The Water Heritage Anthropological Project examines the influence of water on communities using archaeological, geospatial, ethnographic, and archival data. It highlights the significance of both historical methods and modern narratives to understand water's cultural importance. The project aims to educate the public, preserve water heritage in the western U.S., and address current water challenges.
Take a virtual water heritage journey throught the Mountain West.
My research focuses on Native American Pitched Baskets in the USU Museum of Anthropology’s collection, with the goal of understanding their construction, cultural background, and preservation challenges. Through literature review and comparative analysis of other museum inventories, I aim to contextualize these objects and explore ways to slow or prevent pitch deterioration. This work seeks to support more informed conservation decisions moving forward.
My work focuses on taking raw data and translating it into interpretable information that can be presented to the public for further education on the role water plays in everyday life and culture. Alongside current perspectives, I look into the history of water culture and how first settlers developed habits we may still see today.
My name is Sascha and in collaboration with the Water Heritage Anthropological Project, I collected first hand accounts of Maldivian peoples. Water heritage research in the Maldives is such an interesting pool of stories because the inherent economy of the Maldives is based on water tourism. Water is the lifeway of Maldivians, recreationally, religiously, economically, and just fundamentally. I was able to learn of the ways water has impacted the lives of divers and every day people.
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