BLUE ECOLOGY IS A PATHWAY TO WATER RECONCILIATION: “Our Gitxsan legal system, laws and traditions dictate that we must leave a functioning house group and a functioning landscape for future generations of people from the house,” stated Gitxsan hereditary chief Hanamuxw in the Watershed Moments 2023 documentary video
Note to Reader:
Published by the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia, Waterbucket eNews celebrates the leadership of individuals and organizations who are guided by the Living Water Smart vision. The edition published on September 26, 2023 announced release of the Blue Ecology video documentary titled Watershed Moments 2023: A Pathway to Water Reconciliation and Resilience at the Local Scale.
Blue Ecology offers HOPE and removes the FEAR
Watershed Moments 2023 features Michael Blackstock, independent Indigenous scholar, and showcases a free-flowing conversation, with Richard Boase steering the process. This allows the chemistry with Brian Carruthers and Michael Blackstock to take its natural course. Brian and Michael have direct experience in interweaving two cultures. This makes the documentary relevant, timely and timeless. The Watershed Moments message is compelling.
In the documentary, Gitxsan hereditary chief Hanamuxw sets the scene for Blue Ecology with an Indigenous perspective on caring for the land. Hanmuxw is both a strategic and cultural leader of his people. He is a principal architect of the Delgamuukw Title Case.
“Our job as chiefs is to take care of the members of the wilp, which is the house group, and the land base that we have. The concept of that responsibility is found in the word gwelx ye’enst which means leaving things for the future generations. That is the ethic that we need to uphold. We have based that experience on what we have been doing since the last glaciation period. That is some 15,000 years of experience. We take our Gitxsan science and we meld it and weave it in with Western science and look at how those two systems can co-exist,” stated Chief Hanamuxw (also known as Don Ryan).
TO LEARN MORE:
To read the complete story, download a copy of Living Water Smart in British Columbia; Blue Ecology offers HOPE and removes the FEAR.
