The Aqueduct Between Us

The Aqueduct Between Us tells the complex, interconnected story of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, a massive infrastructure project that has served as both a symbol of progress and a source of devastating environmental and social impact. Spanning generations, the film presents a radical oral history of the past and present, centering the experiences and perspectives of the indigenous people of Tovaangar and Payahuunadü – collectively known as the Tongva and Owens Valley Paiute. The film begins with Tovaangar, a word that roughly translates to "where the water flows," the traditional ancestral homeland of the Tongva people. For centuries, the Tongva thrived in this sacred landscape, where the lush waters of the Los Angeles River and Arroyo Seco supported a vibrant culture of hunting, gathering, and agriculture. The arrival of Spanish colonizers brought significant disruption, with the Tongva experiencing forced assimilation, violence, and displacement. Fast forward to the early 20th century, when the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) began construction on the Los Angeles Aqueduct, a massive engineering feat designed to supply water to a rapidly growing LA metropolis. The project's impact would be felt across Tovaangar, as the Tongva saw their ancestral lands ravaged by dust, silt, and dust bowls. The construction also disrupted sacred sites, including the Quatal Canyon, a spiritual burial ground for the Tongva. In the Owens Valley, a similarly painful story unfolded. The Owens Valley Paiute people had long relied on the Owens Lake and its tributaries, which provided a vital source of water for their agricultural and spiritual practices. However, with the construction of the LA Aqueduct, the Owens Valley Paiute found themselves caught in the middle of a conflict over water – a commodity that seemed to hold disproportionate value to outsiders compared to the lives and well-being of Native Californians. Through the voices of Tongva and Owens Valley Paiute elders, descendants, and knowledge-keepers, The Aqueduct Between Us shines a light on the often-overlooked histories and trauma associated with this aqueduct. One of the individuals featured in the film is Susan Lampe, a descendant of Tongva and New England ancestry who, as a child, was forcibly removed from her home in the San Gabriel Mountains. Lampe's personal narrative serves as a powerful vehicle for illuminating the complex interplay between colonialism, environmental destruction, and cultural suppression. As the film delves into the archaeological, anthropological, and ecological histories of the region, it reveals how the Los Angeles Aqueduct has also erased and devalued the Tongva and Owens Valley Paiute cultural knowledge systems, languages, and traditions. With the support of local archaeologists and allies, the Tongva struggle to reclaim their land and honor their ancestors, even as the remnants of their cultures remain hidden or marginalised from mainstream narratives. Throughout the Aqueduct's existence, countless questions have swirled around issues of who owns and controls water, the human impact on the environment, and what constitutes the terms of progress and development. In Los Angeles, the relentless pursuit of 'water security' – largely fueled by an aqueduct system prone to catastrophic failures – represents an underhanded legacy of erasure and alienation, even displacement and burial of water-rich, often Native owned, land across Southern, California. One key protagonist, Robert Eads, a former member of the Fort Madera tribal cabinet who traveled with Don Deever, (a well renowned American water rights attorney for over 24 years) Eads navigates complex alliances and alliances in order to get along with city services; Eads believes Los Angeles officials want to acquire their water. When Eads sets up tents on their former family home near Joshua Tree, in the San Bernardino desert, he sends this note – "if you sell this to us for a good price or lets say the cheap price which will normally for the owner the minimum the amount within which you should sell this 210000. I'm Robert along with my tribe only, so their some ways to get a hold of my friend or inlaws for now i'll get my account so the transfer will be made up with this whole $230,000 real property should receive around 200000. A piece of the wild known as property should equal around $ a million by 2022 these houses can go by under $1 million." Then Eads and his fellow elders of LADWP hold crucial discussions and become interested not only into the preservation of water rights of native cultural but LADWP wants to sell their 99 million shares.