This is an ongoing documentary project started in 2021.

For thousands of years before "contact," the Wasiw (wa-shoe) people thrived in Da ow aga (Lake Tahoe) and the immediate surrounding areas. They lived in the valleys during the harsh winters, subsiding on pine nuts and meats gathered during the fall. In the spring, the three bands of Wasiw rendezvoused at Da ow aga for games and fish festivals. The Maker created them here, and they lived in a mutually respectful relationship with the land.

Everything changed when gold and silver were discovered in California and Nevada in the mid-19th century. The influx of settlers rapidly depleted the Wasiw food sources, resulting in conflicts for resources. Seeing the Wasiw as an obstacle to progress, Indian agents attempted multiple relocation efforts. But the Wasiw, who believe that the Maker created them here for a reason, would not leave. They were confined to small colonies in the valleys and forced to assimilate the settlers' ways.

Fast-forward to the 21st century and the main economic driver in the region is tourism. The hills are no longer stripped for lumber and minerals. But the damage has been done, and the scarring remains. Crowds of tourists trample the plants that the Wasiw use for food and medicine. Litter - intentional and unintentional - covers the sacred ground and ends up in the lake. ʔImgi (Lahontan Cutthroat Trout), the center of the Wasiw fish festivals, disappeared shortly after settlers "discovered" the fish and began shipping them to Reno and San Francisco, replacing them with non-native fish that have contributed to a significant decline in the famous water clarity. A hundred years of forest mismanagement has resulted in charred mountains and smoke-filled summer skies.

A renewed interest in Wasiw culture among the Wasiw themselves aims to address much of this damage. After decades of negotiation, the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California has been granted stewardship of Meeks Meadow. This abandoned lumber & cattle ranch is known as Máyala Wáta to the Wasiw and is one of the most culturally significant sites around the lake. It is their "Garden of Eden," to put it in a way that Christians would understand. In addition to restoring the meadow to a state their ancestors knew, they will restart "cultural burns," which help prevent the massive out-of-control fires we see today. A multi-agency effort is also working to restore Meeks Bay and reintroduce Lahontan Cutthroat Trout into Lake Tahoe.

Can Lake Tahoe - Da ow aga - be saved and preserved for the life and enjoyment of future generations? I believe so. But it's going to be the shared responsibility of everyone, led by the original stewards of this beautiful area, the Wašišiw - which literally means "the people from here."

Wašišiw: "The People From Here"

Aerial photos of Meeks Meadow, May 2022, prior to concentrated thinning efforts. In the days of the Wasiw, this was a lush, riparian meadow full of medicinal and edible plants. Decades of cattle grazing and timber harvesting in the 19th and 20th centuries destroyed the habitat, replacing it with dense, thirsty pines. Thinning efforts will eventually restore the meadow to its pre-contact state.
Volunteers have their work cut out for them in thinning the conifers by hand. The U.S. Forest Service will later clear much of this through mechanical means. The volunteers are only thinning by hand near sensitive piezometer instrumentation that's measuring the water table.

Rhiana, project manager, directs volunteers to follow flagging to one of the hand-thinning sites.
Volunteers use saws and loppers to thin the vegetation surrounding the sensitive piezometers, which are used to measure the water table.

Volunteers with The League to Save Lake Tahoe participate in Tahoe Forest Stewardship Day at the Máyala Wáta restoration site. Thinning conifers by hand is the first step in restoring the meadow to its pre-colonial state.
Removing conifers during a volunteer hand-thinning event in July 2021.

Mark Lara, project manager for the Máyala Wata Restoration, thins conifers by hand during the Tahoe Forest Stewardship Day volunteer event in partnership with The League to Save Lake Tahoe.
Removing conifers near one of the dozen piezometers in Máyala Wáta.
Volunteers with The League to Save Lake Tahoe participate in Tahoe Forest Stewardship Day at the Máyala Wáta restoration site. Thinning conifers by hand is the first step in restoring the meadow to its pre-colonial state.

Groundwater monitoring stations in Máyala Wáta (Meeks Meadow) must first be cleared of sediment before installing the pressure logging devices. This can be accomplished with nothing more than a PVC pipe and quick hand movements to pump until the water turns clear.
Groundwater monitoring stations require a number of measurements to ensure that the pressure monitors accurately record the diurnal changes in groundwater levels throughout the summer.

A high-tech method of measuring the current water level in groundwater monitoring stations. Scrape some chalk on a measuring tape and see how high the chalk gets washed off when placed in the tube.
Blue camas was and still is a popular food item for Washoe. The bulb is sweet and can be served a variety of ways. It is not to be confused with the white camas, also called death camas.

Groundwater monitoring stations require a number of measurements to ensure that the pressure monitors accurately record the diurnal changes in groundwater levels throughout the summer.
Restoration of the Washoe Tending & Gathering Garden at Tallac Historic Site, a joint effort between the Washoe Tribe and Blue Water Exchange.

Members of the Blue Water Exchange and Washoe Tribe exchange greetings before planting in the Washoe Tending Garden at the Tallac Historic Site.
A member of the Washoe Tribe and the Blue Water Exchange working together to restore the Washoe Tending & Gathering Garden with endemic plants.
A member of the Washoe Tribe and the Blue Water Exchange working together to restore the Washoe Tending & Gathering Garden with endemic plants.

Young participants working to restore the Washoe Tending & Gathering Garden at Tallac Historic Site.
Signs in the Washoe Tending & Gathering Garden at Tallac Historic site signify the traditional Washoe name of local plants, along with their English names.

A member of the Washoe Tribe blesses a new addition to the traditional Washoe Tending & Gathering Garden at Tallac Historic Site.
Restoration of the Washoe Tending & Gathering Garden at Tallac Historic Site, a joint effort between the Washoe Tribe and Blue Water Exchange.
Signs in the Washoe Tending & Gathering Garden at Tallac Historic site signify the traditional Washoe name of local plants, along with their English names.