Drowned Land is a feature documentary that shares the stories of a group of water protectors determined to preserve the lifeline of their community and end a cycle of environmental exploitation on the Kiamichi River.
Recently, the state of Oklahoma signed an agreement to divert up to 85% of the water from the most ecologically diverse river in Oklahoma - the Kiamichi, located deep in the Choctaw Nation.
The Kiamichi and its tributaries have a history of exploitation with disastrous consequences to the community and the environment. The construction of Sardis Dam in the Kiamichi watershed by the US Army Corps of Engineers flooded the town of Sardis and displaced its residents - all that is left is the Sardis cemetery, now an island in the middle of the lake.
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Colleen Thurston is the director of Drowned Land and a Choctaw Nation citizen who has a personal tie to this story. To make room for resource exploitation and white settlement, the federal government forcibly removed the Choctaw Nation from their homelands in the southeastern United States and sent them on the harrowing Trail of Tears to Oklahoma.
A century after this act of land theft and genocide, Colleen’s Choctaw grandfather was an engineer with the Corps of Engineers, who helped to design and build the dams which displaced the very people who like himself came from a history of displacement. In Drowned Land, Colleen explores the legacy of her grandfather’s work and cycle of displacement within the Choctaw Nation and the Kiamichi watershed.
The Kiamichi River is a cultural heartline and a source of subsistence
for the region, and its ecological diversity is rich and unique.
The river is home to three endangered species of mussels, which keep the water clean, and which only exist in the Kiamichi watershed.
Already threatened by climate change and the construction of Sardis Dam, this tiny mollusk is at risk due to the proposed water diversion and additional development projects. As the community fights to save their water, invoking the Endangered Species Act to protect the river's mussels may be the last hope to conserve the ecosystem.
In Drowned Land, Colleen follows the stories of those whose lives and activism offer hope in their quest to guard the “heartline” of their people.
FILM SYNOPSIS
Winding its way through southeastern Oklahoma, deep in the Choctaw Nation, the Kiamichi River is a bastion of eco-diversity. Much to the dismay of communities along the river, the state of Oklahoma recently signed an agreement to dam and divert 85% of its remaining water.
This isn’t a first for the Kiamichi and its tributaries, already twice-dammed to create reservoirs. One, Sardis Lake, is named after the town that was flooded by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1980. All that is left of Sardis is the cemetery, now an island in the middle of the lake.
Residents of communities along the Kiamichi are determined that their water source should not be further disturbed. A group of locals have banded together to fight developers and the state in court over their river, invoking the Endangered Species Act – not only is the Kiamichi the most ecologically diverse river in the state, it is the most mussel-diverse river in the world.
In fact, the Kiamichi River is home to three endangered mussel species – the Ouachita rock pocketbook, the scaleshell, and the winged mapleleaf – whose feeding habits help preserve the delicately balanced aquatic ecosystem. As these tiny mollusks are already threatened by climate change and the construction of Sardis Dam, ensuring their protection has become the catalyst to conserve the river and the community’s shared identity along with it.
Theirs isn’t just a fight for a river; it’s a lifelong reckoning with the cycle of land theft in the Choctaw Nation, from being driven out of their homelands and forced along the Trail of Tears to their current Nation within Oklahoma. Drowned Land is interwoven with the f ilmmaker’s personal narrative and the tale of her Choctaw grandfather who worked for the Army Corps of Engineers and helped design several of the dams that displaced Oklahomans, many of them Native. The film follows the river’s advocates in their daily lives, as they grapple with the past and work to protect the Kiamichi—in court, in community gatherings, and working, playing, and praying along the river.
The narrative arc follows the river - as a living entity, how it as the main character in the film, changes as it is impacted through the years. Through the film, we see how its life-giving ability has ebbed and flowed, and how the impact of the damming and development projects affects this ability.
Likewise, we watch the director Colleen explore her grandfather's work and her tribe's continuous struggles with resource exploitation and how it shapes her reconciliation of the past with the present.