In 1943 Hanford, Washington became home to the first full scale nuclear production complex and is now the most contaminated nuclear Superfund site. How have the lived experiences, local knowledge, health indicators and perceptions of risk in disparately-impacted communities shaped the complex processes of planning and decision-making of the clean-up at Hanford? Community Based Action Research can provide critical insight into the socio-cultural dimensions of the Hanford site needed to understand the complex processes that shape clean-up efforts, and how those decisions affect the lives of primary stakeholders. This methodology can also be utilized to critically examine how those decisions impact the experiences and health of the larger community. Archival research, participant observation and interviewing have been utilized to identify stakeholder groups and create accessible collaborative descriptive accounts of the Hanford site. This research will add to our collective understanding of the importance and use of cultural resources found on the Federal reservation, the contemporary economic importance of the super fund site, as well as how Hanford has and continues to affect a diverse array of stakeholders. This research has the potential to contribute to understandings of environmental justice policies as well as increase involvement of marginalized stakeholders and facilitate the implementation of collaborative, sustainable solutions to mitigate threats to population health and safety.

This research examines the way Indigenous cultures and identities are represented at Tillicum Village, a Seattle-area tourist attraction. Recent changes in ownership and management at the site have proved controversial among the Indigenous populations represented, who perceive the focus as shifting away from cultural authenticity and toward economic profit. This project explores the issues of a corporation's responsibility in accurately and fairly representing the cultures it profits from. The concepts of staged authenticity and heterotopia are essential to the theoretical framework of this issue, as is placing Tillicum Village in the context of colonial tourism. Data are being collected using traditional ethnographic methods and historical research, and analyzed through critical theory. This research ultimately hopes to illuminate way in which Tillicum Village can better address the grievances of, and collaborate with, the Indigenous communities it portrays.