Dot Lake Village in Alaska’s Upper Tanana region is a sovereign indigenous nation committed to protecting its ancestral home, particularly from toxic contamination, mining hazards, limited healthcare access, and systemic racism. Contaminants from military dumps, an oil pipeline, a shuttered meth lab, and the Manh Choh Gold Mine threaten vital wetlands and subsistence areas. Daily, 65 ore-hauling trucks thunder through town on the only road in or out; any accident could isolate the entire community. These trucks spread harmful dust and risk spills contaminating critical river crossings. Mining operations above the Tanana River and Little Chena watersheds create dangers from acid drainage and heavy metal leaching, threatening traditional hunting and fishing central to their cultural identity. The community battles troubling cancer rates—leukemia, breast cancer, lymphoma and stomach cancer—linked to these environmental hazards. Fighting on numerous fronts, Dot Lake Village is unwavering in its mission to preserve their people, lands and way of life.
Dot Lake Village is confronting multiple sources of contamination, primarily from military dumps in the region, including a former nuclear missile site, an oil pipeline, and a recently shut down methamphetamine site. The details of these contaminants, the extent to which they were cleaned up and the impacts that they are having on residents are unknown. There are very high reported cancer rates in the community.
Led by President Tracy Charles-Smith, granddaughter of the village founder, Dot Lake Village operates under a five-member council representing its 180-federally recognized Alaskan tribal members. Improving and protecting their community and surrounding environment, the council has achieved significant milestones in public health and safety, successfully shutting down two meth labs and implementing social services that reduced addiction rates from 80% to nearly zero since 2020. They’ve established safe houses for abused women staffed with a therapist and case workers, while also securing vital infrastructure including an ambulance, waste incinerators, and water filtration systems. Recently, the village filed a lawsuit against Kinross mining company for improperly storing ore on the ground in violation of water permits, while challenging the Army Corps of Engineers’ failure to conduct proper environmental impact studies before permitting operations that endanger their community’s future sustainability.