By Joanne Richardson The PulseJuly 26, 2017

An Island In Louisiana’s Bayou Is Vanishing, And Its Residents Are Fleeing To Higher Ground

An overflowing river's water reaches up to the road on a bridge.

At the Isle de Jean Charles, residents are seeing rising seas taking over their houses. The people can move, but what about the stories and attachments to place that made the place “home”?

Tags

Engagement Environmental Justice United States

About the Author(s)

Issue Contents

Introduction

Introduction to Issue 25 | Rivers & Borders

On a map, the defined line of a river makes a compelling case for becoming a border. The line crisply delineates one space from...

By Laurie Moberg, Editor

Feature (Peer Review)

Socio-Ecological System of Flooding in Bucksport, South Carolina

There is growing awareness that climate change has the potential to deepen inequalities, especially regarding the threat of riverine flooding. For example, the United...

By Geoffrey Habron and John Roper

Feature (Peer Review)

A Fluid Border: The River Tamar and Constructed Difference in Travel Writing of Cornwall

The Tamar is a relatively modest river. With a length of just 61 miles, and an average discharge at the upper tidal limit of...

By Tim Hannigan

Feature (Peer Review)

The Backbone of America: A New River with the Same Ol’ Bones

The Mississippi River, among many names, is known as “The Backbone of America,” and has played a major role in shaping the lives of...

By Michael O. Johnston

Feature (Peer Review)

Not a Border, But a Path: Swimming Across the Rio Grande

On a cool November day, I floated in the middle of Amistad Reservoir, a lake formed by a dam on the Rio Grande. I...

By Melinda J. Menzer

Geographies

When the Border is a River: A Journey Along the Salween River-Border

Rivers might appear to be a natural or even an expedient way to demarcate political borders. Yet rivers are always in flux as flows...

By Zali Fung and Vanessa Lamb

In Review

The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration by Jake Bittle

Abandoned homes with boarded up windows. Mold growing up the walls of houses flooded under five feet of water. The charred remnants of entire...

By Julia Oschwald Tilton

Perspectives

A Small but Ultimate Presence

This year the heat of the desert grew, and the absence of water only became more stark against that rapidly rising contrast. Tucson, my...

By Isaac Espósto

Primary Sources

How much is the world’s most productive river worth?

How much is the world’s most productive river worth? Here’s how experts estimate the value of nature: Southeast Asia’s Mekong may be the most important...

By Stefan Lovgren

Teaching and Practice

Creative Connections with Rivers: A Toolkit for Learning and Collaboration

We are three people who draw on research and practice to create arts-based learning, engagement materials, and interventions with and for diverse audiences. We...

By Stephanie Januchowski-Hartley, Ioanna (Daphne) Giannoulatou, and Merryn Thomas

More Stories

Morning mist at St. Anthony Falls. Image courtesy of Mona M. Smith and Joanne Richardson.

Owámniyomni, a Dakota Name for “St. Anthony Falls”

Owámniyomni, a Dakota name for “St. Anthony Falls,” means turbulent water, whirlpool, eddy. To Dakota people the Mississippi River has a few names, one is ȟaȟáwakpá – the river of the falls, a name that reveals the importance of the waterfall.