Future Rivers of the Anthropocene

• Published in: Open Rivers: Rethinking Water, Place & Community
• Main Author: Eleanor Hayman, Colleen James, and Mark Wedge
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing 2021
• Subjects: indigenous perspectives; north america; policy; research; phil; anthro-se; tlingit
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.24926/2471190X.8306

One meaning of the word Tlingit is “people of the tides.” Immediately, this identification with tides introduces a palpable experience of the aquatic as well as a keen sense of place. It is a universal truth that the human animal has co-evolved over millennia with water or the lack of it, developing nuanced, sophisticated and intimate water knowledges. However, there is little in the anthropological or geographical record that showcases contemporary Indigenous societies upholding customary laws concerning their relationship with water, and more precisely how this dictates their philosophy of place.