Water protectors
The water protector name, analysis and style of activism arose from Indigenous communities in North America during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests at the Standing Rock Reservation, which began with an encampment on LaDonna Brave Bull Allard's land in April, 2016.
[11] As Potawatomi philosopher Kyle Powys Whyte explains, the idea that "water is life" is based in "Indigenous governance systems that support cultural integrity, economic vitality, and political self-determination and the capacity to shift and adjust to the dynamics of ecosystems.
[17][18] In many Native American and FNIM cultures, women are seen to have a strong connection to water, the moon, and the cycles of the tide as they are able to become pregnant and give birth.
As the women walked, they sang and prayed, strengthening the deep ties between their communities and the Great Lakes, along with their personal connections to the water and the land.
[8] Other well-known water protectors include Autumn Peltier (of the Wikwemikong First Nation);[20][22][23] Marjorie Flowers (Inuit), LaDonna Brave Bull Allard (Dakota, Lakota), and Faith Spotted Eagle (Yankton Sioux).
[16] As Potawatomi ecologist and botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer and environmental philosopher Kathleen Dean Moore explain, "it is possible to love land and water so fiercely you will live in a tent in a North Dakota winter to protect them.
[13] Scholar Ingrid Waldron has shown that the Alton Gas resistance in Nova Scotia is emblematic of broader issues concerning environmental racism, health inequality, and the impacts of climate change on water quality and Indigenous land.
Sociologist Colin Samson notes, "As the dam, the new infrastructure, and the subsequent flooding completely altered the entire local ecology and even reversed the flow of some rivers, Innu hunting families noted the drowning of wildlife, losses of caribou calving grounds and waterfowl, and methylmercury poisoning triggered from decomposing trees and organic matter," (Samson 12).
[34] The project has had profound environmental and cultural impacts on the Innu community, emphasizing the prioritization of industrial development and commodification of land at the expense of Indigenous rights and ecological sustainability.
The resistance to the Lower Churchill hydroelectric project by the Innu people is rooted in a broader context of historical and ongoing colonization, dispossession, and marginalization of Indigenous communities in Canada.
Innu activists and community members engaged in various forms of protest and advocacy to challenge the Muskrat Falls megadam, demanding meaningful consultation, consent, and recognition of their inherent rights to land and resources.
Estes emphasizes that the resistance to the pipeline is deeply rooted in Indigenous peoples' connections to their ancestral lands and waters, which are threatened by the project's potential environmental impacts.
[39] The resistance of the Wet’suwet’en Nation to the Coastal GasLink pipeline is emblematic of broader struggles faced by Indigenous peoples against state-sanctioned resource extraction projects.
The Wet’suwet’en resistance highlights the ongoing challenges faced by Indigenous communities in asserting their rights to self-determination and sovereignty over their lands.
Despite facing legal challenges, police interventions, and corporate pressures, the Wet’suwet’en people continue to resist, drawing strength from their deep-rooted connection to the land and a shared commitment to protecting their cultural heritage for future generations.
The L’eau Est La Vie Camp's resistance against the construction of the Bayou Bridge Pipeline in Louisiana serves as an example of grassroots activism aimed at protecting water resources and Indigenous rights.
Public defender Sebastien Jongbloets explains that critical infrastructure statutes often serve to suppress speech and dissent, making it challenging for communities to voice their concerns about the environmental and social impacts of such projects.
[42] Despite these legal constraints, the activists at L’eau Est La Vie have consistently challenged the Bayou Bridge Pipeline, drawing attention to its potential to harm local waterways, wetlands, and communities.
The camp's activism is reactive and proactive, envisioning a future where energy production aligns with ecological sustainability and respects Indigenous sovereignty.
Their advocacy resonates with a growing global movement that recognizes the interconnectedness of environmental protection, Indigenous rights, and climate justice, shifting the dominant perspective of resource extraction, and promoting alternative pathways towards a more equitable and sustainable future.
[47] It documents the water protectors efforts near the Standing Rock reservation to stop the development of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).
The film documents the work of the Mi'kmaq Water Protectors to protect the Sipekne'katik River from the brine being dumped into it by Alton Gas.
"[50] On November 6, 2017, a large version of "Thunderbird woman" was painted by Murdoch in collaboration with other groups such as Idle No More, on the street outside the Wells Fargo and Co. headquarters in San Francisco to protest the DAPL development in what the SFWeekly termed a "guerrilla mural project.
