The rivers and tributaries of our planet carry water through Mother Earth, like veins carry blood, and for many Indigenous Peoples, the Great Lakes are the heart of Mother Earth sustaining her life blood - water. However, centuries of water colonialism have led to the disenfranchisement of Indigenous Peoples’ water citizenship, which is connected to the evolution of Indigenous water governance in the Great Lakes. Indigenous water governance includes the intergenerational and adaptive institutions and processes by which Indigenous Peoples and Nations protect the water through decision-making, treaty relations, and resurgent kinship. Indigenous water governance is grounded in the principle of Indigenous survivence – the capacity of an Indigenous Nation or community to survive stressors to water governance through resilience building that allows for sustainability and protection of water for future generations. Understanding the roles of Indigenous Nations as rightsholders in a given social-ecological-system is necessary for understanding the institutions, policies, and processes shaping collaborative water governance in transboundary basins. The failures in equity of participation, decision-making authority, and government-to-government consultation for Indigenous Nations in the shared protection of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence River Basin (GLSLRB) represent governance crises for water security. Adaptive water governance is grounded in Indigenous inclusion as rightsholders and knowledge co-production for shared agenda setting and equitable decision-making in the face of uncertainty. This dissertation empirically investigates the norms, dynamics and mechanisms that underlie the management structure, composition, and politics of Indigenous water governance in the Great Lakes. Chapter 1 introduces the literature and background necessary for positioning the four studies of the dissertation presented in Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5. Chapter 2 presents the history of water colonialism in the region and the transferability of Indigenous water institutions to manage the complex multilevel governance waterscape of the Great Lakes. Chapter 3 examines Indigenous attitudes towards Great Lakes protection in public opinion polls and the cross-national differences among Indigenous and non-Indigenous residents of the Great Lakes basin. Chapter 4 contains a case study of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement Areas of Concern, their impacts on Indigenous Nations, and the water injustices that result when Indigenous worldviews are not valued. Chapter 5 explores the reawakening of sleepy water knowledges through the Water Walks and presents the path forward set by the water walkers for rebuilding water diplomacy through Indigenous water citizenship for Great Lakes governance. Taken together, these studies help us to conceptualize Indigenous water governance within the Great Lakes and provide best practices for Indigenous leaders globally working to protect the water and enacting Indigenous water governance. / Thesis / Candidate in Philosophy / The rivers and tributaries of our planet carry water through Mother Earth like veins carry blood, and for many Indigenous Peoples, the Great Lakes are the heart of Mother Earth sustaining her life blood - water. However, centuries of water colonialism have led to the disenfranchisement of Indigenous Peoples’ water citizenship, which is connected to the evolution of Indigenous water governance in the Great Lakes. This doctoral dissertation investigates the history of water colonialism in the region and the transferability of Indigenous water institutions to manage the complex multilevel governance waterscape; Indigenous Peoples perceptions of Great Lakes well-being; water injustices that result when Indigenous worldviews are not valued; and the path forward for rebuilding water diplomacy through Indigenous water citizenship for Great Lakes governance. Great Lakes Indigenous Nations’ reawakening of sleepy water knowledges are lessons for Indigenous Nations around the world fighting to protect the water on how to reclaim their water sovereignty for Indigenous water governance.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/24837 |
| Date | January 2019 |
| Creators | Leonard, Kelsey |
| Contributors | Garrick, Dustin, Political Science |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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