What water can teach us about resistance and survival

Quick Overview

Water teaches that resistance and survival stem from embracing profound interconnectedness, learning from water's transformative and persistent nature, and actively weaving into existing ecological cycles rather than attempting to remake the world, thereby refusing death-making systems like capitalism and colonialism.

Key Points: Water serves as a theory for life, affiliation, and global connection, embodying indigenous internationalism and offering an alternative to colonial land-centric narratives. Water's properties, such as its transformative states and persistent ability to wear away rock or escape containers, provide a model for steadfastness and grounding solidarity. The concept of "cintering," where snowflakes bond without destroying themselves or their neighbors, illustrates a way of belonging to the planet without destruction. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted intimate connections through water droplets in breath, revealing how capitalist individualism hinders communal care and makes relationality difficult. Indigenous thought emphasizes relationality, viewing the body as a hub of relationships with all forms of life, contrasting with capitalist disconnection. Learning from species like eels and bullfrogs, as taught by mentor Doug Williams, reveals the "shifting baseline syndrome" and the importance of fitting into existing ecological networks rather than remaking the world. Interconnectedness acts as a "generative refusal" against death-making forces like capitalism and colonialism, fostering collaborative struggle and solidarity to protect Indigenous homelands from extractivism.

Context: Leanne Beta Samasake Simpson, a Mishi Saagiig Nishnaabeg scholar, writer, and musician, discusses her latest book, "Theory of Water," which explores water as a framework for understanding life, global connection, and indigenous internationalism. Her work challenges colonial narratives that frame Indigenous homelands as empty or their knowledge as inferior, moving beyond state-defined "rights discourse" to a deeper understanding of relationality. The book draws heavily on Nishnaabeg intellectual practice and the teachings of her late mentor, Doug Williams, an Anishinaabe educator and elder.