To cap off season 1, we hand over the mic to hear from youth! For young people growing up with a drying up Great Salt Lake, this crisis defines a generation – and is an opportunity to re-imagine a collective future. Young people are leading the way to create solutions, from contributing vital scientific research to organizing on-the-ground collective action that centers environmental justice. We talk with Muskan Walia, an organizer with youth-led environmental organization Utah Youth for Environmental Solutions (UYES), and Amanda Lee, a biology student who conducted research on Great Salt Lake at the Westminster Great Salt Lake Institute. While grief is part of the story, we also talk about how important it is to laugh and share joy together – in other words, to stay salty!

If you are a youth in your teens to early twenties, you can join UYES! Muskan says a good way to get involved is send them a DM on Instagram (@utahyes). Their website: https://utahyes.org/

This is our last episode of season 1, and we really want to make season 2! Please consider making a donation to help us continue vital storytelling work. Thank you for listening and all of the support!

Pia Okwai, often referred to as the Jordan River, is one of Great Salt Lake's (or Pia'pa's) major tributaries. For generations, the river has been stigmatized and polluted, but in this episode we explore how people are reclaiming and honoring relationships with the river.

We talk with Daniel Hernandez (Wīnak/Urban Diasporic Highland Maya), also known as Arcia Tecun, who is the former director of culture at the Tracy Aviary. Daniel grew up in Rose Park near Pia Okwai, and he has always identified with the river.

Recently, Daniel successfully led the effort to rename the Jordan River Nature Center to the Nature Center at Pia Okwai. Daniel uses Indigenous place names to honor relationships and memory of a place. He also centers the voices and experiences of the urban Indigenous population in his work, including in his film series Stories of Place that focuses on relations with Pia Okwai.

Daniel views the current crisis at the lake as a cultural crisis that requires a shift in cultural consciousness. Listen to learn more about the ways Daniel thinks we can begin this cultural shift.

Stories of Place: An Eco-Justice Film Series

The Nature Center at Pia Okwai: The Story Behind the Name

The Northwestern Shoshone have called Great Salt Lake and the Bear River home for time immemorial. In 2018, the tribe bought back their land at the Bear River Massacre Site, where the U.S. Military murdered an estimated 500 Shoshone people in 1863. Now, the tribe is reclaiming their land and leading a massive restoration effort, including repairing the waterways and planting thousands of native plants. The tribe estimates that these efforts will return 13,000 acre-feet of water annually to Great Salt Lake — with hopes of increasing that number.

In this episode, host Olivia Juarez talks with Brad Parry, Vice Chairman of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation, about the Wuda Ogwa project and the importance of Great Salt Lake and the Bear River to the Shoshone people.

Resources and references:

RSVP for the tree planting day at Wuda Ogwa

The Northwestern Shoshone are restoring the Bear River Massacre site [High Country News]

‘You Can’t Erase Us’: Shoshone and Ute Connections to Great Salt Lake [Stay Salty: Lakefacing Stories, Episode 3]