SYMP 24-2 - Co-creating aquatic knowledge with and for Indigenous communities

The livelihood and ways of knowing of Indigenous communities are being severely impacted by the greatest nature and climate emergency of our time. Climate change is already causing and will continue to cause extremes in climate and weather, including but not exclusively: increasingly intense precipitation events, wildfires, and drought, as well as ocean acidification and warming. These quickly altering disturbance regimes and climatic conditions are making it challenging for species (including humans) to adapt to these new conditions and leading to substantial die-offs in terrestrial, freshwater, and oceanic ecosystems. Indigenous led conservation and climate change adaptation strategies will be essential to ensuring Indigenous relationships and ways of knowledge continue to thrive. This presentation includes stories on the relationships with water and fish for several Indigenous communities. In the context of plants, I will show the ability for a single seed to flourish with knowledge and information from its ‘parents’ and a nurturing environment, and the significance of water cursing through that growth. In the context of fish, recent Indigenous-led (Coeur d’Alene) conservation strategies show the return of culturally significant and sustaining salmon in the Pacific Northwest over 100 years in the making. Curriculum development that centers Indigenous Knowledge and co-creation with Indigenous community (Haida Gwaii) members demonstrates a respectful and reciprocal path forward to teaching the next generation of Indigenous Knowledge holders. Only through a series of workshops between academic institution scholars and Indigenous Knowledge Holders from community, were we able to truly co-create a curriculum that was specific to the community. Taken together, this work highlights the meaning of water and fish to different Indigenous communities and what we can learn from fish and water as we consider global change, food systems and sovereignty, science education, and fisheries rights and resurgence.