In this four-session interactive workshop we will explore what decolonization of our relationship with water can mean. We will examine our own embodied connection to place and watersheds/water bodies and be briefly introduced to water teachings from Anishinaabe, Okanagan/Syilx, and Heiltsuk peoples. We will explore the Indigenous principle of reciprocity and how it relates to non - Indigenous gift traditions and what this means for human relationships with water. The recent work of the Heiltsuk Nation in developing their own water laws raises questions as to how Indigenous water laws and jurisdiction can be applied, enforced, and be supported by non-Indigenous people. The workshop will include guest speakers, body exercises, short videos and on-line resources, as well as readings from Unsettling Spirit: A Journey into Decolonization. 

• March 9: What is a decolonized and embodied relationship to water? Introduction to Indigenous water law 
• March 16: syilx water law through syilx story systems - Lower Similkameen Community
• March 23: Heiltsuk water law- Kelly Brown and Diana Chan, Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management Department
• March 30: Anishinaabe water laws, UNDRIP, enforcement and support for Indigenous jurisdiction

Denise Nadeau (MDIV, DMin) is a writer, educator and activist of mixed European heritage from Quebec, now residing in Lkwungen territory on Vancouver Island. She is a trained somatic educator and is an Affiliate Assistant Professor in the Department of Religions and Cultures at Concordia University in Montreal where she taught Indigenous Traditions, Women and Colonialism for several years. She is the author of Unsettling Spirit: A Journey into Decolonization (MQUP 2020) and wrote the Foreword to Watershed Discipleship: Reinhabiting Bioregional Faith and Practice, edited by Ched Myers(Wipf and Stock, 2016). If you live in Victoria Denise has copies of this book to sell for a discount. Denise’s website is www.denisenadeau.org

Date: 4 Tuesdays - March 9, 16, 23 & 30, 2021

Time: 10:00 am – 11:30 am Pacific

Cost: $45.00 (Single Session drop-in cost: $15.00)

Location: Zoom on-line. A link to the program will be sent to you 5 days before the program begins.

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