1、An Indigenous Ontology of WaterResilience:Muskoka Summit on the Environment 2024Deborah McGregorFor thousands of years,Indigenous peoples have created and passed on knowledge resulting in sustainable relationships with all of Creation.Along with knowledge comes the responsibility to maintain our rel
2、ationships with water.We have always been here First Nations peoples have developed laws,governance and knowledge systems,practices and protocols that enabled sustainable relationships with all of Creation(ancestors,future generations,spirit world).Water is LifeConcern for water is not new to our co
3、mmunities.Water has always been,and continues to be,recognized as a life-giving force.Acknowledging ColonialismContext for Disconnection from the Natural WorldTRC 2015(p.8)The Canadian government pursued this policy of cultural genocide because it wished to divest itself of its legal and financial o
4、bligations to Aboriginal people and gain control over their land and resourcesTRC 2015 Elder Crowshoe explains“if human beings resolve problems among themselves but continue to destroy the natural world,then reconciliation remains incomplete”(Honouring the Truth 2015)Earth Based ReconciliationThe Wa
5、ter CrisisFirst Nation communities do not enjoy the same water quality as their non-Indigenous counterpartsGross mismanagement of lands and waters has caused widespread and on-going detrimental impacts to all aspects of lives and livelihoods of First NationsWater Governance Crisis Historical and ong
6、oing relationships with the waters Lack of Environmental Protection regimes in First Nations Federal and Provincial Environmental Protections regimes are failing Exclusion of Traditional KnowledgeUnited Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Provides protection for special relations