Along the U.S.–Mexico border in Arizona, the Cocopah Indian Tribe is accustomed to change. Over centuries, they have seen borders drawn that intersect their homeland. They’ve watched their traditional way of life adapt and survive with each new generation.
The Cocopah are known as “the river people,” a name given long before the Colorado River was diverted through modern canals and dams. As the water disappeared, so did sacred animals that dwelled in the riverside habitat. Once, the Cocopah collected willow and cottonwood for traditional games and ceremonies. Today, invasive species like saltcedar and phragmites obstruct the shoreline and siphon the remaining water from the soil.
During the occasional water release from north of the reservation, the Cocopah watch their river awaken briefly as it once did, only to fall back into hibernation as others access its water. The river hasn’t reliably reached its natural endpoint in the Gulf of California since the 1960s, its once-prolific flow now stopping somewhere in the Sonoran Desert.
“The Colorado River has always been our home,” says Tribal Vice Chairman Neil White. “The water has provided so many things for us, but nobody really goes out there anymore,” he says of the growing inaccessibility of the river and instability along the border.
Recently, Vice Chairman White met with members of the Navajo Nation to discuss Tribal issues. “I told them about some of the problems we're having out here in our community [with alcohol, with young people], and they asked me about the river. They told me the river is our power source. We need to go back into our culture, and the river is going to provide that power for us."
To reconnect to this cultural power source, the Cocopah have partnered with the National Audubon Society on two significant restoration projects on the reservation’s North and West sections. Federal grant funding is helping the Tribe transform more than 400 acres in the Colorado River floodplain.
The Tribe is removing invasive, non-native vegetation, planting native trees, shrubs and grasses, and using existing water rights to sustain the restored area through irrigation.
Additionally, the funding will support the development of a Cocopah Tribal youth corps to engage young people in the project and rebuild their connections to the Colorado River.
Of the 1,000 Tribal members, Vice Chairman White says around 500 live on the reservation today. Most of them, he says, are children, who like most kids, are more interested in screens than the outdoors.
“When I was growing up, there were always traditional gatherings and celebrations. It helped us get to know each other.” Once the restoration projects are completed, he says, “we can take them out there more. They can run and play when the weather’s right.”
Audubon is a Walton Family Foundation partner. The foundation provided Audubon with funding to support the Cocopah Indian Tribe in its successful federal grant writing efforts as part of our commitment to build the capacity of conservation partners and increase use of conservation solutions that benefit nature and people.
Jennifer Alspach is the director of the Tribe’s Environmental Protection Office and worked with Audubon on several rounds of grant applications before the project received full funding.
“The significance of the project is huge. Environmental changes have really impacted the Tribe’s way of life. The sites have been extremely degraded. It's very dry with a lot of invasive plants. To bring back the native plant species that the tribe depends on, and to increase the gathering spaces available for the tribe to be close to the river, is really important.”
Alspach, a Yuma native, once had dreams of studying the Arctic. But when COVID-19 kept her closer to home, she found that her hometown was itself an inflection point for water-related climate change.
“I think it's one of the most interesting areas probably in the world. First, seeing what little access the Tribal community had to the river, the changes and loss they have experienced over a relatively short amount of time, and then, seeing the impact right away of these projects – the animals coming back, the people walking along the site – it’s really special.”
Jennifer Pitt, Audubon’s liaison to the Tribe, goes one step further.
“Like many Tribes, the Cocopah have experienced a loss of their culture and their cultural knowledge, because for generations now, they've lived in a place that is completely transformed from what their culture evolved in," she says. "More than just a place to walk and enjoy nature and see birds, this project is very much an act of planned cultural survival.”
Two years ago, the Tribe had completed a separate 8-acre restoration project on its North reservation – funded by the Catena Foundation – that highlights benefits for its members and the environment.
The restored area includes a walking path that provides Tribal members greater access to the river and newly-planted trees and vegetation.
Planning and permitting on the larger restoration projects on the North and West reservations are underway. Construction is expected to begin in the fall of 2025.
On a recent visit to the completed restoration project on the North Reservation, Vice Chairman White saw a glimmer of his Tribe’s future.
“There were cottonwood trees all around. There were fish and ducks. As we were standing around, the hawk flew in. And I think that’s what we’ve been missing. Our ancestors got the spirit and the hope from seeing these animals out here – the birds, the lizards. The day gets extremely hot in the summertime, but they survive."
As change continues, the Vice Chairman says the Tribe will continue to adapt as well.
“We've survived over the years too. I think restoring the river for our next generation, to have them watch these animals – our spirit source – return, it’s going to empower us to get back to our traditional ways. Maybe not 100%, but we can keep the things that keep the Cocopah alive.”
