Nibi Bimaadiziwin - Water is Life
Water weaves an interconnectedness between all life on this planet, between you and spruce in an old growth forest, the spruce to the frog in that lake you went to as a kid, the frog to the whale swimming towards the arctic and so on, extending to everything and everyone on this planet.
The waters we swim, drink and fish in have been giving life to this land, people and all other beings since time immemorial.
“That’s often how we form a connection, through swimming, or drinking or fishing but they are so much more than that. When we also think about planetary healing of planetary wellbeing, they are vital to earth’s life support systems.”
- Kelsey Leonard, Canada Research Chair and assistant professor, Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo
Water is Life
By Indigenous artist Colleen Gray
“Water is life. These words are a human truth that many people of privilege have never had to think about until we began waking up to the crisis of the planet's fresh and saltwater resources.”
Many of us are disconnected from the traditional wisdoms and teachings around the waters that we are privileged to interact with every day. These traditional perspectives can help us develop a deeper and more meaningful relationship with water and all life.
Last week, many gathered in Niagara-on-the-Lake, territory of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe peoples. Indigenous expertise, perspectives and knowledge have been excluded from decision-making tables, and it is essential that we recognize and seek guidance from Indigenous Nations in the governance of the Great Lakes watershed.
“There’s nothing about us without us. We gotta be at that table, we have to be part of the planning and the process”
- Charlotte Commanda, Chief of Staff, Chiefs of Ontario
At this event, the Biinaagami project was also launched. In Anishinaabemowin, the language of the Anishinaabek Peoples, “Biinaagami” can be interpreted as “clean water.” The name was a gift to the project and speaks to “Our shared responsibility to the Great Lakes.”
Learn more from some of these leaders:
Kelsey Lenard, water scientist, legal scholar, policy expert, writer, and enrolled citizen of the Shinnecock Nation
Autumn Peltier, global Indigenous water activist and Chief Water commissioner for the Aniishnabek Nation
Jonathan Riberdy, First Nations Water Leadership Award Recipent
Winona LaDuke, Anishinaabe activist
Josephine Mandamin, known as “Grandmother Water Walker”
Patrick Madahbee, Former Grand Council Chief of the Anishinabek Nation
Swim Drink Fish respectfully recognizes and acknowledges the relationship that the First Nations, Inuit and Métis across Canada have with the land and water that we reside on.
We encourage all people to learn about and regularly acknowledge the historic and current relationship that exists between the unceded land on which we live, work and play on and the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. You can find out about the native lands you are on here:
https://native-land.ca/