A new episode of In the Margins , a PBS Utah series hosted by Harini Bhat, Ph.D, explores the long-standing water challenges facing Indigenous communities in the Western U.S. and the promise of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) as a solution. For centuries, tribes like the Shoshone, Paiute, Ute, and Goshute cared for water as a sacred, shared resource. But settler expansion in the 1800s diverted waterways, disrupted ecosystems, and led to violent conflict. Later policies, like the 1922 Colorado River Compact, excluded tribes entirely, laying the groundwork for today’s disparities. Native households remain far more likely to lack access to running water. Meanwhile, environmental crises like the shrinking Great Salt Lake are worsening public health risks, particularly for Indigenous and other marginalized communities. The film highlights how Indigenous-led solutions grounded in TEK, like a Shoshone wetland restoration project returning 10,000 acre-feet of water to the lake,offer hope. It also points to recent wins, such as California’s 2024 law integrating TEK into conservation policy. Produced with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, In the Margins centers stories often left out of history. Native News Online spoke with Bhat where she explored the inspiration behind the Earth Day episode on Indigenous water access and stewardship in Utah. Harini also discussed the historical roots of water injustice, the role of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) as a solution, and how storytelling can elevate overlooked histories. Can you introduce yourself and explain what inspired you to create this episode of In the Margins on water access and Indigenous stewardship? My name is Harini Bhat. This is actually my second career, my first was in pharmacy, with a doctorate specializing in hematology-oncology. During COVID, I started posting science and history videos, basically the footnotes of history and science that people don’t always talk about. That eventually led me to PBS, who were working on In the Margins, a show also centered around those forgotten or untold stories. For the Earth Day episodes, we really wanted to spotlight stories that people don’t know about but absolutely should, like water, and how it’s been stolen from Indigenous communities. A lot of that stems back to the Gold Rush, which marked a big turning point. That’s when settlers really began taking water from the people already living here, especially around places like Utah. That history was the foundation for this episode. How did you decide which parts of that history, like the Bear River Massacre or the Colorado River Compact, to include? We wanted to focus on stories specific to Utah that still have an impact today. Working with our amazing researchers and writers, we chose the ones with the strongest connections to current water issues. One goal of In the Margins is to show how history is still shaping our world, why it matters in 2025. So things like the Navajo Nation being 67 times more likely to lack access to running water than white households, that's the kind of statistic we center to help people understand this isn’t just history. It’s still happening. What drew you to explore Traditional Ecological Knowledge, or TEK, as part of the solution? TEK is so exciting to me, especially now that it’s being acknowledged again. For so long, there’s been this stigma that Indigenous or “ancient” knowledge isn’t scientifically valid. But TEK absolutely is, and it always has been. Indigenous communities have always known this. We wanted to end the episode on a hopeful note, yes, heavy things happened, but what’s being done now? TEK was that positive takeaway for us. As a pharmacist turned storyteller, how does your background influence how you approach stories like this? Pharmacy is very interdisciplinary, biology, chemistry, physics, medicine, and I’ve always loved that. I also love history, and I think context is everything. If you don’t know the history of something, you’re more likely to repeat mistakes. Whether it’s a science TikTok or a PBS episode, I always want to give people that foundation: what happened, how it impacts us now, and why it matters. What was the most surprising or eye-opening thing you learned while working on this episode? I didn’t do the expert interviews myself, but I read and listened to all of them. What really struck me is just how much of this is still happening, and at what scale. People like to believe these issues are in the past, but they’re not. They’re happening in our backyards, right now. That’s why we focus on those jarring statistics, they help people understand the scope. We do table reads with the whole team to make sure we’re getting the tone right, especially since I’m not Indigenous. Authenticity is everything. The episode features experts like Heather Tanana (Diné) and Brigham Daniels. How did their perspectives shape your understanding of these issues? Their insights made me realize how much of our water law and policy stems from the Gold Rush. That era was basically a free-for-all, and the consequences, ecological and cultural, are still unfolding. We talked about this during our table reads while the LA wildfires were happening, and I kept thinking about all the chemicals from the fires seeping into the water and how that’s going to affect ecosystems long-term. But there are also hopeful developments, like Chinook salmon returning in California thanks to dam removals. These expert voices spark real change. What do you hope viewers, especially those outside the West or unfamiliar with Indigenous history, take away from this episode? I hope they don’t take their water for granted. My parents used to ask, “Do you even know where your water comes from?” Just the fact that it flows from a tap and is clean is a privilege. I want people to think about where their water and food come from, and how that connects back to TEK and Indigenous stewardship. Not everyone has the same access, and that’s something we need to acknowledge and work to change. What role do you think storytellers like yourself play in elevating Indigenous knowledge and voices, especially for younger audiences? It’s so important. Young people aren’t watching traditional TV anymore, they’re using TikTok as their search engine. So we have to meet them where they are. Working with PBS Digital lets us do that. This isn’t being taught in schools, I didn’t learn it, and I doubt most kids are now. But if a student sees one of these videos and decides to study climate science or Indigenous foodways, that’s huge. That’s why we do this. Is there anything else coming from In the Margins or from you personally that we should look out for? We’re still rolling out the rest of the In the Margins season. The Utah episodes were part of a special Earth Day series. Looking ahead, 2026 is the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and we’re planning a series to spotlight the voices that actually built this country, many of whom have been sidelined. One upcoming episode is about yellow fever and how disease outbreaks shifted national burdens in unjust ways. We want to continue exploring how history shaped America, and who it left out.
The stakes couldn't be higher. Native languages are being lost at an alarming rate. Food insecurity plagues many tribal communities. But solutions are emerging, and these stories need to be told.
