Rivers of Resilience: Indigenous Activism Against Hydroelectric Dams Around the World

Indigenous communities of the Klamath Basin are celebrating a historic victory they thought might never be possible: the undamming of the Klamath River. The river, which runs through America’s Pacific Northwest from Oregon’s Cascade Mountains into Northern California, has been the focus of resistance movements and prolonged negotiations for decades. These Indigenous-led efforts have culminated in a monumental plan to demolish four dams in what is the world’s largest dam removal project to date. This accomplishment reflects a broader global movement against hydroelectric dams, spearheaded by Indigenous communities from around the world. However, progress for groups such as the Tapayuna people of Brazil’s Juruena River Basin has not been met with equal success.   

For over one hundred years, the Klamath River has been the site of numerous hydroelectric dam developments and ensuing environmental issues. The 1918 construction of the Copco 1 Dam effectively blocked salmon migration to their spawning grounds in the Upper Klamath Basin. The construction of the Copco 2 (1925), J.C. Boyle (1958), and Iron Gate (1962) dams further devastated fish populations and the basin’s environmental quality. By restricting access to breeding areas and reducing water quality, the dams played a major role in aquatic disease transmission and toxic algae blooms. 

In 2002, these conditions caused a major disease outbreak among fish in the lower Klamath River, killing an estimated 70,000 salmon. For much of their history, the Yurok people relied on the abundance of these fish to feed themselves and fuel trade relations that enabled a complex cultural and socioeconomic system. Subsequently, this tragedy caused deep emotional wounds for local Indigenous tribes, sparking a grassroots movement to remove the dams. “It’s like seeing your family perish in front of you,” said Yurok tribal member Annelia Hillman in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “I would compare it to a massacre, really, in terms of the emotions and the trauma that it has caused for us.” For the Yurok and other Indigenous people of the Klamath River region, the river functions as a key feature of subsistence and religious practices that have endured for thousands of years. Fish serve a crucial role in their spiritual, cultural, and economic traditions, and the 2002 “Fish Kill” incident renewed previous anti-dam protest movements that initially took root in the 1970s. 

These protests, led by Indigenous tribes, targeted major funders and operators of the dams, including Berkshire Hathaway, Scottish Power, and PacifiCorp. After their hydroelectric project licensing expired in 2006, PacifiCorp struggled to meet the financial and environmental constraints required for renewal. Ten years later, they signed a joint agreement with California, Oregon, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of the Interior, determining that the four Klamath River dams were to be removed.

Setbacks and relicensing struggles continued into 2020, however, tribal activism efforts proved key in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s eventual decision to deny PacifiCorp’s operation license in 2022. Activists lobbied the state governments in California and Oregon, successfully implementing a requirement that dams must undergo major renovations to be relicensed. Combined with pressure from local interest groups, PacifiCorp found that it was much more cost-effective to remove the dams rather than attempt to relicense them. In late 2023, demolition crews removed Copco 2, bringing water from the Klamath River to regions of the watershed that had been disconnected since the dam’s construction nearly a century ago. The remaining dams are slated to be deconstructed throughout 2024, with demolition and reconstruction efforts bringing jobs to the Klamath Basin and improving aquatic habitat conditions.

Despite being a major victory for the tribes of the Klamath region, demolition efforts have been met with opposition from many local community members. Removing the dams will drain reservoirs, eliminating waterfront access for many homes such as those in the Copco Lake neighborhood. Residents also worry that they may be forced to shoulder additional financial burdens, while other critics claim deconstruction is not sufficient enough to save salmon populations. 

This intensive project is not an isolated event but rather reflects efforts from Indigenous communities around the world to oppose the construction of hydroelectric dams and to remove existing ones. Dam operations often take place in regions with marginalized Indigenous populations, flooding or denying their access to ancestral lands and waters and prompting many communities to resettle. Language of “green” development is often used to justify these projects despite the major environmental disruptions they cause, and the destruction of Indigenous livelihoods is legitimized as part of modernization efforts.

In 2016, the Tapayuna people of the Juruena River Basin in Brazil attempted to return to their ancestral territories, only for the land to come under threat of destruction at the hands of hydroelectric dam developers. Should it move forward, the Castanheira hydropower project would cause massive flooding, destroying Tapayuna lands, altering the river’s course, and further devastating Indigenous heritage and lifestyles. 

However, this narrative is contested by those attempting to advance the project. Dam developers have not addressed Tapayuna land claims, and Funai, the organization responsible for processing those claims, stated that the project would not flood any established Indigenous regions. Energy and environmental superintendent Elisângela Medeiros de Almeida echoed this sentiment, claiming that “Castanheira doesn’t directly interfere with environmental conservation units or Indigenous lands.” 

Despite these claims, the Castanheira Dam development is projected to have significant impacts on the environment and local communities. The reservoir would flood a region the size of 9,500 soccer fields and would impact local agricultural communities and family farms. Emissions, flooding, and lost fishing revenue could produce losses as great as $119 million, and the territory’s Indigenous people worry about potential impacts on traditional hunting, medicinal, and ritual practices. 

Like the Yurok and other Native American tribes of the Klamath region, Indigenous Brazilian tribes of the Juruena River Basin are advocating for change and pushing back against dam development plans. Eduardo Morimã, a member of the Apiaká community, has devoted himself to defending his homelands. He spends his time traveling between various villages and towns in the basin, educating them about the impacts of the Castanheira hydroelectricity plant. Other groups, such as the Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAB), advocate for Brazilians impacted by dam construction and work at the local, regional, and national levels to implement sustainable, people-led energy practices.  

Though the situations in the Klamath and Juruena river basins each present their challenges to people and environments, they shine a light on a larger global issue. Not only do hydroelectric dams create severe ecological complications and degrade aquatic habitats, but they disproportionately impact Indigenous communities who have deep ties to those habitats and rely on their ancestral lands to physically and spiritually sustain themselves. However, these movements provide a glimmer of hope. The removal of the Klamath dams demonstrates that progress is possible, and resistance to the Castanheira hydropower project highlights the commitment and resilience that is integral in making global progress. 

Klamath Basin Tribes and allies stage a rally at the bi-annual meeting of the international hydropower industry. Image credit: Patrick McCully