A Life Dedicated to the Movement
How determination and passion lead a Western student to the forefront of environmental and indigenous causes
Story by SANYU NAMOME
Lydia Dennee-Lee’s smile widened as she began talking about the abundance of trees, water and life coming from the rugged Pacific Northwestern environments. Sitting in the empty computer lab, she began to describe her admiration for its beauty.
“Even though it’s dark and rainy and everyone wants to go somewhere tropical, the high rates of biodiversity in these [areas] are so amazing. The water is so rich and so amazing. I feel like people always say ‘It’s dirty!’ but I say, ‘It’s life!’ it’s full of all of this beautiful and dirty life,” she exclaimed.
Dennee-Lee is a fifth-year student at Western Washington University who grew up in the woods of Olympia. With the foundation of a colorful childhood where she nurtured a passion for human rights and environmental activism, Dennee-Lee has been brought to the forefront of conservation efforts at Western and across the country to support environmental and indigenous rights.
“One of my biggest recollections of [participating] in activism was when I was four years old. I went to Washington, D.C. with my two moms and we did the March on Washington, going for same sex marriage rights,” Dennee-Lee reminisced.
As she sat cross-legged in the computer lab, she illustrated what the March on Washington was like for her and the overwhelming amount of people she saw representing every letter of the LGBTQ identities. Her bright blue eyes lit up as she described that trip to the capital with her mothers and the little red wagon they pulled her in during the demonstration.
“It was one of the times I felt the most at home and felt like, ‘Yes, this is what my family represents,” Dennee-Lee said. “This is where I need to be. This is what’s important, making change.’”
Growing up in a non-traditional household, Dennee-Lee said, she was taught to be sensitive to and aware of injustices happening worldwide, beginning in her backyard. This is where her interest in environmental justice sparked.
“My house…is a little nook of weirdness, to be honest,” Dennee-Lee said.
The house was once surrounded by a thick pocket of trees, not another house in sight. All the walls in the house are covered with family pictures, trinkets and random pieces of art collected over the years. Although her hands were pulsating with memory as she outlined parts of the house built in 1910, her eyes grew distant, as if nostalgic.
Dennee-Lee took care of their garden and farm animals and learned about food waste at an early age through composting and saving scraps for the animals. Drawing water from the well gave her the chance to learn about where her water came from. As the health of the bodies of water began to decline around where Dennee-Lee grew up, she remembered becoming gravely concerned.
“You can’t really swim in Budd Inlet,” Dennee-Lee explained about the southernmost arm of the Puget Sound. “That’s how it’s been since I was a little girl and it’s only gotten worse. You can see the oil and scum on top of the water.” Upon reaching Western, she felt the need to take action where water is concerned. Dennee-Lee originally started by studying marine biology, hoping to focus on marine mammal conservation. After seeing first-hand how much social justice issues and environmental issues overlap, she decided to switch her major to active ecological conservation with a minor in American Indian Studies.
As Dennee-Lee grew up, her observation of the decline of the water close to where she lived is what factored into her channeling her concern for environmental issues to water protection. Her work in the Salish Sea began when she joined Western, where she later became involved with WWU Students for the Salish Sea as their abroad member in 2017. As an abroad member, she did not physically attend every meeting, but was still an active member.
“Growing up in [the Pacific Northwest] is all I know as home. This is the environment that I’ve spent my whole life in. This is what I care about the most,” she said.
The Salish Sea is one of the world’s largest and biologically rich inland seas. It encompasses the Puget Sound, San Juan Islands and the waters off Vancouver, B.C. Spanning from Olympia through Seattle all the way to the B.C. Campbell River, the Salish Sea is home to over 37 species of mammals, 172 species of birds, 253 species of fish and more than 3,000 species of invertebrates.
Although the Salish Sea is abundant in habitats for these species, it’s still facing danger from issues such as ocean acidification, sewage runoff and unchecked waste water. This is where people dedicated to preserving the health of the sea like Dennee-Lee come in.
Along with her work at WWU Students for the Salish Sea, which she joined in the fall of 2017, she works at the Salish Sea Institute in Bellingham as a student engagement and learning coordinator which also began that year. Her job is to serve as a liaison between the Canadian and Washington boundaries and continue pushing for protection, restoration and preservation of the Salish Sea. The focus of both organizations is to foster watershed consciousness and action in the community and on campus. Some of the work they do involves working on campaigns in this watershed, doing restoration field work in the Salish Sea, beach clean ups and supporting the Unist’ot’en indigenous camp, a homestead working to protect their traditional territories and prevent pipeline work through the land, Dennee-Lee said. Dennee-Lee explained the importance of understanding the overlap between environmental issues and indigenous rights when explaining their Salish Sea work.
Izzi Lavallee, friend and fellow facilitator at WWU Students for the Salish Sea, met Dennee-Lee through Fairhaven college at a 2016 “Break Free Fossil Fuels” march in Anacortes. Lavallee is one of four people who founded the student club in 2016 looking to foster change.
Lavallee described Dennee-Lee’s passion and insight regarding promoting indigenous sovereignty that influences her community service.
“[Lydia] loves to help and educate others. She does a lot of integral environmental justice work beyond just environmentalism,” Lavallee said.
Lavalle explained another goal they have for the club; to bring club chapters to every university campus within the Salish Sea watershed, which includes University of Washington and Evergreen College. This would bring increased connections for members of all groups and make way for localized movements in their respective areas. Campuses that already have working clubs are University of Victoria, University of British Columbia and Northwest Indian College.
Dennee-Lee has a vision for the future of the Salish Sea and major bodies of water in general, she said. She wants water to have legal rights, like a human would.
“We should pay them tribute that they are alive, maybe not in the same way, but they breathe and talk. We just have to listen for them.” Dennee-Lee said.
Dennee-Lee saw the perfect opportunity to fight for environmental justice and human rights issues during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests in late 2016 and early 2017. Dennee-Lee began to talk faster and more earnestly as she relived her experience and involvement at Standing Rock .
“Most of [my work] was definitely on the front lines, but also I was helping a lot with the backbone stuff like washing dishes and cooking food, and I worked in the little school with the kids teaching them math,” she said.
The first time she went, she met other activists she felt compelled to see again. She became close with two individuals in particular and received mentoring and guidance from them, which prompted her next visit in November of 2016. She collected cash donations and supplies like food and jackets from people on campus and took them to Standing Rock every time she went.
Her second visit lasted two months and took place shortly before the eviction of Standing Rock by the National Guard. Because she couldn’t afford to get arrested, she said, she had no choice but to leave on her own terms amidst the police brutality. Dennee-Lee described several instances of brutality her and her friends endured, which brought them closer together. One in particular stood out.
“[My friend] Brandon got beat pretty good by the police. He broke his arm and his ribs. I was playing with some kids on the hill and instantly heard everybody start screaming at the front gate. I remember seeing people pulling somebody on a sled, and my heart just dropped because I knew it was Brandon,” she detailed, anxiously running her hands through her curly hair. Dennee-Lee mentioned Brandon’s traditional Ojibwe name, E Naad Maa, as she was recounting the events.
The factor of health risks also caused her to battle with whether or not to stay and protest. She recounted stories of her own and other women enduring serious health problems due to the chemicals being sprayed by law enforcement at Standing Rock.
“A lot of women got ovarian cysts. A lot of women stopped having periods and had stillborns and miscarriages because of the conditions, stress and confirmation of the chemicals being sprayed,” she explained.
Upon learning that she had three ovarian cysts in early February of 2017, Dennee-Lee decided to take a step back from her involvement and heal at her partner’s dad’s house in South Dakota. She felt there was no way she’d be able to continue dedicating her life to supporting any environmental movement if she couldn’t support herself first, she said.
Caitlyn Blair, a sophomore at Western and fellow facilitator for WWU Students for the Salish Sea, detailed her admiration regarding Dennee-Lee’s involvement in indigenous rights.
“All of [Lydia’s] work in this movement is vital. She is extremely knowledgeable in a lot of things that I haven’t experienced from anyone else. She’s taught me a lot about treaty rights and surrounding issues. Having an ally alongside [indigenous] people is important, and she plays a vital role in that.” Blair said.
Blair went on to describe Dennee-Lee as a person who was destined to work in environmental protection and human rights.
“This movement has always been part of her life, seeing as she’s grown up around water all the time. Being involved has shaped her into being extremely resilient, dedicated, determined and all-around wise.” Blair said.
Dennee-Lee’s work in environmental and indigenous activism is far from over; in fact, she’s just getting started. She has demands for herself, people who know little about the environmental issues affecting our communities and the system encompassing it all.
“Realize that we cannot separate ourselves from this issue. A lot of people choose to separate themselves because it’s easier, but ignoring the problem is not going to solve it.” she said
Dennee-Lee’s work at Western has led to the design of the Salish Sea minor at Western, which will be available in the fall of 2019 and will focus on issues directly related to the Salish Sea protection. This year, she has also done lectures in the Salish Sea Studies Community Seminar on campus focusing on conservation and protection of Salish Sea.
Dennee-Lee is calling for people to become aware of our treatment of the environment. By making even the smallest of changes in our dialogues, mindsets, actions and interactions with nature, we are part of the solution, she said.
In retrospect, she doesn’t consider herself an activist. Rather, someone who cares, she explained.
“I may spend my whole life trying to fight for all these things, and maybe no change happens, but at least I tried,” she said with a smile.