0:00:00.766,0:00:04.375
[?]

0:00:05.821,0:00:07.718
Hello, good day everyone.fd

0:00:07.718,0:00:09.957
I'm from the Shinnecock Nation.

0:00:09.957,0:00:13.558
??, to the ?? peoples,

0:00:13.558,0:00:15.831
whose land we gather on today.

0:00:15.831,0:00:19.581
I was taught that water is alive.

0:00:19.911,0:00:21.921
It can hear.

0:00:21.921,0:00:23.423
It holds memories.

0:00:23.423,0:00:26.733
And so I brought a water vessel[br]up with me today

0:00:26.733,0:00:30.561
because I want to hold the memories[br]of our conversation today.

0:00:31.845,0:00:34.182
Who gets legal rights?

0:00:34.668,0:00:40.024
History has shown us,[br]some people but not others.

0:00:40.024,0:00:41.457
In the United States,

0:00:41.457,0:00:43.843
Indigenous peoples like myself

0:00:43.843,0:00:48.004
were not citizens[br]under the law until 1924.

0:00:48.200,0:00:50.842
My Shinnecock ancestors, pictured here,

0:00:50.842,0:00:53.835
were not citizens under the law.

0:00:53.835,0:00:56.568
Then why do we claim to be nations

0:00:56.568,0:00:59.564
governed by the rule of law

0:00:59.564,0:01:02.816
if some people are protected

0:01:02.816,0:01:04.272
but not others?

0:01:04.458,0:01:08.326
Because it remains one of[br]the best ways to fight injustice.

0:01:09.772,0:01:11.456
And, as Indigenous people,

0:01:11.456,0:01:14.165
we know injustice.

0:01:15.095,0:01:20.022
A dear friend, mentor, water walker,

0:01:20.022,0:01:23.271
Nokomis, Grandmother[br]Josephine Mandamin ??,

0:01:23.271,0:01:27.180
she told me of a prophecy[br]that comes from her people,

0:01:27.180,0:01:30.321
the Anishinaabe of the Midewiwin Society,

0:01:30.321,0:01:32.320
and in that prophecy,

0:01:32.320,0:01:35.544
she told me that it tells[br]of a day that will come

0:01:35.544,0:01:40.416
where an ounce of water[br]costs more than an ounce of gold.

0:01:41.045,0:01:44.355
When she told me that prophecy,

0:01:44.355,0:01:46.829
I sat for a moment and I thought

0:01:46.829,0:01:51.705
about all of the injustices[br]we see in our world today,

0:01:51.705,0:01:55.518
the water crises we see[br]in our world today,

0:01:55.518,0:01:57.593
and I said, "Nokomis, Grandmother,

0:01:57.593,0:02:02.837
I feel like we are already[br]in that time of prophecy."

0:02:02.837,0:02:04.894
And she looked back at me directly,

0:02:04.894,0:02:06.217
and she said,

0:02:06.217,0:02:08.461
"So what are you going to do about it?"

0:02:08.661,0:02:10.878
That's why I'm here with you today,

0:02:10.878,0:02:14.968
because I believe that[br]one of the many solutions

0:02:14.968,0:02:18.334
to solving the many water injustices[br]we see in our world today

0:02:18.334,0:02:21.706
is recognizing that water[br]is a living relation

0:02:21.706,0:02:25.349
and granting it the legal[br]personhood it deserves.

0:02:25.574,0:02:29.317
So to do so, we need to transform[br]the way in which we value water.

0:02:29.317,0:02:33.298
We have to start to think about

0:02:33.298,0:02:36.491
how do we connect to water?

0:02:36.491,0:02:39.992
Usually, someone might ask you,

0:02:39.992,0:02:41.099
what is water?

0:02:41.099,0:02:44.103
And you would respond with, rain,

0:02:44.103,0:02:46.527
ocean, lake, river,

0:02:46.527,0:02:48.297
H20, liquid.

0:02:48.297,0:02:52.627
You might even understand[br]the sacred essentiality of water

0:02:52.627,0:02:56.602
and say that water is life.

0:02:56.602,0:02:59.359
But what if I asked you instead,

0:02:59.359,0:03:01.559
who is water?

0:03:01.559,0:03:03.841
In the same way that I might ask you,

0:03:03.841,0:03:05.548
who is you grandmother?

0:03:05.548,0:03:08.124
Who is your sister?

0:03:08.382,0:03:11.927
That type of orientation

0:03:11.927,0:03:13.819
fundamentally transforms the way[br]in which we think about water,

0:03:13.819,0:03:16.071
transforms the way[br]in which we make decisions

0:03:16.071,0:03:18.128
about how we might protect water,

0:03:18.359,0:03:20.938
protect it in the way that you[br]would protect your grandmother,

0:03:20.938,0:03:24.347
your mother, your sister, your aunties.

0:03:24.347,0:03:27.139
That is the type of transformation

0:03:27.139,0:03:29.392
that we need if we are going to address[br]the many water crises we see

0:03:29.392,0:03:31.014
in our world today,

0:03:31.014,0:03:35.385
these harrowing water crises that[br]have streamed across our digital devices

0:03:35.385,0:03:37.967
in countdowns to Day Zero,

0:03:37.967,0:03:41.907
the point at which municipal[br]water supplies are shut off,

0:03:41.907,0:03:44.260
places like Cape Town, South Africa,

0:03:44.260,0:03:46.014
where in 2018,

0:03:46.014,0:03:49.581
residents were limited two-minute showers

0:03:49.581,0:03:52.941
and 23 gallons of water[br]per day per person,

0:03:52.941,0:03:56.400
or just this past summer,[br]where the mismanagement of water

0:03:56.400,0:03:58.264
led the streets of Chennai

0:03:58.264,0:04:01.991
to be lined with thousands[br]of plastic water jugs

0:04:01.991,0:04:05.716
as residents waited hours[br]for water tankers

0:04:05.716,0:04:08.347
to deliver water first by rail,

0:04:08.347,0:04:11.589
then by truck,

0:04:11.589,0:04:14.423
to meet their daily needs.

0:04:14.423,0:04:16.213
Or even here in the United States,

0:04:16.213,0:04:16.691
one of the most developed[br]nations in the world,

0:04:16.691,0:04:21.173
today Flint, Michigan still[br]does not have clean water.

0:04:21.173,0:04:25.494
But you are likely unfamiliar[br]with these water crises,

0:04:25.494,0:04:28.613
such as Neskantaga First Nation[br]in northern Ontario, Canada,

0:04:28.613,0:04:33.915
where residents have been[br]on a boil water advisory since 1995,

0:04:33.915,0:04:36.018
or Grassy Narrows First Nation,

0:04:36.018,0:04:38.762
which for decades has been dealing[br]with water contamination

0:04:38.762,0:04:40.966
from the paper mill industry,

0:04:40.966,0:04:42.376
and where a recent study found

0:04:42.376,0:04:45.794
that nearly 90 percent[br]of the Indigenous population

0:04:45.794,0:04:48.509
has some form of mercury poisoning,

0:04:48.509,0:04:50.253
causing severe health complications.

0:04:50.253,0:04:52.557
Or even among the Navajo Nation.

0:04:52.557,0:04:57.597
Pictured here is the Animas River[br]on an early morning in 2015

0:04:57.597,0:04:59.790
prior to the Gold King Mine spill.

0:04:59.790,0:05:03.833
After the spill leaked millions[br]of hazardous mine waste

0:05:03.833,0:05:05.343
into the river system,

0:05:05.343,0:05:07.944
this was it later that day.

0:05:07.944,0:05:11.361
Today, the Navajo Nation[br]and the ?? People

0:05:11.361,0:05:14.477
and the river itself are still[br]trying to recover from contamination.

0:05:14.477,0:05:19.574
Or even right here[br]in Palm Springs, California,

0:05:19.753,0:05:23.309
where the Agua Caliente Band[br]of Cahuilla Indians

0:05:23.309,0:05:24.868
has been fighting for decades

0:05:24.868,0:05:26.306
to protect groundwater from exploitation

0:05:26.306,0:05:29.971
so that future generations

0:05:29.971,0:05:31.752
can not only live but thrive[br]in their homelands,

0:05:31.752,0:05:34.385
as they have since time immemorial.

0:05:34.385,0:05:39.402
You see, a recent study[br]by Dig Deep and the US Water Alliance

0:05:39.402,0:05:42.046
found that race in the United States

0:05:42.046,0:05:45.401
is the strongest predictor[br]of water and sanitation access,

0:05:45.909,0:05:48.793
and that for us,

0:05:48.793,0:05:51.621
as Native American people,

0:05:51.621,0:05:53.605
we are the group most likely[br]to have access issues

0:05:53.605,0:05:56.163
as it comes to water and sanitation.

0:05:56.163,0:06:00.003
So, as an Indigenous[br]legal scholar and scientist,

0:06:00.003,0:06:02.383
I believe that many[br]of these water injustices

0:06:02.383,0:06:06.285
are the result of the Western[br]legal system's failure to recognize

0:06:06.285,0:06:08.217
the legal personhood of water.

0:06:08.893,0:06:11.555
And so we must ask ourselves,

0:06:11.555,0:06:14.342
who is justice for?

0:06:14.606,0:06:16.824
Humanity alone?

0:06:16.824,0:06:19.902
We've granted legal personhood[br]to corporations.

0:06:20.061,0:06:23.529
In the US, the Supreme Court[br]found in Citizens United

0:06:23.529,0:06:26.035
that a corporation was a person

0:06:26.035,0:06:27.963
with similar protections[br]under the Constitution,

0:06:27.963,0:06:29.793
such as freedom of speech,

0:06:29.793,0:06:31.884
and applied similar reasoning[br]in Hobby Lobby,

0:06:31.884,0:06:35.044
finding that a corporation[br]had the right to freedom of religion

0:06:35.044,0:06:38.500
in defense against the implementation[br]of the Affordable Care Act

0:06:38.500,0:06:40.131
for its employees.

0:06:40.131,0:06:43.104
Now, these are controversial cases,

0:06:43.104,0:06:44.829
and as a Shinnecock woman

0:06:44.829,0:06:46.742
and a legal scholar,

0:06:46.742,0:06:49.038
they make me question

0:06:49.038,0:06:51.149
the moral compass of the Western world,

0:06:51.149,0:06:54.329
where you can grant legal personhood[br]to a corporation, but not nature.

0:06:55.549,0:06:59.940
You see, legal personhood[br]grants us the ability

0:06:59.940,0:07:01.867
to be visible in a court of law,

0:07:01.867,0:07:05.236
and to have our voices heard[br]as a person protected under the law.

0:07:05.981,0:07:10.425
And so if you can grant that[br]to a corporation,

0:07:10.425,0:07:13.174
why not the Great Lakes?

0:07:13.472,0:07:16.098
Why not the Mississippi River?

0:07:16.387,0:07:21.041
Why not the many waterways[br]across our planet

0:07:21.041,0:07:24.415
that we all depend on to survive?

0:07:26.077,0:07:29.683
We know we are in a global climate crisis,

0:07:29.683,0:07:33.216
but globally our waters[br]are also threatened,

0:07:33.714,0:07:36.716
and we are facing a global water crisis,

0:07:36.716,0:07:39.788
and if we want to address[br]these crises in our lifetime,

0:07:39.788,0:07:41.697
we need to change.

0:07:41.697,0:07:45.531
We need to fundamentally transform[br]the way in which we value water.

0:07:46.042,0:07:50.844
And this is not something new[br]for us as Indigenous peoples.

0:07:50.844,0:07:53.590
Our Indigenous legal systems

0:07:53.590,0:07:55.575
have a foundational principle

0:07:55.575,0:07:57.907
of understanding our non-human relations

0:07:57.907,0:08:00.040
as being living and protected

0:08:00.040,0:08:01.909
under our laws.

0:08:01.909,0:08:04.179
And even for the Western world,

0:08:04.179,0:08:07.285
environmental legal theorists

0:08:07.285,0:08:08.916
have argued for the rights of nature

0:08:08.916,0:08:10.110
since the 1970s.

0:08:10.110,0:08:11.333
But we need to do better.

0:08:11.333,0:08:13.234
We need to change.

0:08:13.234,0:08:15.918
And we need to grant[br]legal personhood to water,

0:08:15.918,0:08:19.111
because it affords the following[br]rights and protections.

0:08:19.111,0:08:21.887
It grants water the right to exist,

0:08:21.887,0:08:23.784
flourish, and naturally evolve,

0:08:23.784,0:08:27.258
and most of all it protects[br]the water from us,

0:08:27.258,0:08:28.858
from human beings that would do it harm,

0:08:28.858,0:08:30.910
from human-caused climate change impacts,

0:08:30.910,0:08:32.875
from pollutants,

0:08:32.875,0:08:34.745
and from man-made contamination.

0:08:34.745,0:08:38.664
Moreover, it reverses[br]the accepted hierarchy

0:08:38.664,0:08:41.990
of humanity's domination over nature.

0:08:41.990,0:08:43.683
As human beings on this planet,

0:08:43.683,0:08:47.321
we are not superior[br]to other beings on this planet.

0:08:48.532,0:08:52.027
We are not superior to the water itself.

0:08:52.027,0:08:56.163
We have to learn how to be[br]good stewards again.

0:08:56.660,0:09:01.472
We often imagine that the world[br]is filled with infinite water.

0:09:01.472,0:09:02.755
In fact, it's not.

0:09:02.755,0:09:05.411
This planet, O Ye Mother Earth,

0:09:05.411,0:09:07.894
has very finite freshwater resources.

0:09:07.894,0:09:10.746
Currently, nearly two billion people

0:09:10.746,0:09:14.295
live in countries experiencing[br]high water stress.

0:09:15.070,0:09:18.108
It is also estimated that by 2030,

0:09:18.108,0:09:22.516
up to 700 million people[br]could be displaced worldwide

0:09:22.516,0:09:24.521
due to water scarcity.

0:09:25.321,0:09:27.988
We have to address this crisis.

0:09:27.988,0:09:29.983
And so it's time for us to change.

0:09:29.983,0:09:33.114
We have to transform[br]the way in which we value water.

0:09:33.348,0:09:34.653
And we can do that.

0:09:34.653,0:09:36.958
We can learn to be good stewards again.

0:09:36.958,0:09:41.614
We can create laws through which[br]we grant legal personhood to water.

0:09:41.614,0:09:44.181
We can start to honor[br]the original treaties

0:09:44.181,0:09:46.990
between Indigenous peoples[br]and non-Indigenous peoples

0:09:46.990,0:09:48.605
for water protection.

0:09:48.605,0:09:51.618
We can appoint guardians for the water

0:09:51.618,0:09:55.657
that ensure the water's rights[br]are always protected.

0:09:55.657,0:09:58.319
We can also develop[br]water quality standards

0:09:58.319,0:10:00.359
that have a holistic approach

0:10:00.359,0:10:04.499
that ensure the well-being of the water

0:10:04.776,0:10:05.773
before our human needs.

0:10:05.773,0:10:10.816
And moreover, we can work to dismantle[br]exclusive property ownership over water.

0:10:10.816,0:10:14.718
And there are amazing successful examples

0:10:14.718,0:10:18.090
of this around the world.

0:10:18.090,0:10:23.436
The Whanganui River in ?? New Zealand[br]and the Ganges River in India

0:10:23.436,0:10:24.950
were both granted[br]legal personhood in 2017.

0:10:24.950,0:10:26.229
And even this year,

0:10:26.229,0:10:28.589
the residents of the City of Toledo

0:10:28.589,0:10:31.556
recognized the legal[br]personality of Lake Erie.

0:10:31.556,0:10:34.013
And right here in California,

0:10:34.013,0:10:36.378
the Yurok Tribe granted legal personhood[br]to the Klamath River.

0:10:36.378,0:10:41.908
You see, I imagine a world[br]where we value water

0:10:41.908,0:10:44.923
as a living relation,

0:10:45.598,0:10:50.027
where we work to restore[br]our connection to water.

0:10:51.090,0:10:54.189
As women, we are water carriers.

0:10:54.189,0:10:56.916
We nurture water[br]in our wombs for nine months.

0:10:56.916,0:11:00.189
It's the first medicine[br]that each of us as human beings

0:11:00.189,0:11:02.375
is exposed to.

0:11:02.375,0:11:06.462
See, we are all born as human beings[br]with a natal connection to water,

0:11:07.276,0:11:10.102
but somewhere along the way,

0:11:10.102,0:11:11.450
we lost that connection

0:11:11.450,0:11:12.984
and we have to work to restore it,

0:11:12.984,0:11:16.644
because I imagine a world

0:11:16.644,0:11:20.053
in which water is healthy[br]and ecosystems are thriving.

0:11:20.053,0:11:22.897
I imagine a world

0:11:22.897,0:11:25.536
where each of us takes up[br]our right of responsibility

0:11:25.536,0:11:27.152
as water citizens

0:11:27.152,0:11:29.017
and protects water.

0:11:30.107,0:11:33.302
So, in the words of Nokomis,

0:11:33.302,0:11:35.900
what are you going to do about it?

0:11:35.900,0:11:39.735
What are you going to do for the water?

0:11:40.124,0:11:43.643
Well, you can call your local politician.

0:11:43.643,0:11:45.064
You can go to a town meeting.

0:11:45.064,0:11:47.965
You can advocate for granting[br]legal personhood to water.

0:11:48.282,0:11:51.696
You can be like the residents[br]of the City of Toledo

0:11:51.696,0:11:53.123
and build from the grassroots

0:11:53.123,0:11:56.063
and craft your own legislation[br]if the politicians won't write it

0:11:56.581,0:11:59.520
recognizing legal personality of water.

0:11:59.520,0:12:03.889
You can learn about the Indigenous lands[br]and waters that you now occupy

0:12:03.889,0:12:06.927
and the Indigenous legal systems[br]that still govern them.

0:12:07.793,0:12:09.074
And most of all,

0:12:09.074,0:12:10.350
you can connect to water.

0:12:10.350,0:12:11.952
You can restore that connection.

0:12:11.952,0:12:14.467
Go to the water closest to your home

0:12:14.467,0:12:16.994
and find out why it is threatened.

0:12:17.984,0:12:20.116
But most of all, if you do anything,

0:12:20.116,0:12:23.606
I ask that you make a promise to yourself,

0:12:23.606,0:12:25.984
that each day you will ask,

0:12:25.984,0:12:28.508
what have I done for the water today?

0:12:29.372,0:12:33.700
If we are able to fulfill that promise,

0:12:33.700,0:12:38.290
I believe we can create a bold[br]and brilliant world

0:12:38.290,0:12:40.595
where future generations are able

0:12:40.595,0:12:43.727
to form the same relationship to water

0:12:43.727,0:12:48.171
that we have been privileged to have,

0:12:48.715,0:12:52.529
where all communities of human[br]and non-human relations

0:12:52.529,0:12:56.117
have water to live,

0:12:56.117,0:12:58.937
because water is life.

0:12:59.188,0:13:00.794
??. Thank you.

0:13:00.794,0:13:06.128
(Applause)