Dead Without Water: Personal Storytelling Of Place As An Education Tool For Interdependent Survival Of Our Earth Home

• Main Author: Peters-deCourval, Lisel
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: UVM ScholarWorks 2019
• Subjects: environment; humanity; place; storytelling; Education; Gwich’in
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis/1070; https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/context/graddis/article/2070/viewcontent/PetersdeCourval_uvm_0243N_10878.pdf

ABSTRACT Do you have stories of meaningful places in your life? Are there examples of stories of place(s) you have heard have been powerful influences for you? Why? How have these places been impacted by climate change, and how will they be impacted by climate change? Our shared environment is at a critical juncture. The physical survival of this planet and our collective wellbeing is increasingly dependent on challenging our ways and bettering educating ourselves and others to respect and acknowledge the interconnection we have with the planet home that gives us life. In this research, I examine the power of personal stories which focus on relationship to place in order to connect us to each other and to the places we inhabit as a powerful tool to forge practices that are benevolent towards the Earth. Sharing personal stories of our meaningful place-based settings has the power to expand universal understanding of the link between our behavior towards the Earth and the wellbeing of these places, which is crucial for the health of all species, including human survival. Stories are perhaps one of the most efficient methods in highlighting interdependency between humans and the environment to foster an ethic of a care for the planet and future generations. This thesis draws from storytelling as action in indigenous cultures and their effectiveness in Earth justice movement building today specifically in the United States. I examine the Gwich’in Steering Committee as one vital model that uses storytelling as their primary tool for not only Earth and human rights justice, but importantly, their survival. Additionally I will reference storytelling used as a method of education and action used by the Water Protectors of Standing Rock and L’eau Est La Vie camp. These indigenous organizations are by no means the only indigenous models that use personal, place-based storytelling for movement building, but serve as the research focus for this thesis. The literature review will reflect upon the Gwich’in Steering ...