Introduction - Governing Transboundary Waters: Canada, the United States, and Indigenous Communities - page 3

lifeways are intricately linked to the protection of intact ecosystems for food sources.
In the Arctic, for example, Indigenous communities are exposed to significantly
higher concentrations of pollutants, due to atmospheric deposition of pollutants
such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) (AMAP, 2011; Perlinger et al. , 2014).
These chemicals biointensify in marine mammals such as seals and coldwater fish
that are integral to the diet of many Northern communities (El-Hayek, 2007;
AMAP, 2011; Selin, 2011). As a result of the extraterritorial pollutants, Indigenous
populations are experiencing devastating health impacts, including increased cancer
rates, stunted growth, miscarriages, and deformities (Epstein, 1978; Visser, 2007;
Langston, 2010a, 2010b; Selin, 2010; AMAP, 2011). In addition, many of the health
impacts are proving to be multigenerational - appearing as disorders, cancers, and
diseases in the daughters, granddaughters, sons, and grandsons of the exposed person
(Langston, 2010a, 2010b).
As discussed in the chapters that follow, populations in the coastal Pacific of
North America (Salish Sea Basin) and the Great Lakes Basins are experiencing similar
issues related to degraded environments and health concerns. Because of the
mismatch of governance mechanisms to address extraterritorial pollutants, and the
lack of adequate frameworks to address these issues that asymmetrically impact
communities, many of these issues become environmental and social justice issues.
To this aim, this topic explores the changing dynamics of transboundary water
governance. In Part One, I document how formal governance mechanisms are
changing, and, in Part Two, how Indigenous communities, who have previously
been outside of the purview of formal governance mechanisms, are increasingly
becoming involved in leadership roles in transboundary waters. I employ a political
ecology approach, in which the issues of governance are intricately linked to power
dynamics, colonial legacies, and environmental justice. I seek to find solutions that
are meaningful and applicable to diverse populations by identifying qualities of
“good upstream neighbors”.
Conceptual approach
Exploring transboundary water governance in the context of Indigenous
communities is an important contribution to the scholarship on transboundary water
governance because it: 1) fills a gap in the existing transboundary water governance
literature; 2) brings the politics of colonial boundary-making into the discussions
of transboundary water governance; 3) highlights the Indigenous-led work to
address water issues of shared concern; and 4) opens up space to insert discussions
of environmental justice into discussions of transboundary water governance.
These points provide the rationale and guiding framework for this topic.
Filling a gap/key theoretical contribution
While a growing body of literature has made great strides in understanding,
predicting, and explaining the nuances of transboundary water governance -
particularly in relation to water scarcity and water war s, 2 t ransboundary river basins , 3