Our Relationship With Water

Podcast Summary

• The Significance of Water to Indigenous Communities: Indigenous communities, like the Shinnecock Nation, deeply value water's role in their existence and identity. However, the commodification of water has led to pollution and unequal access, disproportionately affecting marginalized communities. Restoring our connection to water and prioritizing protection and access for all is essential.

  Our connection to water is essential for our existence and identity, yet many have lost this connection, leading to water crises and inequalities. Kelsey Leonard, a water policy scholar and researcher, emphasizes the profound significance of water to indigenous communities, particularly the Shinnecock Nation, whose name means "people of the stony shore." However, she notes that the paradigm shift regarding water as a commodity for human use alone has led to water pollution and unequal access. This disconnection is evident in numerous water crises around the world, with marginalized communities, such as Native Americans in the US, being disproportionately affected. To address this issue, restoring every person's connection to water is crucial. Companies like Train Technologies are taking action by reducing emissions and contributing to a sustainable future. As individuals and governments, we must prioritize water protection and access for all.

• The Value and Crisis of Water: Water, a finite resource, deserves respect and protection. The Flint water crisis highlights the importance of recognizing its value and treating it as a person with rights.

  Water, a finite resource essential for life, is being taken for granted and mismanaged, leading to crises and injustices. Kelsey Leonard shares a prophecy from her Anishinaabe community about water becoming more valuable than gold due to scarcity. The Flint water crisis serves as a stark reminder of this, with the state knowingly providing poisoned water to its citizens, raising questions about our relationship with water and its value. Artists like Latoya and Shea document the daily struggles of living without clean water, highlighting the impact on individuals and communities. To restore our relationship with water, Kelsey suggests treating it as a person with rights in a court of law. It's crucial to recognize the value and importance of water and take action to protect and preserve it for future generations.

• Flint Water Crisis: A Family's Struggle with Contaminated Water: The Flint water crisis highlights the importance of clean water access and the devastating impact contaminated water can have on families and communities.

  The water crisis in Flint, Michigan, is a serious issue that has significantly impacted the daily lives of its residents, particularly for families like Shea and Zion. Contaminated water has forced them to rely on bottled water for basic needs like brushing their teeth, bathing, and cooking. The long-term effects of this crisis, which started several years ago, continue to be felt by the community. Latoya Ruby Frazier's documentation of their experiences has made her more conscious of water conservation and the importance of clean water. Growing up in a similar environment in Braddock, Pennsylvania, she was deeply affected by the parallels and the trauma of reliving her childhood experiences. The ongoing crisis is a reminder of the urgent need to address environmental issues and ensure access to clean water for all.

• Documenting personal experiences through art: Artist Toya Tsichakaki empowers her subjects, emphasizes authorship, and uses poetry to document personal experiences during times of crisis, giving her subjects a voice and a chance to look back as survivors and victors.

  Artist Toya Tsichakaki's work captures the personal and political experiences of individuals, particularly an eight-year-old girl named Zion, during times of crisis. Tsichakaki's approach goes beyond traditional photojournalism, focusing on empowering her subjects and giving them a voice. Her work, inspired by 1930s social documentary, emphasizes the importance of authorship and redistributing power and equity. Through her documentation, Zion can look back on her experiences as a survivor and victor, despite facing adversity from societal issues like capitalism, patriarchy, and racism. The use of poetry, such as Shay's "No Filter," adds depth and emotion to the narrative. Art, according to Tsichakaki, plays a crucial role in holding a mirror up to society and addressing critical issues.

• Community-led efforts and traditional knowledge: Community members, especially those from marginalized backgrounds, have unique perspectives and expertise in addressing environmental issues. Their experiences and traditional knowledge are crucial for effective solutions.

  Community members, particularly those from marginalized backgrounds, have a unique perspective and expertise when it comes to understanding and addressing environmental issues. This was highlighted in the stories of Latoya Ruby Frazier and Colette Pichon Battle. Frazier, a visual artist and professor, emphasized the importance of black photographers and poets telling their own stories due to the lack of representation in mainstream media. Meanwhile, Pichon Battle, an attorney turned climate activist, shared her experiences growing up in a community deeply connected to the water and now fighting to protect it from the effects of climate change. Both women underscored the importance of community-led efforts and traditional knowledge in addressing environmental challenges.

• Hurricane Katrina's Impact on a Creole Community: Hurricane Katrina's destruction of a Creole community highlighted the devastating impact of climate change, revealing the loss of protective barriers and the disappearance of lands and homes, affecting not only initial evacuees but also those unable to leave and those with special needs.

  Climate change poses a significant threat to communities, particularly those in coastal areas, leading to mass displacement and the loss of cherished lands and homes. This was vividly illustrated by Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed a longstanding Creole community in Louisiana and led to a career change for one woman, Colette, who was moved to advocate for climate action. The destruction of Katrina was a wake-up call, revealing the devastating impact of rising sea levels and the loss of protective barriers due to oil and gas drilling. Colette's community, once assumed to be permanent, was shown on flood maps to be disappearing before the end of the century. The displacement caused by such disasters is not limited to the initial wave of evacuees, but also affects those unable to leave and those with special needs, leaving them in a difficult position to return.

• FEMA's Acknowledgement of Inequity in Disaster Response: The US disaster response system is primarily geared towards middle class, leaving vulnerable communities behind. With climate change displacing over 180 million people by end of century, it's crucial to prepare for global migration now, by acknowledging interconnectedness and transforming society for shared liberation.

  Our current structures and systems, including those designed to handle natural disasters and climate migration, are not adequately prepared for the future. This was highlighted during a conversation between Colette Pichon Battle and FEMA during the Obama administration, where the FEMA administrator acknowledged that the disaster process in the US is primarily geared towards the middle class, leaving vulnerable communities behind. With the prediction of over 180 million people being displaced due to climate change by the end of the century, it's crucial that we start preparing for global migration now. This includes reframing our understanding of the problem, acknowledging the need for collective resilience, and transforming our society to ensure shared liberation. To keep up the energy, it's essential to recognize the interconnectedness of our struggles and work towards a more equitable future for all.

• Healing Relationships with Water and Communities: Recognizing water as a living entity and shifting our perspective to value it as family can help heal past wrongs and create change for water crises

  Water is not just a physical entity, but a living relation deserving of legal personhood. Colette Pichon Battle, the Executive Director of the Gulf Coast Center for Law and Policy, is leading a spiritual pilgrimage to heal relationships between Native and Black communities and the earth, focusing on the Mississippi River. Through collective ceremony, prayer, and courageous conversations, they aim to reconcile past wrongs and unite communities to create change. Pichon Battle emphasizes the importance of recognizing water as a living entity and shifting our perspective to value it as we would family members. This transformation in thinking and valuing is crucial for addressing the water crises we face today.

• Legal personhood for water: Protecting nature's rights: Recognizing water as a legal person grants it rights to exist, flourish, and evolve, providing protection from human-caused harms and encouraging a holistic approach to water management.

  The concept of granting legal personhood to natural entities, such as water, is an emerging approach to protect and preserve the environment. This idea, rooted in indigenous legal systems and environmental legal theories, recognizes the rights of nature to exist, flourish, and evolve. Legal personhood for water can provide protection from human-caused harms, including pollution, pollution from climate change, and man-made contamination. It also challenges the notion that humans are superior to nature and encourages a more holistic approach to water management. Several countries and communities, such as New Zealand and California, have already granted legal personhood to rivers, restoring indigenous peoples' rights to participate in water governance and protection. This shift towards legal personhood for water is essential for creating a more just and sustainable world.

• Recognizing water's legal personhood in indigenous contexts: Engaging with water and understanding its significance in indigenous cultures can lead to effective water protection. Honoring treaties and creating collaborative legal reforms are key actions.

  Recognizing the legal personhood of water within indigenous contexts can lead to effective and sustainable water protection. This approach, which has historical roots and proven success, requires context-specific actions such as honoring existing treaties and creating collaborative legal reform processes. By engaging with water and understanding its significance in indigenous cultures, individuals can contribute to a world where all communities, human and non-human, have access to clean water. This is a call to action for each of us to reconnect with water and make a daily commitment to its preservation. As Kelsey Leonard, a member of the Sappony Tribe and a TED speaker, emphasized, "Water is life."