Indigenous women are considered to have a sacred relationship with water among many North American Indigenous communities, serving as stewards and protectors of lakes, rivers, and estuaries.
At the same time, bodies of water are threatened by compounding climate impacts, biodiversity loss, and resource extraction. These challenges affect access to clean drinking water and impact Indigenous communities’ traditional knowledge and kinship with the land—in particular, creating intersecting barriers for Indigenous women and girls.
“It’s a cycle that’s happened before”
Artwork by Project Artist Avery Bowe
Stories of Resilience: Water – Indigenous Women across the Prairies is an initiative developed collaboratively by The Resilience Institute and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) through the Natural Infrastructure for Water Solutions (NIWS) initiative. Through Stories of Resilience: Water, we are engaging Indigenous women and girls in conversations surrounding their relationships with water, exploring themes that include cultural and personal values, access to the land, the health of water, climate change, sovereignty, and reconciliation to identify pathways forward amid a changing climate.
“The water knows my name. It remembers my grandmother’s songs, and it carries my prayers beneath its winter ice. I walk beside it, not as an owner, but as a relative.”
