Rethinking Water Sustainability With Indigenous Land-Based Knowledge and Practice

As global water and energy systems face pressure from climate change, resource depletion, and inequitable access, traditional approaches to sustainability are challenged. Rethinking these systems requires turning toward Indigenous land-based knowledge and practices, which emphasize reciprocity, balance, and stewardship. Rooted in deep relationships with ecosystems, Indigenous perspectives offer holistic frameworks that integrate environmental, cultural, and spiritual dimensions of sustainability. By valuing these knowledge systems alongside scientific and technological innovation, societies can develop more resilient, ethical, and land-based solutions to the challenges of water and energy sustainability. Rethinking Water Sustainability With Indigenous Land-Based Knowledge and Practice explores Indigenous perspectives that contribute to Indigenous environmental sustainability. It advocates for socio-environmental justice and cross-cultural sustainability for Indigenous language revitalization, intercultural bridge-building, and relational networks that honor Indigenous sovereignty and foster deep, land-based connections. This book covers topics such as sustainable development, cultural studies, and water management, and is a useful resource for engineers, sociologists, academicians, researchers, and environmental scientists.

Ranjan Datta is the Canada Research Chair in Community Disaster Research at Indigenous Studies, Department of Humanities, Mount Royal University, Calgary. Alberta, Canada. Dr. Datta's current research interests include advocating for Indigenous Land-rights, Indigenous community disaster research, community resiliency on climate change, community-based participatory action research, decolonization, and Indigenous reconciliation. Dr. Datta published 95 peer-reviewed publications, four books, and seven edited books on responsibilities on decolonization, cross-cultural perspectives on reconciliation, Indigenous water, Indigenous climate change, anti-racist perspectives on climate change, and environmental sustainability issues. Dr. Datta has developed a strong understanding of decolonial and Indigenist research frameworks in his 17 years conducting research with Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in Canada, the USA, Africa, Europe, and South Asia. He is strongly committed to and passionate about Indigenous environmental sustainability, reconciliation, environmental management, Indigenous land rights, anti-racist theory and practice, decolonization, social and environmental justice, community gardens, and cross-cultural research methodology and methods. He has worked and advocated for protecting the Indigenous environment, Land, and sustainability, particularly with South Asian and North American Indigenous communities. He is dedicated to building cross-cultural bridges within Canada among Indigenous, immigrant, and refugee communities. Being born and raised as a minority land-based researcher from Bangladesh, I am reminded that working with Indigenous peoples and communities around the world involves a journey of taking responsibility that can be empowering, rewarding, and challenging at the same time. However, having been displaced from my community's Indigenous Land because of our Indigenous identity and culture, I am thankful to Indigenous peoples in Canada who shared their Land-based health knowledge and practice for my growth. Along my land-based decolonization journey, it is vitally important that I take responsibility for building authentic relationships with the Indigenous people, learning North America colonial histories, and being part of the Indigenous struggle.

Kevin Lewis is an (Plains Cree) associate professor, researcher and writer at the University of Saskatchewan. Dr. Lewis has worked with higher learning institutions within the Prairie Provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta in the areas of Cree language development and instructional methodologies. His research interests include language and policy development, second language teaching methodologies, teacher education programming, and environmental education. For the past 21 years, Dr. Lewis has been working with community schools in promoting land and language-based education and is founder of Culture Camps ( ),a non-profit organization focused on holistic community well-being and co-developer of Land-Based Cree Immersion School . Dr. Lewis is fromMinistikwanLake Cree Nation in Treaty 6 Territory. Dr. Kevin Lewis, known as wâsakâyâsiw, is a nêhiyaw (Plains Cree) scholar and educator from Ministikwan Lake Cree Nation in Treaty 6 Territory. His research positionality is deeply rooted in revitalizing Indigenous languages and cultural knowledge. As a knowledge and language keeper, he bridges traditional wisdom with academic scholarship in Indigenous community-led water and energy sustainability. Dr. Lewis launched the Indigenous Languages Certificate (ILC) at the University of Saskatchewan, focusing on Cree dialects and addressing the impact of colonization on language loss. His mission, guided by Elders, emphasizes empowering future generations through nêhiyawêwin, fostering resilience, cultural identity, and a stronger connection to Turtle Island’s Indigenous heritage.

Margot Hurlbert is a Professor and Canada Research Chair, Tier 1, Climate Change, Energy, and Sustainability Policy of the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Regina. She explores the gap between what is needed to address climate change and current policy and behaviour. Margot’s scholarship concerns climate change adaptation and mitigation, energy, Indigenous peoples, water, droughts, floods, water governance and sustainability, and achieving net zero emissions. Margot has led and participated in many academic and industry funded research projects, serves on the editorial boards of international journals, and is a Senior Research Fellow of the Earth Systems Governance Project. Margot was Coordinating Lead Author of a chapter of the Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel (“IPCC”) on ‘Climate Change on Land’ (2019) and a Review Editor and Contributing Author for the IPCC’s AR6 (WGI and WGII)(2021/2022). She also worked on Future Earth’s Earth Commission Working Group on Transformations (2019-2022) and is an expert panel member on ‘Adaptation’ for the Canadian Climate Institute and on the Research Board of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). I entered law school because I had a passion for justice. I eagerly embarked on a practice of law, but soon realized courts and the Canadian legal system always arrived at legal justice. But legal justice often isn’t the same as, nor does it achieve, substantive justice. As I have sought justice, and continue to do so, I seek a world without oppression and discrimination, where everyone has the same opportunities and life chances. To achieve this the words and knowledge of people that are oppressed and discriminated against need to be heard. I am a supporter, an ally that walks with and beside Indigenous peoples and visible minorities. I am part of the cheering crowd, not standing in front nor hiding behind. We are a team of community-based researchers who engage in ethical Indigenous research. All our work is informed by our longstanding respectful and reciprocal relationships with Indigenous communities. Our main goal is to promote Indigenous Peoples’ sovereignty and self-determination through research. Studies argue that self-determination is the key to closing Indigenous inequities (Reading & Wien, 2009). Particularly, this research will help address the water crises within remote Indigenous communities by highlighting community-led water management and protection. The research will benefit the community by enhancing access to safe drinking water while promoting Indigenous-led water governance.

Jebunnessa Chapola is a settler woman of colour, trained as an anti-racist, decolonial, transnational feminist educator, and active community builder. Currently a contract faculty member at Mount Royal University, Calgary, and an SSHRC postdoctoral fellow at the University of Regina, she collaborates with Professor Margot Hurlbert on climate change, energy, and sustainability policy. With over a decade of community activism in Saskatoon and Calgary, Dr. Chapola has been recognized with numerous accolades, including the MOMA Award (2023) and the CBC Future 40 Award (2015), for her contributions to anti-racism and social justice initiatives. Dr. Jebunnessa Chapola’s research positionality is anchored in anti-racist, decolonial, and transnational feminist frameworks, emphasizing community-engaged scholarship. As a settler woman of colour, her work challenges systemic inequities by centering marginalized voices and fostering cross-cultural understanding. Her approach integrates academic inquiry with lived experiences, advocating for social justice and policy transformation. Through collaborations in climate change, energy, and sustainability research, she explores equitable solutions that address intersecting issues of race, gender, and colonialism. Her positionality is deeply intertwined with her activism, striving for inclusive knowledge production and meaningful change within both local and transnational contexts.

Michelle Rose Whitstone is an Assistant Professor at Diné College in Tsaile, Arizona, USA, and a PhD candidate in the Department of Educational Administration at the University of Saskatchewan. My research focuses on Pedagogic Theory, Language Education, and Educational Leadership. Currently, She is working on a project aimed at creating a comprehensive framework for effective language revitalization efforts that can be easily understood and implemented by administrators. As a Diné First Nationa, I am passionate about contributing meaningful literature to the field of heritage language advocacy and revitalization, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with countless other language warriors. In my rare moments of downtime, I enjoy cooking meals over a campfire, singing traditional Diné songs (some of which can be found on YouTube), using my auctioneering skills to support communities, or driving down rugged reservation roads with the best travel companion, my mom. I am deeply committed to land-based, language-immersion learning and often remind those around me: I firmly believe that to truly transform as a human species, we need to adopt a change model rooted in Indigenous process philosophy. When examined deeply, this approach mirrors the adaptive and integrative nature of artificial intelligence. Indigenous process philosophy encourages us to see the world through a critical lens, fostering an understanding that inspires action against unethical and unjust practices.