Dammed Landscapes: Sovereignty and Infrastructure along Haha Wakpa / Gichi-ziibi

Abstract

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has constructed locks and dams throughout North America to achieve hegemonic control over riparian landscapes and the people occupying those spaces. Deployed liberally throughout Haha Wakpa / Gichi-ziibi (the Dakota and Ojibwe names for what settlers call the Mississippi River), these infrastructural projects were frequently built on Native land and designed in such a way that actively disenfranchises Native people. This dissertation examines how the U.S. government and Native nations have engaged with river infrastructure to assert sovereignty along the Upper Mississippi River Watershed, both historically and today. Understanding infrastructure as texts that can be read for underlying socio-political agendas, this project will consider how locks, dams, and reservoirs in the regions of the Upper Mississippi River Watershed that no longer serve navigational purposes could be Indigenized through redesigning or removing locks and dams, informed by Dakota and Ojibwe perspectives. By observing governance and activism tactics, the research compares how historic settler-Native relationships have played out at river infrastructure operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and how contemporary Dakota and Ojibwe land and water management practices establish a new framework for the redesign, management, or removal of these locks and dams, as well as the landscapes that surround them. The research is grounded in six months of fieldwork on Dakota and Ojibwe homelands, which included participant observation at public events and interviews with non-profit organizers, as well as several canoe and kayak trips to observe and photograph lock and dam sites along the river. Additionally, archival research at the Army Corps of Engineers St. Paul District Library and the Gale Family Library at the Minnesota Historical Society provided a wealth of historical material to contextualize the governance tactics at play along the river today. Based on these experiences, the dissertation concludes with a collection of Indigenous infrastructures for stewarding rivers that address riparian health and wellbeing in ways that are overlooked by current settler river management practices. In contrast to rigid material infrastructures deployed by settlers, Indigenous infrastructures include grounded socio-political tactics to care for Haha Wakpa / Gichi-ziibi, such as storytelling, mapping for rematriation, lobbying for land back, and designing “in a good way.” Through these practices, Dakota and Ojibwe leaders are inscribing a path towards strengthened reciprocal relationships between humans and rivers. While the projects discussed in this dissertation are specifically attuned to the conditions on Dakota and Ojibwe homelands, they serve as a meaningful example of Indigenous governance tactics that can be adapted to other riparian landscapes. Ultimately, as more settler infrastructure wanes, these Indigenous infrastructures present a contemporary approach for designing and stewarding rivers and their surrounding landscapes in the future.