Lance Canales, left, and Dirk Charley, in front of the San Joaquin River. Both participated in a World Water Day event sponsored by Fresno Earth Democracy. Photos by Jean Hays.

by Jean Hays
Co-chair, Fresno Branch Earth Democracy

May 2023

Fresno Earth Democracy co-chairs Jean Hays and Kyla Mitchell, with committee members Joan Poss and Kay Pitts, organized an event that featured a quiet walk along the San Joaquin River. On March 22, 2023, a windy day that was a brief break in the series of storms hitting Central California for over a month, we gathered at the San Joaquin River Conservancy and contemplated water. We witnessed flows and amounts rarely seen in this river, one of the nation’s most controlled rivers.

Lance Canales, Yokuts, played Native American flute music, and Dirk Charley, Dunlap Band of Mono Tribe, shared some of his life experiences and talked about water from an Indigenous perspective. We heard from representatives of environmental organizations, such as Rachel Clark, president of the Fresno Audubon Society, and from Anita Lodge from Friends of the Gorge, which has been stalwart in the struggle against Temperance Flat Dam. Photo: Lance Canales playing his flute. 

Then we again went out to see the San Joaquin and returned to share our impressions in words and pictures. There was a very good crowd, and each of us took with us something from this extraordinary experience.