Capabilities

Local waterways run through the heart of the Chickahominy Indian Tribe – Eastern Division’s (CIT-ED) history and culture, but Tribal citizens have had limited opportunities to participate in environmental stewardship work. Our team was hired to co-create a tailored engagement and outreach approach, rooted in trust, reciprocity, and cultural connections, to directly engage Tribal citizens.

CIT-ED is a state-recognized, 260 member non-reservated Eastern Woodlands Tribe located in New Kent County, Virginia. The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay is a non-profit dedicated to bringing together people to clean our streams and rivers, connect people to local waterways, and ultimately, to safeguard the Chesapeake Bay. In partnership with CIT-ED and the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, Green Fin Studio supported the development of long-lasting engagement surrounding water quality with Tribal citizens. 

Our team began by conducting interviews with Tribal citizens to understand their experiences and knowledge about local water quality. Their stories became the foundation for a suite of communications and outreach tools designed to build awareness, deepen participation in community science, and connect citizens to their waterways as stewards and water quality monitors – including an infographic that reflected Tribal citizens’ stories and the importance of clean water. 

Working alongside CIT-ED, we also documented a living history of CIT-ED’s water monitoring initiative through a data-beaded loom, where different colored beads represent water quality measurements collected at monitoring stations over time. To extend this work to the next generation, we developed a companion worksheet and bead activity for CIT-ED’s summer campers, creating a replicable model for others to adapt for teaching about water quality.