Indigenous Water Pedagogies: Cultivating Relations Through the Reading of Water

Abstract

In this paper we put forth a model of Indigenous pedagogies that cultivate more ethical relations and complex thinking about water. The first dimension of Indigenous water pedagogies is relations with water which involves ethical decision-making involving water and other more-than-human beings that are in relation to water. The second dimension is reading water which involves learning to make sense of complex phenomena to build theories and explanations about water is it exists in the environment. Together, these two dimensions support complex thinking and decision-making about water in a way that is guided with reciprocal relations with water. We discuss three examples of Indigenous water pedagogies as they are enacted in the context of an Indigenous STEAM program that spans across two sites and involves interactions with the Chicago River, Puget Sound, and rain.