Our relationship to water and experience of water insecurity among Apsáalooke (Crow Indian) people, Montana

Abstract:

Affordable access to safe drinking water is essential to community health. Disparities in access to safe drinking water is a serious environmental health challenge for households in numerous tribal nations. Many households rely on home wells for domestic water use, which are more likely to be deemed unsafe due to some form of contamination from either metals or microbial. The aim of our work is to get a better understanding of tribal member’s perceptions of local water quality, their experiences with water insecurity, and actions taken to access safe water. Since local water sources include not only home wells but also rivers and springs, which are still vitally important for traditional cultural activities, our focus is broad.

We used purposive sampling and interviewed 30 Native American adults living on a Northern Plains reservation. Participants answered six open ended interview questions about their water access, costs of obtaining water and changes in their domestic and traditional water uses over time. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed by tribal community members. Eight themes came out of the interviews: Water is sacred, causes of change, health risks associated with water quality changes, resulting changes in water use, water insecurity, dealing with water insecurity, solutions are hard to find and resources.

Conclusion: Water is an essential element not only for basic household needs but in many families, also for ceremonies and other spiritual and traditional practices. This study broadens our understanding of the impacts of water insecurity in rural tribal communities. The challenges associated with addressing water insecurity are complex and difficulty to overcome particularly for Native Americans who have a special relationship with water and who must grapple with economic hardships and complex or inadequate jurisdiction over their water resources.