as she rises listeners.

17:22

I'm Mark Gold, director of water scarcity

17:24

solutions with NRDC. At

17:26

NRDC we use the power of science, policy,

17:29

law and people like you to confront

17:31

the climate crisis, protect public

17:33

health and safeguard nature. We

17:36

bring this approach to our work in protecting the Colorado

17:38

River basin. The seven states in

17:40

the basin are using far more water than

17:42

the river can provide. With water storage

17:45

and Lake Mead and Lake Powell approaching record

17:47

lows and climate change and wasteful

17:49

usage increasing water scarcity. We

17:51

must act now. To

17:54

provide clean and affordable water for all

17:56

we must increase efficiency, ban

17:58

unnecessary regulate

18:00

industry waste, and make sure the solutions

18:03

benefit overlooked communities. We

18:06

also must tackle climate change as a

18:08

driving force behind drought. That

18:10

means ending new fossil fuel drilling.

18:13

The Biden administration just approved a massive

18:16

new oil drilling project in the Arctic, which

18:18

as she rises covered in their season one

18:20

episode, the tundra. Right

18:23

now, NRDC is suing to stop this

18:25

climate bomb, but we need your support.

18:28

Visit NRDC.org slash

18:30

as she rises to join the fight.

18:37

While

18:37

Emma was working in Chicago as an

18:39

artist and an art gallery director, she

18:42

found herself daydreaming about going

18:44

back home and working on the reservation.

18:47

And then one day she came across an

18:49

article about Dig Deep, a

18:52

human rights nonprofit working to get

18:54

running water to the over 2 million

18:56

Americans that live without it. Emma

18:59

learned that Dig Deep had just started a

19:01

new branch called the Navajo Water

19:04

Project, which was created specifically

19:06

to supply running water to the 30% of

19:09

folks on the reservation who live without it.

19:12

It was the exact kind of work that Emma was

19:15

interested in. So she reached out

19:17

to Dig Deep and several months later, she

19:19

became the director of the Navajo

19:21

Water Project. Today,

19:24

the Navajo Water Project has 40 employees

19:27

and has brought running water to hundreds

19:30

of households on the reservation. They

19:32

do this by installing what are called home

19:35

water systems.

19:37

And what that looks like is digging

19:40

a hole and dropping

19:42

a cistern or a tank, which

19:44

is 1,200 gallons, and

19:47

then hooking that tank up to a

19:49

series of plumbing, a

19:51

pump, a filter, a water

19:54

heater, and then a sink.

19:56

And along with that goes a gray water

19:59

drain feed.

19:59

And we

20:00

have two different types of systems. We

20:03

have systems that are hooked up to

20:05

electric lines. And then we have systems

20:07

that are hooked up to solar panels.

20:12

The whole process takes only 24 hours. When

20:15

it's finished, there's a working sink with

20:17

running water inside the house. Which

20:20

means there's no longer a need to haul

20:22

water back and forth.

20:24

We are generally working in

20:26

very, very, very remote areas. So we

20:28

have the water truck operators who are

20:30

bringing water from safe sources. Because

20:32

that's very important to us to make sure that

20:35

people are not only getting water, but they're getting water

20:38

that is free of contaminants. And

20:41

so it's something that we need to

20:43

make sure that we are following up with

20:45

maintenance with. And I really stress

20:47

that because people who are interested in starting

20:49

any sort of project, working with communities

20:51

that have had so many promises

20:54

made and so many promises broken, really

20:56

important to make sure that there's follow-up to these

20:58

things. A big

21:00

part of what happened when I came

21:03

on was not only speeding up these installations

21:06

and making sure that people were getting

21:08

water, but rather that we were

21:10

doing it in a way that

21:12

was decolonized, but also

21:14

indigenized, Navajoized,

21:16

for lack of a better way to say it. Navajoizing

21:21

the Navajo Water Project meant

21:23

taking the unique needs of every community into account.

21:27

It meant resisting one-size-fits-all

21:29

solutions and finding ways

21:31

to really listen and engage with them,

21:35

showing up in ways that centered the community,

21:37

even when it was difficult. At the

21:41

very beginning when I came in, definitely

21:44

Dig Deep was working to work with the communities,

21:47

but then I started to realize maybe the best way

21:49

is not for them to come to us, but for us

21:51

to go to them, to individualize

21:55

this outreach and these connections. And

21:57

so we started to do things like... going

22:00

to the chapter house, which is a physical

22:02

location where people actually come

22:04

together and hosting

22:07

dinners and talking with people. And

22:10

it's not just people, it's elders

22:12

of the community and people

22:14

who are community leaders and

22:17

Navajo culture is a matriarchal one. And

22:19

so making sure that we're also specifically

22:21

listening to the women of the

22:23

communities, because oftentimes

22:25

we're the caregivers and we're the leaders ourselves.

22:30

My favorite project that I have ever

22:32

worked on in my entire career,

22:34

honestly, was with a school

22:37

called SMAZE, or St. Michael's

22:39

Association for Special Education. They

22:42

had a school for students

22:45

ages six to 18 and then

22:47

an adult residency program. All

22:50

of the community members there have disabilities

22:53

and the water project was really important because

22:56

some people had medical needs

22:58

like were using a G-tube or a tracheotomy

23:01

tube. And so it was really important that the water

23:03

was clean. But because their infrastructure

23:05

was so old, that we were seeing

23:08

a lot of high levels of things that shouldn't

23:10

be in water that were appearing and

23:12

they needed water heaters and

23:14

filters. And so we worked

23:17

for several years with them, but

23:19

it wasn't just like coming in and saying, hey,

23:21

we're going to do these tests, or we're going

23:23

to have engineers or consultants come

23:26

in and tell us what the problem is. It was

23:28

about really embedding ourselves there.

23:30

And so some of my favorite parts

23:32

of building community with SMAZE

23:35

was taking part in their Dr. Seuss

23:37

day and helping

23:40

organize an art exhibition where

23:42

the artists at the school had their work

23:44

included in a show in Chicago at a museum.

23:47

And

23:48

I think sometimes people see those

23:51

as

23:52

not important projects or not important

23:54

events, but those make such a difference

23:57

when not only you're building

23:59

trust. but also you're really getting

24:01

to know people who are already working on these issues.

24:07

The

24:07

Navajo Water Project blends creative

24:10

expression with public service. This

24:13

is a radical departure from how water

24:15

is typically managed in the U.S. Usually,

24:19

sweeping treaties like the Colorado River

24:21

Compact lump a bunch of states

24:23

together and ignore all the

24:25

intricacies of the communities that

24:27

populate the land. These

24:29

sorts of policies erase the wisdom

24:32

and the stories of the people who

24:34

know their land's water better than

24:36

anyone. And they're

24:38

part of the reason why today indigenous

24:41

people are faced with problems

24:43

like lack of water infrastructure and reservations.

24:46

The U.S. government's approach to water policy

24:49

has, in many cases, severed

24:51

the centuries-old ties between humans

24:54

and water, dehumanizing

24:56

people and the process.

25:00

Oftentimes, and not only with

25:02

Navajo people or not only people on reservations,

25:05

we're so dehumanized in so many ways

25:08

that it's like we're still mascots,

25:11

right? We're still jokes

25:13

in Hollywood. And so it's like if you're

25:15

still seen in that way, shape, or form,

25:18

oftentimes that can take a toll on you

25:20

mentally and it might start getting

25:23

to the point where you're like, I don't deserve

25:25

things like water or I don't deserve

25:27

things like electricity or internet connectivity.

25:30

And it's like, water is actually

25:32

a human right.

25:34

All living

25:37

beings need water, whether you're human or not.

25:40

And so I think we need to

25:43

shift from talking about it as if it's like this

25:46

thing that only some people can have.

25:49

It's something that everybody needs and everybody

25:51

should have.

25:53

And so I think it definitely

25:56

requires shifting in other ways.

25:59

And by that, I mean... the federal government honoring

26:01

treaties and taking our

26:03

opinions and our needs seriously,

26:07

changing all of that will help

26:09

people get access to running water.

26:13

Today, a recent lawsuit from the

26:15

Navajo Nation to expand their access

26:17

to water from the Colorado River is

26:19

in front of the Supreme Court. They

26:22

contend that the lack of water available

26:24

to them means the U.S. has fallen

26:26

short of its treaty promise to give

26:29

the Navajo Nation a, quote,

26:31

permanent home. Shouldn't

26:33

a permanent home include water? The

26:37

lawsuit is one small step towards

26:40

reconnecting the Navajo people

26:42

with water. The Navajo

26:44

Water Project is another step in that

26:46

direction.

26:48

I've been working on the Navajo Water Project for

26:51

seven years at this point, and it can

26:54

be really emotional work. And

26:57

I think it's

26:59

something where it's not just

27:01

about water. It's like you really start

27:03

to learn a lot more about the community, and

27:05

you start to learn people's names, and you start to

27:07

learn their families. All Navajos

27:10

have four clans, and it's the way that we

27:12

identify ourselves with people. And,

27:15

you know, traditionally we have something that's called

27:17

keh, and keh means kinship

27:19

or family or the way that we all relate to each

27:21

other. And so when you start working in these

27:24

communities, you realize

27:26

who you are related to because you have

27:28

the same clans. And so they're not

27:30

just people whose names are on

27:32

a piece of paper or on a computer screen, and

27:35

it's like, hey, here's the data. These people don't have water.

27:37

Here's the GPS coordinates of their homes. It's

27:40

like this person is my grandma or this person

27:42

is my dad, you know, by clan. And

27:44

so you get really invested.

27:56

The impact of the drought seeps into

27:58

every corner of Emma's life. It

28:00

becomes harder to fill up the trucks used

28:03

to deliver the water to the reservation

28:05

as watering sources dry up.

28:08

And while Emma travels to the Navajo Nation

28:10

for work, she lives in Los Angeles,

28:12

just like me.

28:13

In this city, we see signs of the drought

28:16

everywhere.

28:18

When I first moved here, I would

28:20

drive over this bridge and I would

28:23

look at a map and I'm like, why is there a blue

28:25

line on here? And then I started to research,

28:27

and it's like the LA River is here, and

28:30

I started to research how that was

28:32

affected by treaties. And then

28:34

I started making art, because

28:36

I'm an artist, I started making a body of

28:38

work about treaties in

28:41

California and how those relate to

28:43

LA. And then really started

28:45

making friends with people who are Tongva

28:48

or native to this land, who

28:50

are still here, obviously, and their

28:52

relationship

28:52

to the water.

28:55

Emma's thinking eventually led her to create

28:58

an organization called the Chapter

29:00

House, a space where native

29:02

artists can come together. It's

29:05

another manifestation of the same

29:07

goal, connecting native

29:09

people with water and restoring community

29:12

ties.

29:14

Figuring out ways to not only work

29:16

with people to get basic needs

29:18

like water, but also finding

29:21

ways to take care of ourselves

29:23

where it's not like we're in this constant

29:26

survival mode or we're in this mode

29:28

where we have to fight for clean water,

29:30

but coming together to just be

29:33

native and make art and take care

29:35

of one another and be in a restful space. Because

29:37

I think once we work on

29:40

these solutions, other things come up like,

29:43

hey, can we just like hang out and

29:45

have an art exhibition? And can

29:47

the art exhibition be centered around water?

29:50

So constantly thinking about how these things come

29:53

together is really exciting for me. The

29:57

poet you heard at the top of the episode...

29:59

Kinsale Drake,

30:01

worked with the Chapter House last year on

30:03

one of their exhibitions. Kinsale

30:06

was actually the one who recommended we

30:08

speak to Emma. So in a way,

30:10

this episode is a continuation of

30:12

a Chapter House partnership. Proof

30:15

of the ripple effect that collaboration

30:17

between Native artists can have. The

30:24

drought is forcing us to contend with

30:26

the fact that how we manage our water

30:29

right now just isn't working. As

30:32

the man-made lake pile shrinks, ancestral

30:36

Puebloans footholds come back into

30:38

view, reminding us of

30:40

the knowledge that we've forgotten, or

30:43

intentionally buried underwater. Organizations

30:48

like the Chapter House are vital storehouses

30:51

of Native knowledge, joy, and hope.

30:54

They challenge us to reimagine our relationship

30:56

to water. What happens

30:59

if instead of treating water like a luxury

31:02

to be hoarded, we understood

31:04

it as a resource that's meant to be shared,

31:07

as a sacred element that ties us

31:09

all together?

31:12

This season of As She Rises, we're

31:15

asking those questions. As

31:17

we travel down the river, we're centering

31:19

the voices of the people who have borne

31:21

the brunt of colonial water practices

31:25

in sharing stories

31:25

of their resilience in the face

31:28

of the drought.

31:32

Next episode, we're following the river

31:34

through the Arizona desert, down

31:37

to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, where

31:39

one tribe is fighting the extractive

31:42

uranium mining industry. You

31:46

can support the Navajo Water Project

31:48

by visiting their website, which is

31:50

navajowaterproject.org, and

31:53

follow them on Instagram at DigDeepWater

31:55

and on Twitter at DigDeepH2O. If

31:59

you want to learn more, about Emma's art organization,

32:01

The Chapter House. You can find information

32:04

on them at chapterhouse.org

32:07

and follow them on Instagram at chapterhouseLA.

32:10

And if you want to support Kinsale Drake,

32:13

check out her Indian Girls Book

32:15

Club. You can find more of her

32:17

poetry on kinsaledrake.com

32:20

and follow her on Twitter at Kinsale Drake.

32:22

All these links can also be found in our show

32:24

notes.

32:25

Thanks to Utah Dene Bikaya for

32:27

their cultural sensitivity

32:28

training.

32:33

As She Rises is a Wonder Media

32:35

Network production. Our creator

32:38

and editor is Grace Lynch.

32:39

Our executive producer

32:41

is Jenny Kaplan. Emily Rudder

32:43

is our head of development. The show

32:46

is produced by Carmen Borja Carrillo,

32:48

Ale Tajera, Brittany Martinez,

32:51

Adesua Agbonal, and Sarah Shleed.

32:54

Original music by Andrea, Kristen's

32:56

daughter, and Jessica Jarvis.

32:59

Until next time!