The Canada-Colombia water project surveys the roles and responsibilities that members of Indigenous nations located in three regions of Canada (Manitoba and NW Ontario) and three regions in Colombia (la Guajira, Sierra Nevada and Choco) have in relation to water, and how others (including allies) can support the exercise of those responsibilities. The project works towards strengthening Indigenous water governance and serves to facilitate a more robust understanding of water’s legal agency and the corresponding and complementary political agency of Indigenous nations in navigating their relationships with water. In order to achieve this, the project will assemble Indigenous peoples from Canada and Colombia to exchange knowledge, practices, customs, ceremonies and relationships with water; enhance knowledge transmission within their own nations by engaging their nations and affected communities in the project (including the gatherings and other opportunities for discussion prior to and after the international exchanges); foster international Indigenous solidarity; and share information about Indigenous perspectives on water and spirit through a multi-lingual film with an international (Indigenous and non-Indigenous) audience.

This project is funded through a New Frontiers in Research Fund (2020-2023) and through a Partnership Development of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (2020-2022)