Introduction - Governing Transboundary Waters: Canada, the United States, and Indigenous Communities - page 13

the journey helps to strengthen community ties, rebuild networks, reconnect with
the water, and expose the youth to positive life experiences that celebrate traditional
cohesion and respect for each other and themselves. The material connections
between the participants and the environment viscerally connect the participants
with the ecosystem. Second, the role of partners and allies provides stronger com-
munity importance. This occurs informally through interpersonal relations and
formally through curriculum development and partnerships with agencies such as
the United States Geological Survey. Thus, this chapter highlights the perform-
ativities of transboundary water governance through traditional practices, and acts
of self-determination through partnerships and allies.
Chapter 8 moves from the Salish Sea context to the Great Lakes. In this chapter,
I show how performative techniques of the Water Walkers raise awareness of
environmental pollution. The chapter highlights the environmental issues facing
the Great Lakes, particularly in relation to contaminated fish and extraterritorial
pollution such as PCBs and mercury. However, the lessons that the Grandmother
Water Walkers highlight in this chapter shifts the responsibility back to the
individual. They suggest that it is everyone's responsibility to work towards the
solution. Taking responsibility as individuals to address transboundary water issues
is also a way to reclaim power through self-determination. The media attention
brought through their high-profile walks (first around the Great Lakes, then from
the Four Corners of North America) has helped to raise awareness of pressing
water-related issues, with the aim of policy change and reform. It is also a way to
honor the waters as living beings. The fact that the leaders of the movements are
part of the Ojibwa Nation, which spans Canada and the United States, contributes
to the dialogue of a “connected” cultural ecosystem.
Chapter 9, the penultimate chapter, widens the conversation of transboundary
water governance to include boundaries beyond just political. The chapter details
the story of a “lost whale” that crossed from the “American waters” of the
San Juan Islands in Washington State to the “Canadian waters” in the remote waters
of outer Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The whale attracted international
attention as environmental groups encouraged the relocation of the whale with its
pod for preservation purposes, while local fisherpeople were motivated to steer
the whale away from the waters and away from their boats due to increasing boat
damage. The Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation successfully halted the high-
profile international transfer as they contended the whale was not “lost” at all,
rather it had come “home” as their chief reincarnate. This highly compelling story
raises a number of questions related to transnational environmental governance in
a postcolonial context. The case takes the questions beyond the territorial
transgressions. Rather, Luna's Tsu-xiit's Story prompts us to ask the critical question:
“what happens when the being itself is contested” - in this case the animal-human/
nature-culture boundary.
In Chapter 10, I conclude by revisiting the key themes and reflecting on how
the chapters help to answer the guiding questions. I explore how this work
contributes to the ongoing work on transborder water governance and postcolonial
theory and urge readers to continue to widen their interpretation of transboundary