Connections to Glistening Waters - exploring Indigenous connections to land and the impacts of alienation, confiscation and pollution.
Indigenous knowledges are often deeply relational - meaning that they are concerned with the connections between things. Some very important connections are made between people and the land. For example, when Māori people from Aotearoa New Zealand introduce themselves they will usually refer to mountains, lakes and rivers that define their tribal regions. These landmarks are sometimes considered ancestors, with stories told about their histories.
Dana Lloyd, in her book Land is Kin (2024), discusses Indigenous relationships to land. In Chapter 5 she explores the Klamath River Resolution, in which the Yurok Tribal Council passed a resolution to extend rights to the Klamath River.
This 3 minute video explores that relationship, showing how the Yurok people have a kind of kin-ship relationship with the river, which Dana explores in more detail in the chapter linked above.
The relationship between Indigenous knowledges and land have been explored in many other areas too. For many years Professor Michael Elmes from WPI has brought students over to Aotearoa New Zealand to work on projects with the community.
Recently four students worked with the local Iwi Ngāti Kahungungu in the Wairarapa region. They produced the video below which highlights the relationship between members of the iwi and Wairarapa Moana - which translates as Glistening Waters.
The website here run by locals from Ngāti Kahungungu offers a range of resources, including videos and interactive maps highlighting the deep connection to the land and the effects of land confiscation and alienation, and pollution on ways of life.
https://wairarapaglisteningwater.org.nz/
Lloyd, D. (2024). Land Is Kin: Sovereignty, Religious Freedom, and Indigenous Sacred Sites, Foreword by Judge Abby Abinanti. University Press of Kansas. https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.11589036
