(gentle music) (water sloshing) (birds chirping) - [Jennifer] What does a river mean to you?

In this busy world, many see rivers as nothing more than landmarks on a map, a body of water to cross to get to the other side, or unfortunately, a place to dump trash and pollution.

But for some, like the members of the Pamunkey Indian tribe, a river means so much more.

(bright gentle music) For generations of us, our river, the Pamunkey, has meant food for hungry families, a highway used for travel to see friends, a store to find items for trade, and most importantly, the banks of this river have meant a home for our people.

In our culture, this river is as important as the blood in our own veins.

The beautiful Pamunkey River has sustained us for centuries, but in recent years, it has come under pressure due to pollution and through an onslaught of invasive non-native species.

These challenges have changed our river and the way we see it, but now we are fighting back.

(bright music) The Pamunkey Tribe and the federal government, led by NOAA, are working together with teams of experts to help change our ailing river and once again make it the lifeblood of our tribe.

(bright music) (gentle music) The Pamunkey River is located on the East Coast of America, flowing through Virginia's Tidewater Region, connecting to other waterways, leading all the way down to the Chesapeake Bay and into the Atlantic Ocean.

For thousands of years, the Pamunkey River has been the connective thread that ties a people to a place.

- We are the linear descendants of the original Pamunkey, the most formidable tribe of the great Powhatan Confederacy, who met the first Virginia colonists in America.

Not only 300 years ago today, but today on the banks of the Pamunkey River, 24 miles east of that old historic capital of the Confederacy, we own and occupy that same God-given spot upon which your forefathers first founded.

- [Jennifer] These shores are steeped in history.

Spanish explorers traveled on these waters, as did the first permanent British settlers at Jamestown.

Powhatan, Cockacoeske, Queen of the Pamunkey, and Pocahontas walked these shores before us.

Later, the Union Army traveled on these waters, being led by Pamunkey Indian River guides towards their assault on the Confederate Capitol in Richmond - The Pamunkey Tribe has been in this area of Virginia for centuries.

We were among the first to welcome the Europeans.

We were among the first to almost be wiped out via genocide of our tribe.

We've persevered, we've continued, and we've maintained this original landmass via treaty with the Crown of England, and we are very proud to occupy this site of land and be sitting on the river that bears our name.

(bright music) - The Pamunkey River is integral to Pamunkey history and Pamunkey culture because it has served as our transportation system.

It provided food.

It provided trade items.

And after European colonialism provided a market or a cash economy for our tribal members and using the plants, the animals, and the fish to make a livelihood, so whenever you think about the Pamunkey Tribe, our history, our culture, you cannot talk about it without the river.

It was the one thing that sustained our community.

It is the reason why we are still here today.

(bright music) (birds squawking) (birds chirping) (gentle upbeat music) (water splashes) - So we'd catch shad, and we used to sell the shad and then buy food and also eat some.

And we used catch a lot of herring, and we'd salt them up and have them for the winter.

They used to catch so many fish, put 'em in a barrel, and load them on the train.

The train would ship 'em to Baltimore.

We also would take a net, just like they did back then, and go around the edge of the shore, and we'd catch catfish, white perch, and that would help us along during the summer months.

(gentle music) - One of the most important things for people to know is that, you know, the Pamunkey people, we're still here today.

We've always maintained a vibrant culture and existence here in Tidewater, Virginia.

It's very evident through our Treaty Tribute that we pay every year to the governor.

We still pay our Treaty Tribute from Middle Plantation That was established in 1677.

That's something that is maintained pretty much every single year since it was first established.

I feel as though that's one of the most important things because the things that allow us to fish from the river or to harvest from the river or to gather as we need for cultural aspects, that could easily be threatened if that treaty goes away.

- [Jennifer] Even as we have maintained our treaties, third-party actions have begun to affect our waterway.

Recently, the river that we are so proud of has started to change.

Pollution, erosion, and invasive species are beginning to degrade the ecosystem that has matured over thousands of years.

- Even in my lifetime, shad populations have been drastically reduced, other populations of mussels that maybe people don't think about, and then we have invasive species, such as hydrilla and blue catfish, that are crowding out the natural fisheries.

Over the years, we've developed partnerships with the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, NOAA, Virginia Marine Resource Commission, and basically learn from them.

They would provide the scientific expertise.

Our tribal members would provide the fish, the fishing, the work hours, the manpower needed to operate the hatchery.

- That's the way they go down the road, and fish get tangled up into it.

And then they belong to me.

- We started the hatchery, the shad hatchery, in the early 20th century as a way of giving back to the river for all that we were taking out.

And over the years, we saw that we pretty much needed to because the populations were dropping.

So the shad hatchery has meant a lot, both just as a means of giving back to the river and to replenish the shad population.

- Shad fishing was one of the key components of the Pamunkey economy for thousands of years, and it became especially important in the 19th and 20th centuries because that's what we would eat, and that's what men would sell at the markets from all the way from Florida all the way up to New York City.

And men would be gone for long times of the year and make cash with their fish and send that back to their families to use for the household.

Without the river, I don't think that you could really talk about Pamunkey history or culture because of how important it is.

And you can see it behind me.

I mean, not only does it provide a beautiful space for our people to live today, but it's the resource that we always look to when we talk about what's important to us, what defines us as a community.

(gentle upbeat music) - [Jennifer] Although undoing the recent damage might seem insurmountable, we are trying.

Today, a small team of Pamunkey Tribal Members and researchers from government agencies are working to find a way to mitigate the damage and begin a rebirth of our river.

Together, they are now tagging and logging the Atlantic Sturgeon population.

When the English arrived in early 1607, it was said the sturgeon were so plentiful, a person could walk from one side of the river to the other on the backs of them.

While this is certainly not true today, their population is in steep decline, and research is being performed to better understand these beautiful, massive fish.

- In addition to shad, sturgeon were once a big part of Pamunkey life.

Their populations have diminished to the point where sturgeon are endangered species.

And we've been working with federal grants to study sturgeon and determined their life habits, their life cycles, where they bed, so that we can hopefully bring back sturgeon in the abundant quantities they once were.

- Sturgeon played an important part, a spiritual part.

Indigenous culture is all based around spirituality, everything from bringing life in to taking life out.

All decisions, all thought, all actions are based upon spirituality.

Always has been.

Always will be for Indigenous people that wear it on the sleeves and in their heart and in every breath.

(gentle music) - Atlantic Sturgeon were put on the endangered species list back in 2012.

Their population has been declining at a rapid rate recently.

So what we're doing is we're trying to figure out biological and physiological aspects of what's going on in the river 'cause they are an indicator species of there's something wrong if their population is dropping.

So we are going out there, and we are tagging them, taking DNA samples, and trying to get an abundance estimate of the adult spawning population.

- [Jennifer] Much of the effort from the team surrounds tracking and logging the sturgeon that come up the river, Along the lower, middle, and upper parts of the Pamunkey River, the team sets up a series of stations to monitor the water quality for dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH levels, and a host of other measurements.

The team also uses a series of receivers to track the sturgeon that enter the river.

Numerous sturgeon have been tagged with acoustic receivers, and as they pass the monitoring stations, a ping is registered, allowing the team to understand approximately where the fish are at that exact time, the date, and what the conditions were in the river.

(gentle music) - Working this project, you get a better understanding of the river 'cause you're out there almost every day during field season, and then you learn about these huge fish that are in this river.

But I've never actually seen one until I worked this grant.

So it's kind of cool to actually work with the fish that you hear stories about from the Tribal Members.

(gentle music) - [Jennifer] This place of peace continues to inspire generations of Pamunkey Indians.

With the help of the Tribe and the federal government, one day soon, the ills of the river may be replaced once again with bounty.

- I think one of the most important parts about Pamunkey history, about Pamunkey culture, and defining ourselves as an Indigenous community is our relationship to the water, to the Pamunkey River.

Without it, I don't think that we could look to who we are today and really understand that we still have this precious and important resource that we can still use for our people.

So for me, the river, again is our bloodline.

It's our lifeline, and without it, we wouldn't be the Pamunkey people we are today.

(gentle music) (gentle upbeat music)