American Roundtable Theme

Environment

Elephant Butte Reservoir, New Mexico. Credit: Video still by John Acosta, courtesy of the Diverse Peoples, Arid Landscapes, and the Built Environment editorial team.

To promote comparison and synthesis across reports, American Roundtable is organized around five broad themes: Public Space, Health, Work and Economy, Infrastructure, and Environment. Editors of each report were given wide latitude to interpret each theme. Collected below are features that address topics and issues related to the Environment.

Cheyenne River Surface Ownership

Annie Coombs and Zoë Malliaros map the complicated history of surface land ownership on the reservation and its inequitable consequences.

Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota

Article March 16, 2021

The Land is Our Identity

Jorden Revels shares his story of environmental activism.

Along the Lumbee River, North Carolina

Interview March 2, 2021

“Water is Life (Oliver’s Song)” | Otero County

Lyla June and Oliver Enjady present their song and poem “Water is Life (Oliver’s Song),” a testament to water’s central importance in Mescalero Apache culture.

Lower Rio Grande, New Mexico

Article January 21, 2021

Present Ghosts: River Valley

In this graphic series, artist Nina Elder reinterprets archival photographs of the River Valley to look past its industrial development.

River Valley, Maine

Article January 20, 2021