(Artwork by Christi Belcourt)
Tansi Nîtôtemtik,
Continuing our commentary on ILSA’s 2021 speaker series, today we will discuss the presentation by Dr. Darcy Lindberg on Alberta Coal Policy, Water, and Plains Cree Law. This presentation explored some of the difficulty in aligning laws in a pluralist society. Since 1976, Alberta coal policy provided protections for major watersheds that were well aligned with Indigenous water law. However, this policy was recently rescinded to make way for new coal development. So what happens when colonial water laws are in opposition to Indigenous legal obligations to water?
(Dr. Darcy Lindberg, photo courtesy of University of Alberta Directory)
This was a fascinating presentation that explored the sources of Indigenous water law as well as the differing perspectives of land management. Dr. Lindberg shared a quote by Danika Littlechild which expressed concern that the abstract views of water in colonial law have “absolved the individual and the collective of our responsibilities to water.” To give perspective to the weight of the responsibility to water, Dr. Lindberg drew on the Cree language as a source for water law. In Cree, Nipiy means “water”. Nipiy shares it’s key sounds with the phrase Niya Pimatisiwin, which means “I am life”.
Dr. Lindberg’s presentation broke down technical and legal concepts to be accessible for an audience with varying levels of knowledge of Alberta coal policy and Indigenous environmental law. He detailed how various sources identify obligations to water, and discussed real-life examples of challenges in water protection including man-made Abraham Lake, the Smallboy Camp, and the legal personhood of the Magpie River.
If you would like to watch the hour-long presentation (and we highly recommend that you do), it will be posted on the ILSA website along with the other Speaker Series presentations from this week.
Were you at yesterday's session with Dr. Lindberg? Share your thoughts below!
Until Next Time,
ReconciliAction YEG
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