Rhythm of the River: Drought, Flood, and Shifting Relationships between Lumbee People and Water

The Lumbee River rises and falls seasonally, year after year, in a pattern that has repeated since time immemorial. Occasionally, the river’s seasonal rhythms are punctuated by untimely floods or suspended by protracted drought. Wide, densely forested floodplains along the river and its tributary swamps contain and absorb nearly all flood waters. Swamp forests have extensive and ancient root networks that mine deep floodplain soils for water during drought. The swamps are resilient to both drought and flood; they are perpetually flowing and yet persistent landforms of the southeastern United States, where the Lumbee River is situated. For centuries, Lumbee Indians and their ancestors thrived as a network of settlements scattered throughout the tributary swamps of their namesake river. Present-day Lumbee communities persist in these places and still bear the names: Raft Swamp, Burnt Swamp, Saddletree Swamp, and others. The river, swamps, and forests continue to feature prominently in Lumbee culture. Nevertheless, during the past century, logging, ditching, and draining of swamp forests have altered the nature of the Lumbee River’s tributaries, the Lumbee River itself, and even relationships between Lumbee people and water. I examine these altered relationships as a water scientist and as a Lumbee person whose lived experience is set in an era of rapid environmental changes, including shifting patterns of drought and flood. I focus, in particular, on the extent to which recent floods, driven by hurricanes bringing historically unprecedented rainfall, reveal changes in relationships between Lumbee people and their environment.