"Water is Life": Creative Action to Heal Bodies of Water

• Main Author: Pulver, Gabrielle F.
• Other Authors: Environmental Studies, Lowitt, Kristen, Smith, Mick
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: Water Protection; Ethics of Care; Bodies of Water; Water Ontologies; Ecological Emotions; Creative Action; Water Protection Movement; anishina*
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/1974/31902

We are bodies of water, as are the bodies of all animals and plants. Streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans: All require water to survive and thrive (Neimanis, 2017). Water therefore acts as a connector between oneself and other water bodies and water protection must address any issues that compromise these connections affecting the health of surrounding communities, including, for example, intersecting issues of racism and colonialism. Diverse forms of what I call creative action, from paintings to performances, express the urgency of protecting all water bodies. To explore the role of creative action in the water protection movement at Lake Superior, eight participants situated around Lake Superior and as part of the Lake Superior Living Labs Network shared their experiences with semi-structured interviews. Their stories and experiences show how protecting the water involves this requirement of addressing intersecting issues related to water issue. For example, participants share how dangerous levels of mercury at Lake Superior disproportionately affect the health and lifeways of the Anishinaabe Ojibwe. A feminist ethics of care emphasises emotional caring as implicit within interrelationships between self and others (Gilligan, 1982); “bodies of water” illustrates these interrelationships. The theoretical lens of care ethics therefore connects the themes explored in this study: emotions related to care for water bodies; water ontologies; and creative actions centered on protecting water bodies. By exploring creative action in the water protection movement at Lake Superior, this project centers the voices of those involved who share its powerful potential to heal bodies of water, with implications to help transform human-water relationships into sustainable policy and practice. M.E.S.