Monday, July 1, 2024 – Assessing a century of cultural destruction from dams

Native America Calling

For the first time, the federal government acknowledges the devastation to Native America tribes caused by a century of dam building on rivers in the Pacific Northwest. The report by the U.S. Department of Interior notes the benefits for the region’s burgeoning population in need of cheap power, irrigation, and steady jobs. But that same push dismissed the needs of the tribes that already occupied the land, resulting in flooding homes and sacred sites, and the decimation of salmon runs, their chief reliable food source.