Indigenizing Water Governance in Canada

Abstract

Water-related governance challenges confronting Indigenous people are well documented and have significant implications for water governance in Canada. Indigenous people have traditionally had a lack of voice, and little participation or significant representation at higher political points of authority to influence or sanction laws of water protection, regulation and enforcement on traditional territories. Canadian water policy and management decision processes are dominated by Western scientific viewpoints and exclude Indigenous values, norms and conceptions of water governance. Indigenous people’s relationship to water is often strongly connected to the spiritual world. Water is thought of as sacred, a sentient being, a gift from, and the life breath of the Creator, and, is fundamental for the wellbeing of the earth and all people. This worldview defines unique socio-cultural relationships with water and informs Indigenous water management and governance processes which are divergent from, and unrepresented within current Canadian water governance frameworks. Indigenous people are responding to water-related governance challenges by voicing their concerns, reclaiming their roles in water governance and calling for adaptation and realignment of current Canadian water policy regimes to include Indigenous water governance processes. This chapter will give historical, social and political context to the water-related governance challenges facing Indigenous peoples of Canada. Water governance challenges will be explored through discussions on Treaty Rights and jurisdictional fragmentation which at times, impedes those rights. We explore how community engagement, participation and empowerment and the duty to consult are challenging for issues of water governance. We find insight in the reclamation of sense of place through water in Indigenous communities. Indigenous socio-cultural relations to water, and traditional strategies of water resource use, monitoring, management and protection will be highlighted drawing on examples across Canada and globally. It will provide a review of literature on some principles of, and models for Indigenous governance of water. A critical discussion of the commonalities and diversities between Indigenous and Western Scientific approaches to water governance will be woven through the text and include debate on the creation of new governance and decision making frameworks that are truly inclusive, respect ancestral knowledge, and introduce culture and governance mechanisms so that Indigenous people can fully participate in the political, organizational, administrative and decision making processes and approaches to water governance in Canada.