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joanna_banana's review against another edition
5.0
Must read for any resident of Seattle! I learned a lot about the indigenous history of the Duwamish and Coast Salish people and their relationship to the river that bears their name, the sound, and surrounding watersheds. I liked how the author wove together the histories of the first peoples, white settler-colonialists, industry, and more recent immigrants. I was surprised at how *recent* some of the EPA orders and health impact assessments were—2000’s! Work is still ongoing when the book went to print in 2019 and I was left wondering how the pandemic impacted the effort and health of the Duwamish and South Seattle communities. It is a great example of an environmental justice story about working with not for indigenous people—what they need and value instead of assuming the best solution or outcome. It ended on a hopeful note about celebrating the river, expressing its meaning through art, and partnerships between tribes, immigrant communities, and white residents who occupy the land of the Duwamish.
crossinthepnw's review
5.0
Very content heavy, but a must read for anyone who lives, works, and/or plays on Duwamish land (or anyone interested in just how badly white people can screw up the environment). My appreciation for the watershed I live in has grown tenfold.
zosnap's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
slow-paced
5.0
The Duwamish river is not a headline attraction of Seattle the way Lake Washington or Elliot Bay is; buried away in the industrialized tideflats, I think a lot of people forget to think of it as a river at all. This book is a fascinatingly focused and detailed history of this one stretch of water, covering indigenous history, white settlement, industrial reshaping, and modern clean up efforts (which the author is deeply involved with). I think this book is a great example of historical writing that centers Native American perspectives and records as a key part of creating an accurate and meaningful account of history, and I wish more history was written like this.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Colonisation and Violence
The discussions of colonization are not sensationalized or lurid, but it does cover the history of white settlement in the area, which involved violence.
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