Water as Pedagogy

Abstract

This qualitative study uses Indigenous storywork as a form of personally situated, decolonial research. My aim is to study the ways in which water as a sentient being, healing spirit, and teacher taught me about human and more-than-human relationships. Deploying an Indigenous womxnist and feminist theoretical lens interwoven with land-based, active participatory Indigenous research methods, and the Ten Principles of Disability Justice (Sins Invalid, 2019), I spent time learning some of the waterways in Treaty 7 territory and the surrounding area. Given the current global water crisis resulting from catastrophic climate change, Indigenous womxn’s knowledges regarding sustainability and ecological justice need to be foregrounded, upheld, respected, and valued. My research question is accountable to these knowledges and examines how water is a teacher for me. This work is also rooted in holistic Indigenous values of respect and reciprocity toward the land and water and is actualized through a methodology of Indigenous storywork. The overall objective of this thesis is to examine, articulate, and embody meaningful learning practices and realizations that will ultimately benefit the land and waterways. This work is also for the sake of future generations. My hope is that this work will contribute to a small but growing body of research asserting the importance and agency of Indigenous Grandmothers and womxn to respectful and sustainable water and ecological practices.