Beau Bree Rhee in dialogue with Heather Tanana, an indigenous water-rights activist, law professor and a nationally recognized expert in Federal Indian Law. The first chapter of our conversation focuses on language as a form of relation & being-in-relations, Navajo words for water & how water activism now relates to historically indigenous matrilineal societies.
Heather Tanana, a citizen of the Navajo Nation, is a nationally recognized expert in Federal Indian Law, with particular expertise in tribal water rights and the intersection of the environment, health, and Indigenous peoples. She is Assistant Professor at University of Denver Sturm College of Law. She is also an Associate Faculty member with Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health. Her scholarship and advocacy focus on water challenges facing Indigenous communities, from climate impacts to Colorado River governance. She also leads the Initiative on Universal Access to Clean Water for Tribal Communities, which seeks to ensure reliable access to clean, safe, and affordable water for Native families.