Basia Irland - Gatherings - Nisqually River

	NISQUALLY RIVER, Washington


			Repository (detail with river maps).


	Nisqually River Repository, Source to Sound (worn, at Puget Sound). 2009. Photo by Lucia Harrison.		Pouch containing Canteen and Logbook. Made from hipwaders.


	Installation with video.


	Birth of Nisqually River at glacier on Mt. Rainier.		Quiet section of Nisqually River in mist.

In 2009-2010 I received a Harville Award from Evergreen College, which brought me to Olympia, Washington, four times to work across disciplines on projects focused on the Nisqually watershed.

For the Nisqually River project we used a drinking water container from Evergreen as the River Vessel and a ‘Write in the Rain’ notebook for the Logbook because we were often working in the rain. Since those who contribute to or participate in the Ice Book launches are determined by location, Nisqually River participants included salmon restoration specialists, Nisqually Tribal Members, Forest Rangers, musicians, fifth graders attending WaHeLut Indian School, botanists, stream ecologists, and students and professors from Evergreen State College.

Seventy-eight miles in length, this water has been witness to a long, rich history. It is the only river in the United States that begins within a National Park and ends in a National Reserve. The path of the river flows through farmland, military reserves, Native American lands. It forms waterfalls, distributes huge rocks across wide boulder fields, gouges out canyons and forms a fan-shaped delta rich in wildlife. Humans have blocked its flow behind dams, choked its waters with toxins, cut trees that once held its banks. But there are numerous community groups now working to come to the assistance of this river.


	Canteen at base of Mt. Rainier.		Gathering water into Canteen.


	Student writing in Logbook at Nisqually headwaters.		Lara Evans recording sounds of the Nisqually River for the video.
	Student writing in Logbook at Nisqually headwaters.


	Students sketching near Nisqually headwaters during Gathering.		National Park Service Ranger with Logbook at Mount Rainier.
			National Park Service Ranger with Logbook at Mount Rainier.