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BJ Cummings

The River That Made Seattle

This speaker is available for both in-person and online programs.


Once teeming with bountiful salmon and fertile plains, Seattle’s Duwamish River drew both Native peoples and settlers to its shores over centuries for trading, transport, and sustenance. Unfortunately, the very utility of the river was its undoing, as decades of dumping led to the river being declared a Superfund cleanup site.

Much of Washington’s history has been told through the perspective of its colonizers, obscuring and mythologizing the changes to these lands that have long been occupied by Native peoples. Through the story of the river, author BJ Cummings explores previously unrecorded Native and immigrant histories, and exposes settler falsehoods about the founding of the state. The river’s story is a call to action to align future decisions with values of collaboration, respect, and justice.

BJ Cummings (she/her) founded the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition and manages community engagement for the University of Washington’s Superfund Research Program. She is the author of  The River That Made Seattle: A Natural and Human History of the Duwamish, and she was awarded the River Network’s national River Hero award for her work leading community-based clean up and restoration of the Duwamish River.

Cummings lives in Seattle.

Learn More

For more information on how to book a speaker, please contact Asia Lara at (206) 682-1770 x101 or by email.

  • About Us
    • What is Humanities Washington?
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    • Our Board of Trustees
    • Financials and Governance
    • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement
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  • Programs
    • Prime Time
      • Host Prime Time
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      • Current Speakers: 2021-2023
        • Deepti Agrawal
        • Omari Amili
        • Rais Bhuiyan
        • Maria Chávez
        • BJ Cummings
        • Steve Edmiston
        • Clyde Ford
        • Michael Goldsby
        • Ceasar Hart
        • Lauri Hennessey
        • Robert Horton
        • Ben Hunter and Joe Seamons
        • Bill Kabasenche
        • King Khazm
        • Nancy Koppelman
        • Afua Kouyaté
        • Michelle Liu
        • Richard Middleton-Kaplan
        • Kristen Millares Young
        • Steve Olson
        • Allison Palumbo
        • Julie Pham
        • Jake Prendez
        • Fern Naomi Renville
        • Ross Reynolds
        • Chelsey Richardson
        • Jennifer Sherman
        • Steven Stehr
        • Matthew Sullivan
        • Matthew Avery Sutton
        • John Trafton
        • Eric Wagner
        • Lori Tsugawa Whaley
        • William Woodward
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