It is with great sadness that I share the news that my friend Harry Williams passed on Monday, June 28th, 2021 at his home in Bishop, California, surrounded by his family. Harry, a Bishop Paiute elder and culture bearer was the eldest Water Protector of Payahuunadü, The Land of Flowing Water of the Nüümü People, the Owens Valley Paiute. Harry was a relentless and fearless advocate for water rights for his own people but also every resident of Owens Valley and beyond.
Harry was passionate about Paya, the name of water in Paiute. Harry spent his adult life educating young and old about the importance of respecting, caring for and protecting our finite life-giving water resources. He provided a candid, opinionated voice at Owens Valley community meetings with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) concerning water-related issues and the environment. Williams always made it a point to discuss the “political side of land and water in Owens Valley” with his student audience as an educational guest speaker. As an example of his influence read this handwritten note sent to him by Celia Robertson, a former Urban High School student in San Francisco, who was so moved by his presentation she responded, “It was so strange to drive through the desert afterward for hours until we reached L.A. and saw proof of Owens Valley springing up in all the lawns and fountains in the area. Thank you for opening my eyes to the hardships, past & present occurring in Owens Valley.”
Letter to Harry from Celia Robertson, a former Urban High School student.
As a child, Williams hunted rabbits and other small game while exploring the outlying foothills of West Bishop—an area once extensively managed and utilized by his ancestors. During these outings, he unknowingly encountered an ancient irrigation diversion made out of wood. Some years later he began to reflect on the structure’s purpose, eventually learning that it was one branch of a series of extensive ancient irrigation systems built by his forebears throughout the Owens Valley. Over time, he became an expert on these “First Hydrologists” mapping ditches, waterways, dams, and pools created and managed by his forebears to bring life into the valley.
When I was conducting field research and interviews for There It Is—Take It! during 2011-2012 I was fortunate to meet Harry and interview him. I still vividly remember a wonderful morning tromping around Bishop backways and him showing me the ghosts of these intricate waterway systems. Those who know Harry will remember him as disarmingly humorous—someone you’d feel immediately at ease with. He could even cajole LADWP representatives into seeing his point of view. Indeed, I had the pleasure of attending an LADWP tour of Los Angeles facilities and saw him in action after he invited me to attend the tour with him and others. I was honored to do so.
Harry Williams confronts William Mulholland at LADWP’s downtown offices during a May 2013 tour.
I am so fortunate that our paths crossed as Harry has had a profound impact on my own environmental worldview as well as what it means to advocate for the earth and its complex ecological systems which we are all part of. I have extreme admiration for this man and he will remain in my heart always. I will visit him when hiking out within Payahuunadü among the ancient waterways of his Nüümü ancestors. Blessings to his surviving family and friends.
Watch Jenna Cavelle’s beautifully researched and produced Paya: The Water Story of the Paiute features Harry Williams and others.
Learn about California’s contemporary Indigenous culture at KCET’s Tending the Wild series.
Several obituaries for Harry Williams:
- https://jeaninepfeiffer.com/2021/07/01/the-inconsolable-loss-of-a-mighty-water-warrior/
- https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/inyoregister/name/harry-williams-obituary?pid=199281479