1. The Akiak Native Community: A self-governing body in remote Alaska

The ANC is a federally recognized Tribe, with approximately 450 enrolled members, and a contemporary governance system rooted in sovereignty and self-determination.Footnote ⁷ This status shapes their capacity to advocate for and manage resources for their members. The ANC’s self-governing body (Tribal Council) manages internal affairs and negotiates with the United States governments on behalf of Tribal welfare. Sovereignty and the federal government’s trust responsibility guide Tribal rights to manage natural resources, including water. This type of Tribal governance among the ANC empowers the community. Specifically, Tribal sovereignty creates a government-to-government mechanism whereby the community can advocate for clean and reliable water infrastructure, participate in federal and state programs, and design solutions that honor local values. In addition, because of their government-to-government relationship, the ANC can access federal funding (often prioritized for federally recognized tribes), technical assistance, and regulatory flexibility.Footnote ⁸ Still, navigating complex state and federal requirements can be challenging and the government-to-government relationship does not guarantee that the ANC’s needs will be met in a timely manner.Footnote ⁹

With regard to the communities’ water infrastructure, they operate a class 2 water treatment facility, which is a system with 501–5,000 service connections and indicates a moderate level of technical complexity.Footnote ¹⁰ The system treats groundwater and uses several standard treatment processes (oxidation, coagulation, filtration, disinfection, etc.). Local certified operators run the system, striving to meet regulatory requirements.Footnote ¹¹ The capacity and classification of the system mean it can support the community’s needs, but it is not highly advanced, potentially limiting resilience or ability to handle contamination or increased demand. Though the class 2 system meets regulatory standards, its moderate complexity and rural location make it vulnerable to breakdowns, staffing challenges, or weather extremes. Therefore, continued advocacy and investment, shaped by strong Tribal governance, are vital to improve and maintain water security.

Historically and presently, the Kuskokwim River, located within the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta of Alaska, has been an essential drinking water source for Akiak and other Native villages along its banks, including Akiachak, Aniak, Bethel, Kwethluk, Tuluksak, Tuntutuliak, and more. Besides serving as a source of drinking water, the river is central to the village’s food resources, with many fishing camps along its length demonstrating the community’s reliance on it for subsistence.Footnote ¹² ANC is located about 42 river miles upstream from Bethel, the closest town with a fully stocked grocery store. For villagers looking to buy store purchased food, the river is an essential transportation route. In the winter, it functions as a road when frozen, and throughout the rest of the year, it supports boating activities. Without the river, ANC members would have to fly in and out of Akiak as there are no roads outside of their village.

The distance to the grocery stores poses significant challenges in emergencies, such as during power outages and shutdowns of the local water treatment plant, which supplies the ANC with tap water from groundwater sources.Footnote ¹³ In such scenarios, the community often depends on bottled water flown in or delivered by barge from Bethel. For those unable to drive or boat to Bethel, alternative methods like collecting rainwater during rainy seasons or drawing water from the river become necessary for their livelihood. Despite such extreme challenges, our team developed a collaborative partnership between the University of Washington (UW) and Akiak Tribal leaders in a span of over two years that resulted in the installation of a 2,250-gallon water cistern equipped with UV disinfection technology.Footnote ¹⁴ This initial project presented a sustainable solution to enhance the community’s access to safe drinking water. Although the rainwater cistern serves as a viable option during warmer months, it becomes inoperable in the winter. Still, the rainwater cistern is a substantial improvement over existing water sources, with ANC leaders asserting that it provides better quality of water and resonates with their cultural use of water.

To gain a better understanding about water preferences in ANC, our team developed an online survey to assess household community perceptions of drinking water in terms of taste, smell, and safety.Footnote ¹⁵ This work was particularly challenging due to the limited access to the internet and the cost associated with travel to the remote region. To overcome these logistical barriers, we co-designed and implemented an online survey in collaboration with the ANC community. This involved a two-day in-person training program with two experienced community leaders for survey administration. This ensured communicating informed consent in both Yup’ik (Indigenous language) and American English to the surveyed households. The UW and Akiak research teams collaboratively analyzed the household survey data, integrating comments and feedback at every step of the research process.

2. Reflexivity and radical relationality in research practices

Our team practiced reflexivity as we implemented Tribally engaged research to address the challenges of drinking water insecurity with strong guidance and leadership from the community (Table 1). These approaches not only established a foundation for ongoing culturally relevant research partnerships but also nurtured enduring trust, commitment, cohesiveness between our partners and other successful outcomes. In Table 1, we demonstrate how our research team implemented Indigenous and qualitative methodologies while using a reflexive research approach. This allowed our team to examine how our worldviews impacted the outcomes of our research. In particular, at each qualitative research step, we demonstrate culturally relevant actions and how these practices led to successful outcomes, such as collaborative processes, ethical engagement, and sustainable outcomes. A qualification of this analysis is a focus on merely the positive outcomes, acknowledging that a full examination of all types of outcomes will need to be conducted in future research.

Table 1.

Integrating indigenous methodologies and reflexive practice in qualitative research

Note: This table demonstrates how our research team integrated Indigenous methodologies and reflexive practice into the qualitative research process to facilitate tribally engaged research outcomes. In a reflexive practice, we examined the cultural relevance of our research approach and project successes. Each row outlines culturally grounded actions, showing how these practices led to collaboration, ethical engagement, and sustainable, community-driven outcomes.

Source: Author’s own.

Still, the outcomes in Table 1 are evidenced by our ability to supply safe drinking water to the ANC while working together over several years. Building upon our successful university-community engagement, we also incorporated Indigenous research methodologies (IRM) to further tailor our research opportunities to respect and resonate deeply with the unique cultural identities of the ANC.Footnote ¹⁶ By integrating IRM and engaging a broad coalition of scholars, Tribal experts, and community constituents, our research endeavors have yielded mutual benefits—enhancing academic perspectives and directly contributing to Tribal well-being.Footnote ¹⁷

We employed IRM to scaffold our approach, which allowed us to transcend traditional Western academic paradigms by embracing and integrating the multiple realities of Indigenous communities into the research process.Footnote ¹⁸ Core to our Indigenous methodological approach is the concept of relationality, which deepens our understanding and integration of community ties and interactions. Relationality is a principle articulated by Shawn, and others that underscores the interconnectedness of kinship ties.Footnote ¹⁹ Although it has only recently become more prominent in the field of Indigenous studies, this phenomenon is globally observed across Indigenous societies all over the world.Footnote ²⁰ These ties form the ancestral backbone to Indigenous identities and are key to our futures as Indigenous peoples.Footnote ²¹ Moreover, engaging with Dr. Linda Tahiwai Smith’s insights, our team crafted a research framework that recognizes the unique questions and perspectives Indigenous communities bring to research.Footnote ²²

Our embrace of relationality not only presents research practices but also necessitates a critical examination of coloniality. Taking on a critical research lens has allowed us to understand the historical context of Indigenous experiences, including family separations from early European encounters, through the U.S. Allotment and Assimilation Era, and continuing into contemporary challenges that still fragment family ties and community cohesion.Footnote ²³ Despite these disruptions by colonial structures, as Indigenous communities, we are recentering our journey on the red road to embrace “radical relationality,” a theoretical framework guiding our formulation of research queries and overall research design.Footnote ²⁴ Radical relationality ensures that our approach to research methodologies is not only inclusive but also reparative, receptive, and empowering to Indigenous communities.Footnote ²⁵ In addition, it ensures that researchers are integrating cultural values and Indigenous principles into each step of the research process.

In this work, radical relationality recognizes the multiple connections between water, humans, and the broader environment, focusing on intergenerational sustainability and ISK. The adage “water is life” philosophically connects water and humans to the sky, earth, ocean, mountains, trees, flowers, and all living things. This connection describes this relationality and establishes our responsibility as stewards to the world around us. As researchers, the notion of radical relationality articulates our ancestral knowledge and teachings to our work in contemporary times.

Our research contributes to academic discourse, reinforces values intrinsic to Indigenous cultures, and supports the holistic enrichment of community well-being. By framing community well-being through the lens of radical relationality, our work highlights the essential nature of collaborative efforts necessary to overcome water security challenges in remote Alaska, as demonstrated along with the ANC.

3. Engaging tradition and modernity in water security to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

In pursuit of addressing safe water access as a vital issue, our work dives deeply into the cultural and environmental dimensions of water security. The literature offers diverse interpretations of water security that encompass cultural and environmental considerations, the factors contributing to water insecurity such as inadequate historical policies and infrastructure, and the range of community-led responses to these issues.Footnote ²⁶ Recognizing a significant methodological and knowledge gaps in the scholarly literature, our research team gathered survey data, thus bringing global frameworks together with the lived experiences of AIAN communities.Footnote ²⁷ As Indigenist researchers, we recognize that knowledge gaps can drive the production of new understandings within the academy; however, a higher guiding principle is to honor the cultural dimensions of the research questions we pursue and to recognize how these questions serve as vehicles for self-determination. In this process, we connect global goals with place-based Indigenous priorities and ensure that Indigenous voices are included in conversations about sustainable efforts worldwide.

Our insights from surveys conducted between 2023 and 2024 detail the community’s perceptions of water quality and safety, an experience felt across many Indigenous and non-Indigenous societies.Footnote ²⁸ It underscores their dissatisfaction with contemporary drinking water sources, primarily due to dissolved minerals (e.g., iron) from surrounding bedrock, and highlights their preference for alternative solutions like rainwater collection.Footnote ²⁹ This approach not only bridges the gap between theoretical concepts and real-world experiences but also deepens our understanding of remote Native communities, illustrating the necessity for meaningful, effective, and community-engaged health interventions.Footnote ³⁰

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) identify clean water and sanitation under Goal 6. This goal is to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.”Footnote ³¹ Under this framework, specific targets such as 6.1 and 6.b call for “universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all” (Target 6.1) and “the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management” (Target 6.b).Footnote ³² These goals illustrate how our research contributes to global milestones that emphasize the need for solutions addressing water insecurity and community engagement.

4. Ethical engagement with Akiak Native Community

In our study, Indigenous students and faculty worked together to develop ethical, inclusive, and participatory protocols to ensure a pathway for external constituents to engage ethically with Tribal communities.Footnote ³³ This was accomplished by engaging in iterative dialogue and collective decision-making to identify community values, priorities, and historical concerns regarding external engagement. In some cases, this was achieved through remote cross-team collaboration, with the ANC located in Alaska and most of the UW team based in Washington. Remote communication occurred via Zoom meetings, social media messaging, text messages, and phone conversations. Since 2019, in-person water security meetings have also been held several times in Akiak, AK, and during conferences attended by team members.

Through methods such as talking circles, shared storytelling, field work, community workshops, and consensus-building meetings, our team drew on both traditional knowledge and academic expertise to co-create protocols. Over the years, our cross-team collaboration grew stronger. During some of our in-person meetings, we cooked (moose meat) soups, baked cakes, and visited together as we prepared for community workshops that included talking circles and knowledge dissemination.

If our field visit coincided with berry-picking season, we boated upriver to traditional tundra areas to gather blueberries, cranberries, and tundra tea. One season, the community discussed how climate change was affecting the abundance of berries and shifting the harvesting window. That year, our ANC research field leaders jokingly celebrated a team member who had gathered just one handful of berries, calling her a “berry picking warrior with good luck.” We laughed about this often, and even upon returning to the village, she was still celebrated. Of course, everyone knew that a handful of berries could not compare with the five-gallon buckets typically filled during a weekend family outing.

These visits, primarily among women and children, created opportunities to set aside Western academic expectations and engage in relational ways, seeing each other as humans, as Indigenous relatives striving to improve our communities. In these spaces, we teased each other, laughed, and simply existed together. This was important for relationality, as it allowed us to see each other’s spirit and essence, to relax, and to feel safe and accepted. We built trust that extended beyond data collection and analysis, creating connections our ancestors would have appreciated. In caring for one another, we enabled ourselves to return to the work we are called to do for our communities. Our research process became restorative and healing.

This collaborative process ensured that all voices, especially those of students and elders, were included and respected differing perspectives, even those outside the immediate research process. Team members examined past examples of both positive and problematic external engagement, ensuring that the protocols addressed issues of consent, reciprocity, data sovereignty, and transparency. By foregrounding Indigenous Knowledge Systems and ethical frameworks, we established participatory guidelines that enabled external partners to build trust, act responsibly, and honor Tribal sovereignty in all research and engagement processes.

We attribute our approach to the unique composition of our team, which included both Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous allies. Indigenous team members contributed emic insights rooted in their cultural knowledge, while non-Indigenous allies offered etic perspectives based on their own backgrounds. We transparently shared drafts of the UW research team’s (faculty and graduate students) design protocols, actively requesting feedback from the Akiak research team and iteratively refining our protocol. The final protocol was approved by both the research team and the Tribal council. This collaboration ensured respectful adherence to local Tribal guidelines and policies in our work with ANC.

More specifically, following research ethics when working with Tribal nations from the university involves adhering to established standards that respect sovereignty, laws, and rights of these communities. This process called for obtaining approvals from the university’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) and from the Tribal government’s own Tribal Research Review Boards (TRRBs) or equivalent body. This two-level approach to ethics approvals ensured that our research activities and procedures were looked at from multiple perspectives, aligning not only with rigorous academic standards but also with Tribal cultural and community-centric values.Footnote ³⁴

Acknowledging Tribal sovereignty when engaging with Tribal communities includes framing research questions and methodologies relevant to the Tribal context.Footnote ³⁵ Researchers adhering to Tribal laws and regulations intrinsically allow for tangible benefits for Tribal communities to unfold, aligning with their needs and priorities. Additionally, respecting Indigenous data sovereignty is essential, which mandates that data collected about the Tribes during the research process are controlled and owned by the Tribes themselves regarding its collection, sharing, and storage.Footnote ³⁶ Finally, maintaining transparency in research practices and communicating findings with the consent of Tribal communities ensure adherence for shared accountability in maintaining ethical standards throughout the research lifecycle.Footnote ³⁷

5. Decolonization of water justice

Decolonization among place-based water justice fighters, particularly within Indigenous communities, centers reverence for Tribal sovereignty, self-determination, and community-driven methodologies. The decolonization process signifies recognizing Indigenous authority in every aspect, from planning through to implementation and beyond, in alignment with their Tribal traditions and legal systems. This approach embraces a shift from top-down decision-making to participatory models, where community members are integral in shaping projects to reflect local needs, narratives, and cultural values. These methods leverage IKS alongside scientific research to develop culturally appropriate and sustainable water management solutions.Footnote ³⁸ Decolonization involves empowering communities through education about water security and health disparities and supporting economic opportunities that enhance local livelihoods.Footnote ³⁹

Innovative solutions, such as community-designed rainwater harvesting systems, demonstrate the practical application of decolonized water justice, providing sustainable models that respect local ecosystems and cultural norms.Footnote ⁴⁰ Ultimately, the true decolonization of water access not only restores physical access but also empowers communities to manage resources in ways that nurtures long-term resilience and autonomy.

Part of our process for decolonizing water justice was contributing shared knowledge that sparked cross-cultural engagement. Our UW team brought lived experiences with water inaccessibility on Indigenous lands, highlighting how this shapes holistic perspectives on cultural and human water uses. With these decolonial viewpoints, our team connected with the stories told by community members, recognizing similarities with experiences on other reservations and Indigenous homelands across the United States and North America.

The neglect of water infrastructure among Indigenous peoples in North America is reflected in the ongoing lack of access to safe water, both anthropogenically and naturally contaminated sources, aquifer extraction, and dilapidated, outdated, or absent water systems. In contrast to urban areas, which often have abundant supplies of treated drinking water, sometimes at the expense of Indigenous populations, affected Tribal communities must ensure that every cup of water is used respectfully and carefully. This carefulness stems not only from scarcity but also from a deep appreciation for the sacredness of water as it relates to every stage of the human and nonhuman life cycles.

Such stories about the sacredness of water are often kept within families and communities, and when shared, adhere to specific cultural protocols. Nonetheless, being mindful of these protocols is an example of how our cross-cultural team came together in mutual understanding.

6. Reflections from our research team

In reflecting on this research, contributions from a diverse group enrich our understanding and future outlook. Author 1, the principal investigator of this overarching research, emphasizes the transformative nature of integrating Indigenous methodologies, which reshaped her academic paradigms, bringing a deeper respect for cultural interconnections. Meanwhile, Author 2, a PhD candidate, acknowledges a significant shift in his research approach to acknowledge the presence of community ownership of the survey datasets, projecting a future where his academic pursuits remain tightly interwoven with active community participation. In fact, community ownership will become a central part of his doctoral dissertation. Tribal leaders, Author 3 and Author 4, underscore the community’s deepened engagement with the research process and highlight the tangible benefits of the implemented rainwater harvesting systems. Author 3 speaks to a broader vision where such collaborations address immediate needs and promote both sustainable management and cultural preservation. These reflections culminate in a unified call for developing tribally led-research partnership through IRM that respect and uplift AIAN voices, ensuring that the pathways to water security are as much about restoring cultural integrity as ensuring sustainable community well-being.

7. Policy interventions and future research directions

To address water security issues in AIAN communities, several policy interventions and future research directions are recommended. Policy interventions should prioritize the improvement and maintenance of water infrastructure tailored to the unique needs of AIAN communities, including funding for resilient water systems in extreme cold regions, such as Alaska. Long-term use and safe water policies must integrate ISK by involving Tribal leadership in the governance and decision-making processes. Not doing so can lead to dead-end projects that waste valuable resources and time and contribute to broken promises from federal and state decision makers.Footnote ⁴¹ In addition, monitoring and educational programs focused on water quality and safe drinking water practices should be more readily accessible, particularly in communities with severe water insecurity. Supportive legislation is also essential to empower AIAN communities in water management.Footnote ⁴²

Tribal water security data generated through IRM empower Tribal communities and uphold their data sovereignty.Footnote ⁴³ This goal can be achieved by designating the Tribal government’s own TRRBs or equivalent body, as the principal custodians of the data, recognizing them as the authority to share rights for reuse and publish.Footnote ⁴⁴ For future research, expanding community-based research to other Tribes and regions will help us better understand water security challenges and responses. Longitudinal studies remain essential to evaluate the long-term impacts of participatory interventions. In this work, an interdisciplinary team of researchers from information science, Indigenous studies, and environmental public health has yielded holistic solutions and, thus, encourages transformative outcomes to research. Similar research approaches should analyze the effectiveness of existing water policies and identify legislative gaps. These combined efforts in policy and research will significantly enhance water security for AIAN communities, supporting sustainable and culturally respectful solutions.

8. Concluding reflections

In this essay, we highlight our journey, grounded in respect for culture and a commitment to sustainable innovation, as an ongoing process of learning, adaptation, and mutual growth. Our research not only enhanced water security but also strengthened cultural connections and Tribal sovereignty, modeling how scholarly work can respectfully support Indigenous communities. By engaging with both Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) and modern approaches to water justice, our team embraced the importance of deep listening and community-academic action.

Each phase of our project was guided by community insights and rigorous academic methods, with the goal of empowerment rather than mere intervention. Both the leadership and community members of the ANC deeply appreciate the outcomes of this collaboration. In fact, our teams are now discussing ways to expand the project to neighboring villages and are identifying local leaders who could serve as key contributors, all with the long-term goal of improving regional water security.

These expanded projects, like the one described here, will honor village intellectual property through mechanisms of free, prior, and informed consent and will adhere to internal cultural protocols regarding knowledge stewardship and ownership. Such considerations will be central in future stages of our research, where we will further address data ownership and sharing, including through doctoral research studies.

Our efforts in decolonization demonstrate that the true value of our work extends beyond academic outcomes, connecting with and empowering community voices, who now have greater control over their drinking water futures. As we continue to build on this work, we look forward to finding innovative ways to understand and address water insecurity in remote regions of the world. By developing new methodological approaches, we aim to foster meaningful collaborations that support ethical research engagement and sustainable water solutions, always guided by Indigenous values.