The Water We Don’t See: Indigenous Knowledge and Our Collective Future

We live in an era when water scarcity, pollution, and commodification pose a significant threat to the health of ecosystems and the survival of communities. Amidst this global water crisis, Indigenous communities around the world offer a radically different perspective on water. For them, water is not merely a resource to be used or managed—it is a living relative, a spiritual being, and a source of identity. Yet these perspectives are often ignored or appropriated without addressing the colonial injustices that have disrupted Indigenous relationships with water. This blog post explores what water means to different Indigenous communities, highlights the injustices they face, and argues that achieving true water sustainability means learning with Indigenous peoples, not simply learning from them.

Water as a Relative: A Different Ontology

In many Indigenous cosmologies, water is alive. It has spirit, agency, and moral significance. Among the Anishinaabe peoples of North America, water, or nibi, is sacred and central to women’s roles as life-givers and protectors. The late Josephine Mandamin, an Anishinaabe grandmother, led ceremonial water walks around the Great Lakes to draw attention to water pollution and to honor the spirit of water (Anderson, 2010).

Similarly, in Aotearoa (New Zealand), Māori people recognize wai (water) as possessing mauri, a life force that connects people to ancestors and the land. In 2017, the Whanganui River was granted legal personhood through the Te Awa Tupua Act, reflecting Māori cosmology that sees the river as an indivisible and living whole (O'Donnell & Talbot-Jones, 2018). The river is not a metaphor for life; it is life. Such cosmologies recognize reciprocal responsibilities between human and non-human beings.

In the Amazon, the Kichwa and Achuar peoples describe rivers as spiritual arteries of the forest. The term Yaku Mama, meaning "Mother Water," signifies deep respect for the hydrological cycles that sustain both people and ecosystems (Ulloa, 2017). When rivers are diverted or polluted, it is not merely an ecological disruption, it is seen as an act of violence against kin.

These ontologies challenge dominant Western paradigms that treat water as a commodity. They invite us to see water not as something to control or own, but as a being to respect and care for. More than alternative worldviews, these are sovereign knowledge systems developed over millennia of relational living.

Water Injustice: Colonialism, Pollution, and Resistance

Despite their deep spiritual and ecological relationships with water, Indigenous communities are disproportionately affected by water insecurity. In Canada, over 30 First Nations communities remain under long-term boil-water advisories (Government of Canada, 2024). For some communities, these advisories have persisted for decades, despite repeated government promises. This is not just a technical issue, it reflects ongoing colonial neglect and broken treaty obligations.

In the United States, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline became a global symbol of Indigenous water protection. The slogan “Mni Wiconi” (Water is Life) echoed through the camps as water protectors emphasized the sacredness of the Missouri River (Estes, 2019). The protests were met with militarized policing and surveillance, highlighting how Indigenous efforts to protect water are often criminalized.

In Australia, many Aboriginal communities lack consistent access to clean drinking water, especially in remote areas. A 2021 report found that some Indigenous towns in New South Wales were supplied with water unfit for human consumption (Australian National Audit Office, 2021).

In Latin America, Indigenous leaders like Berta Cáceres of the Lenca people in Honduras have resisted hydroelectric dam projects that threaten rivers and Indigenous lands. Her assassination in 2016 drew global attention to the dangers faced by Indigenous environmental defenders (Global Witness, 2023). From the Amazon to the Arctic, Indigenous resistance to water extraction projects has become a central front in the global struggle for environmental justice.

These examples highlight that the water crisis is not evenly distributed. It is shaped by histories of colonization, extractive development, and political marginalization. Understanding Indigenous water relations requires acknowledging these ongoing structures of dispossession.

Not Just Traditional Knowledge—But Governance

Increasingly, environmental organizations and governments are turning to Indigenous knowledge systems for solutions to climate and water crises. However, this often involves extracting traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) without redistributing power or addressing the underlying injustices Indigenous communities face.

True recognition means supporting Indigenous governance systems. The legal personhood granted to the Whanganui River is a step in this direction, embedding Māori values and co-governance into national law (Charpleix, 2018). However, even this innovative model has limits: it depends on the continued goodwill of the state and lacks robust mechanisms to enforce Indigenous authority if conflicts arise.

In Canada, some water co-management arrangements involve First Nations in advisory roles, but ultimate authority often remains with federal or provincial agencies. For instance, Indigenous guardianship programs allow communities to monitor water quality (Curran, 2019), but seldom grant decision-making power over infrastructure or development projects. The risk is that Indigenous involvement becomes symbolic rather than structural.

Governance must move beyond consultation toward consent, co-stewardship, and even full Indigenous authority over water systems. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) affirms Indigenous peoples' right to manage their traditional territories (United Nations, 2007), yet many governments are slow to implement these commitments meaningfully.

Without this shift, the inclusion of Indigenous knowledge risks becoming another form of appropriation, a way to legitimize existing environmental frameworks without changing the colonial foundations they rest upon.

Learning With, Not From: A Path Toward Water Justice

What can non-Indigenous people and societies learn from these relationships with water? The question itself needs reframing. We have much to learn from Indigenous communities, not only about water, but about responsibility, reciprocity, and belonging to the Earth.

That means supporting Indigenous land and water rights, challenging extractive industries, and advocating for policies that center Indigenous voices. It also means questioning the foundations of modern water management systems: Who decides what water is for? Who benefits from its use? Whose knowledge counts?

For example, in Chile, the Atacameño people have fought to restrict lithium mining operations that deplete fragile desert aquifers essential to their traditional livelihoods (Romero-Toledo, Aldunce, & Aitken, 2023). The water they protect is not just material; it is ancestral, cultural, and moral (ibid.). Recognizing this interdependence requires humility, relational ethics, and political commitment.

Academics, policymakers, and activists must shift from a mindset of "learning from Indigenous people" to learning with Indigenous nations in relationships based on trust, accountability, and long-term commitments. This means respecting protocols, supporting community priorities, and recognizing that water justice cannot exist without Indigenous justice.

Personal Reflection: Rethinking My Relationship with Water

As someone who grew up seeing water mostly as a service delivered through pipes, learning about Indigenous water relationships has made me rethink what it means to live responsibly on this planet. I used to associate water with scarcity and efficiency, and was taught to conserve it by turning off taps and limiting showers. These are useful practices, but they miss the deeper truth: water is not just a unit to be measured, but a being with whom we are in relationship.

Reading about Anishinaabe water walkers or Māori river guardians, I see that protecting water is not just about infrastructure or regulation, it’s about care, ceremony, and responsibility. It means showing up, listening, and acting in ways that honor water’s dignity. These shifts are uncomfortable but necessary. They call us out of our consumer identities and into more accountable ways of being.

Water is not just a resource. It is kin. And until our policies, economies, and ethics reflect that, the water crisis will persist.

References

Anderson, K. (2010). Life stages and Native women: Memory, teachings, and story medicine. University of Manitoba Press.

Australian National Audit Office. (2021). Access to water in remote communities. https://www.anao.gov.au

Charpleix, L. (2018). The Whanganui River as Te Awa Tupua: Place-based law in a legally pluralistic society. Geographical Research, 56(1), 5-15. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-5871.12269

Curran, D. (2019). Indigenous laws and legal traditions in Canada: Reconciliation and water governance. In Phare, M.-A., Simms, R., & Brandes, O. M. (Eds.), Water governance in Canada: Innovations and challenges (pp. 89–108). UBC Press.

Estes, N. (2019). Our history is the future: Standing Rock versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the long tradition of Indigenous resistance. Verso Books.

Global Witness. (2023). Defending tomorrow: The climate crisis and threats against land and environmental defenders. https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/defending-tomorrow

Government of Canada. (2024). Ending long-term drinking water advisories. https://www.sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1506514143353/1533317130660

Romero-Toledo, H., Aldunce, P., & Aitken, D. (2023). Lithium extraction and water conflicts in the Atacama Desert: Indigenous perspectives and environmental justice. Geoforum, 142, 103761. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2023.103761

O'Donnell, E., & Talbot-Jones, J. (2018). Creating legal rights for rivers: Lessons from Australia, New Zealand, and India. Ecology and Society, 23(1), 7. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-09854-230107

Ulloa, A. (2017). Perspectives of Indigenous peoples on climate change and the environment. In Leal Filho, W. (Ed.), Climate change research at universities: Addressing the mitigation and adaptation challenges (pp. 289–302). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58214-6_20

United Nations. (2007). United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html