Indigenous Water Ethics Conference
“Indigenous Knowledge, but not in the abstract”
On March 24th, the Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management program worked in conjunction with the Tishman Environmental Design Center and the Indigenous Environmental Network to host an Indigenous Water Ethics Conference at The New School. This conference ran parallel to the 2023 UN Water Conference in an attempt to center Indigenous knowledge in protecting water. This is especially important during an era in which climate crises are being used as an excuse for private industries to continue utilizing violent extraction methods.
As noted during the Indigenous Water Ethics Conference, the discussions at the UN Water Conferences have started to increasingly acknowledge and implement some of the declarations and recommendations Indigenous groups have made in terms of protecting water. Overall, however, UN Water Conferences tend to ignore the question of ethics in relation to water use, pollution, ‘restoration’ practices, and even in terms of ‘green energy’ initiatives. Indigenous water ethics, in contrast, centers on caring for and having a genuine relationship with water and recognizing its value beyond human usage. This is enabled through various Indigenous languages themselves, through creation stories, and through the knowledge passed down from elders to the youth. The knowledge keepers at the event reminded us that water in our mother’s womb protects us as we develop; we are birthed from water and we continue to be mostly water throughout our lives.
The speakers at the event encouraged everyone in the audience to consider their own relationship to water, to learn about the waters that their people come from, and to remember to protect water not just because of the human right to it, but because of the inherent value water holds and its importance to the natural and spiritual world. Because of their centered relationship with water, Indigenous peoples are disproportionately represented among frontline fighters battling to stop projects that pose a threat to waterways across the globe. They have also been the most successful at confronting the capitalistic, patriarchal mechanisms that drive the destruction of various water bodies. This means supporting frontline fighters – the water warriors – who have stopped various corporate and state attempts to build pipelines, dams, processing plants, etc is essential. It also means that the question of water ethics should be important to all of us and that we should center water in a way that enables us to struggle against the violent extractivism that threatens it.
There is much that can be learned from Indigenous knowledge and water ethics, but as one of the speakers stressed, “not in the abstract.” A real paradigm shift is needed to combat the neoliberal drive to further economize nature. Water ethics cannot just be a concern for Indigenous peoples, it has to be a concern for all peoples. That is the only way to prevent so-called environmental pretexts from enabling a continuation of violent extraction from, and the destruction of, Mother Earth.
You can watch the entire Indigenous Water Ethics Conference below.
Where to Find More Information
Here is a link to the Indigenous Environmental Network website where you can learn more about the work they do.
You can read the Indigenous Peoples’ Declaration for the 2023 United Nations Water Conference here.
Visit the Water Ethics Network website to learn more about water ethics.
To learn more about the Tishman Environmental Design Center, you can check out there website here.