Introduction - Governing Transboundary Waters: Canada, the United States, and Indigenous Communities - page 12

Analyzing these transboundary institutions provides insight into how governance
processes play out at various jurisdictional and administrative scales and operate
within different governance frameworks. Understanding how these governance
mechanisms emerged, the purview and scope of their frameworks, and how they
have changed over time is an important foundation for the chapters that follow.
In Chapter 4, I explore the changing role of the International Joint Commission,
the administrative arm of the Boundary Waters Treaty. The IJC has been celebrated
for its long-standing role in transboundary water governance. It has also been
criticized for its lack of enforcement capacity and its reactive (rather than proactive)
capacity. This chapter documents the rise of the International Watersheds Initiative,
which was developed, in part, as a response to the IJC criticisms. This chapter
shows how formal, binational mechanisms are attempting to change in response
to increased demand for regional actors. However, the struggles that the IJC
Watersheds Initiative faces suggests that further work is required for equitable
participation of basin members, particularly meaningful and consistent participation
of Indigenous actors.
Chapter 5 marks the first chapter in Part Two, which begins the narratives of
“Indigenous water governance: re/ordering transnational space”. In this chapter,
I turn to a case of shellfish harvesting in Boundary Bay, whose jurisdiction is half
in Canada and half in the United States, yet is part of the traditional territory of
the Coast Salish peoples. In this chapter, I explore the ways that historically
connected Indigenous communities are divergently impacted by shellfish regula-
tions and water pollution. I describe how ecocolonialism employs a series of
political technologies (including calculative techniques such as the enumeration of
contamination levels) that have significant political effects on Indigenous
communities. This chapter helps to establish the link between environmental justice
issues, ecosystem protection, and access to traditional food resources. By asking
the simple question “who's counting?”, both in terms of shellfish numbers and
pollution inputs, I explore the spatial politics of ecosystem management, particularly
in relation to Indigenous rights to access culturally relevant food.
Chapter 6 explores the case of the Coast Salish Gathering, a newly developed
governance mechanism designed by Indigenous leaders of the coastal Pacific of
North America to protect and restore aquatic ecosystems. The Coast Salish - whose
traditional territory spans and pre-dates the Canada and U.S. border - are natural
leaders for the protection of salmon habitat, as the species holds great economic
and cultural significance. The creation of the Gathering represents an important
shift in the governance of shared resources, as it exemplifies not only greater
participation of Indigenous communities as a “third sovereign”, but it also marks
a moment where the creation of the governance mechanism reinforces a shared
Coast Salish identity.
Chapter 7 highlights the intertribal Canoe Journeys that occur every summer
throughout the Coast Salish territory. I show how the Canoe Journeys help to
promote effective water governance both internally (through increased self-
determination, cultural revitalization, and empowerment) and externally (through
partnerships and creation of allies). I show how participating in (and training for)