Hydropower has long been heralded as “clean,” “green” energy. Yet living in Akwesasne, just a few kilometers away from the Moses-Saunders Power Dam, it seems that almost every one of its approximately 13,000 residents is either sick or has a family member that is sick. And every indication suggests a link to the power dam. How did this happen? When did it begin? And what is being done about it? As a Akwesasne Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) community member and researcher, I wanted to better understand the history of pollution injustice our community has faced, its connection to hydroelectric power and the development of the St. Lawrence Seaway, and the past and ongoing attempts at actionable redress.

Full article available here.This article will also appear in the upcoming Science for the People magazine print issue, “Ways of Knowing.”  This is the first in a series dedicated to storying the complex environmental and socio-political entanglements of pollution injustice in Akwesasne—past, present and future. This research was conducted under the support of “Repair and Redress: Growing the Repertoire of Community-led Climate Justice,” made possible by the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability Innovation for Impact Fund.