A prayer walk from Astoria to Hanford, the most contaminated site in North America
In this Truth + Reckoning interview, we speak with Djuli (Julie) Lomboy about her prayer walk along the Columbia River (Imaɬ). Djuli Lomboy is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde of Klickitat, Wasco, Chinookan, Molalla, Klamath, Filipino, German, French Canadian and Scandinavian descent. She walked nearly the whole length of the lower river, 300 miles from Astoria to Hanford, starting in June and finishing in July.
We discuss Djuli’s motivation for embarking on this walk, the difficulties she faced along the way, the nuclear contamination of the Hanford nuclear site, other threats facing the river and the riparian communities, the spiritual basis of cultural transformation, and the disconnection of modern society from the natural world.
The world’s greatest rivers are among the most degraded ecosystems. The Colorado River, sucked dry for agriculture in California and the Southwest, no longer reaches the ocean. The Mississippi is so toxified with agricultural chemicals that the Gulf of Mexico at its mouth is lifeless across 7,000 square miles. The Yangtze is now home to the world’s largest dam and not to the Chinese paddlefish and Yangtze river dolphin — both extinct.
This conversation is an important reflection on personal action, prayer and internal change, the destruction of rivers — the veins of our planet — and more. We thank you for listening.
Links and Resources:
- Hanford Challenge – leading watchdog of the Hanford cleanup
- List of dams in the Columbia River watershed
- Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde website
- Prayer Walk on The Imaɬ (Columbia River) – video recorded by Djuli in advance of the walk
- Past, Present, and Future Dead: The Nippon Dynawave industrial accident, Coffin Rock, and ecological collapse
- Impacts of noise pollution on wildlife
- Impacts of roads on wildlife
