Community Stories

Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council, Canada and US

In 2018, the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council received an IEN-WMAN Mining Mini-Grant that enabled us to partner with the Indigenous communities of Rampart, Tanana and Ruby to collect water and sediment samples at eight abandoned, one developing, and one active mine site.

The area traveled has a long history of mining and includes portions of the Rampart, Hot Springs, Melozitna, and Ruby Mining Districts. Staff traveled by canoe to these communities and held Taking Circles with community members about mining in their area and collected water and sediment samples for analysis. The ongoing work of the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council and helpful resources for communities facing mining issues can be found on our website mining page.