Layers of Water Artist Statement
A dank and rotting cabin, a tangle of blackberries, and a canopy of ancient oaks were my childhood playground. In a fast-growing 1950s suburbia, mid-century moderns replaced “my” cabin and woods: a transformation and domestication of landscape that taught me about changing environments and instilled a nostalgia for “wild” places. As we face expanding electric power and transportation needs, pollution, climate change and migration, Layers of Water examines our complex relationship with Pacific Northwest water and the immense impact of our desire to harness its power. Black and white photographs, along with a menu of narratives about specific bodies of water, draw on layers of meaning and place.
Icicle Creek
Icicle Creek flows from near the crest of the Cascade Mountains east to the Wenatchee River
near Leavenworth, Washington. Its drainage basin is mostly undeveloped land within the
Wenatchee National Forest and the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.
Endangered fish species, including steelhead, Chinook salmon, and bull trout, swim its streams,
and are threatened by the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery.
In early 2017, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that the hatchery has illegally discharged pollutants
into Icicle Creek since 1979, in violation of federal laws.
An effort called the “Icicle Strategy” to increase water supplies to the City of Leavenworth,
by damming and diverting Icicle Creek and lakes feeding it, has been met with opposition from the Sierra Club
and the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Society, among others.
Duwamish River
In a small inlet along the Duwamish River that runs through Seattle, adjacent to Seattle Iron and Metals Corporation,
on a warm summer day in 2016 you could see and hear a bubbling up on the water’s surface and smell sickening fumes.
The Washington State Department of Ecology has repeatedly fined the company for releasing unacceptable levels of zinc, copper, lead,
petroleum compounds, ammonia, and fine particles into the river - by-products of converting cars and appliances to usable metal.
The Duwamish River, despite its EPA-designation as a superfund site, is home to more wildlife than any other part of Seattle, according to James
Rasmussen, head of the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition and member of the Duwamish Tribe.
The Duwamish Tribe, like many urban tribes, is not federally recognized. In 2000 the then-landless Tribe bought a small parcel along the
Duwamish River, on which the Tribe built a longhouse and cultural center that is open to the public.
Duwamish Chief Seattle, after whom the city is named, signed the Treaty of Point Elliott in 1855, assuring the Duwamish Tribe
hunting and fishing rights and reservation land in exchange for over 54,000 acres.
Ken Workman, great great great great grandson of Chief Seattle, is waiting for the day when he can catch and
safely eat fish from the Duwamish River where he grew up.
Skagit River
The Skagit River flows from near the crest of the Cascade Mountains west to Puget Sound, and generates 25% of Seattle’s
hydroelectric power through Gorge, Diablo, and Ross Dams.
Seattle gets 90% of its electricity from hydroelectric power.
The South Fork of the Skagit, a sometimes green and ropey river whose height can suddenly rise depending on rainfall,
air temperature, and snow pack, is contained by dikes that protect Conway and Fir Island from floods.
The most recent major floods occurred in 1990, 2003, and 2006 due to breaches in the dikes.
Fir Island is home to annual migrations of 30,000 to 70,000 snow geese,
one of only a few populations that migrate between Eurasia and North America.
Snoqualmie Falls
For the Snoqualmie Tribe, the falls are a place of teaching and a traditional burial site,
where Moon the Transformer created the First Woman and First Man. Prayers go to the Creator from its mists.
Snoqualmie Falls Hydroelectric provides Puget Sound Energy with approximately 1% of its sales.
The fall’s rock face deteriorates when water is diverted to hydroelectric turbines and the
falls are reduced to a trickle during winter cold spells.
The remaining moisture freezes, and rocks break apart from expansion of ice in their cracks.
“Tribal members were signatories of the Treaty of Point Elliott of 1855 [as were the Duwamish Tribe],
which reserved Native American Tribes in the Puget Sound area, including Snoqualmie, the right to
hunt, fish, and live in places they had done so for thousands of years.
At the time, the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe was one of the largest in the Puget Sound region
totaling around 4,000. The Tribe lost federal recognition in 1953 but regained Bureau of Indian Affairs recognition
in 1999.” [http://www.snoqualmietribe.us/about, accessed 4/23/2017]
Ocean Shores
Upriver from Grays Harbor and Ocean Shores, where the Chehalis River meets the Pacific Ocean,
lies the Chehalis River Basin. The basin is home to private and public forestlands, crop and livestock agriculture,
four major population centers, and the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation.
The Quinault Indian Nation has treaty rights to protect basin waters.
Grays Harbor adjacent to Ocean Shores is dredged annually by the Army Corps of Engineers to maintain access to its port.
The economy of the area depends on sport, tribal, and commercial fishing
of Chinook, Coho, steelhead trout, chum, and bull trout.
Monitoring is ongoing for dissolved oxygen, fecal coliform bacteria, dioxin, and temperature rise.
Native American and First Nations tribes in the United States and Canada are collaborating to stop proposed pipelines,
terminals, and processing plants for oil and coal along the North American west coast,
including Grays Harbor and adjacent Ocean Shores.
Deception Pass
Floating seaweed is the undersea maiden’s hair and a sign that she continues to watch over Rosario Beach
near Deception Pass, the bay, and her Samish People. This is the place where the maiden chose a life in the sea
over life on land when she married a sea chief. The marriage assured wealth to her land family in
plentiful fish, freshwater springs, and mothers’ milk.
Her story reminds the Coast Salish People that creatures of the
sea are relatives to be treated with kindness, respect, and generosity.
Coast Salish People have appreciated the power and gifts of the sea, and have known that their survival depends on knowledge and
respect of the sea. [The above according to Charley Edwards, Samish fisher, canoe carver, and spiritual leader]
Rosario Beach is a small cove on Fidalgo Island near Deception Pass
where offshore you can sometimes see pods of orcas, porpoises, and gray whales.
Samish people have lived here for at least 3,000 years.