User:Larataguera/Water protector

Water protectors are environmental human rights defenders or land defenders focused on the defense of the world's water and water systems. 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 Indian Reservation.

The term water protector is sometimes used generally in the same way as land defender, but may also refer to a community role associated with women in some North American indigenous communities.

Some Water Protectors say that the reasons for protection of water are older, more holistic, and integrated into a larger cultural and spiritual whole than in most modern forms of environmental activism which may be more based in seeing water and other extractive resources as commodities. For example, water walker Josephine Mandamin of the Anishinaabe has said that water is associated with Mother Earth and spoke of the responsibility of grandmothers to lead other women in praying for and protecting the water. After a prophecy from an elder, Mandamin led water walks, to pray and raise awareness, from 2000 until her death in 2019. Her peaceful actions inspired many to become water protectors.

People
Many water protectors are women. 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. In Anishinaabe culture women perform ceremonies to honour water and water is considered to be alive and have a spirit.

The water walks begun by Josephine Mandamin in the Great Lakes region continue to take place, and have spread worldwide, in an ongoing effort to raise visibility.

Well-known water protectors include: Autumn Peltier (of the Wikwemikong First Nation); Peltier's aunt Josephine Mandamin, Marjorie Flowers, Inuk, Nunatsiavut, Labrador.

Water protectors in popular culture and media
Several children's books have been published about water protectors. "The Water Walker" is a picture book written and illustrated by Joanne Robertson and tells the story or Josephine Mandamin and her love of nibi (water), her water walks, and the importance of protecting water. "We Are Water Protectors" was written by Carole Lindstrom and illustrated by Michaela Goad and was the winner of the 2021 Caldecott Medal and Kirkus prize finalist and Kirkus best book of 2020. The story is "inspired by the many Indigenous-led movements across North America." The story gives information about the role of water protectors in communities and the importance of water protection.

Films and documentaries have been produced featuring the roles and actions of water protectors. "Awake: A Dream from Standing Rock" was released by Bullfrog films in 2017. "Awake" documents the water protectors efforts near the Standing Rock reservation to stop the development of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). It has been called the most acclaimed of the documentaries produced in the wake of the Standing Rock action. The National Film Board of Canada featured a story and curated set of films on water protectors on their blog in 2016. The post traces the history of pipeline resistance against the backdrop of the Standing Rock resistance, and features photos and the film selection "Citizens vs. oil giants." “The Water Protectors’ Journey Along the Sipekne’katik River” was produced and directed by Eliza Knockwood and premiered in May 2018. The film documents the work of the Mi’kmaq Water Protectors to protect the Sipekne’katik River from the brine being dumped into the Sipekne’katik river by Alton Gas.

One of the most iconic images of water protection and other environmental protests is the "Water is Life" screen print created by Anishinaabe artist and activist Isaac Murdoch. Artist Christi Belcourt notes the image of "“Thunderbird woman" is "“an iconic image that has been seen at Standing Rock and all around the world. People have embraced that image as a symbol of strength and resiliency." On Nov. 6th, 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." Murdoch and Belcourt have made the images produced through their Onaman Collective, including Thunderbird Woman and other images of water protectors, free for download for use at protests.