Acclaimed Nishnaabeg writer Leanne Betasamosake Simpson takes a revolutionary look at that most elemental force, water, and suggests a powerful path for the future.
For years, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson has found refuge in skiing - in all weather across different terrain, often following the trail beside a beloved creek near her home. Recently, as she skimmed along this path and meditated on our world's uncertainty - including environmental devastation, the rise of authoritarianism and social injustice - her mind turned to the ice beside her and the snow beneath her feet. She asked herself: What might it mean to truly listen to water? To know not only the land on which we live, but the water that surrounds and inhabits us? To coexist with and alongside water?
So begins this renowned writer's quest to discover, understand and trace the historical and cultural interactions of Indigenous peoples with water. She reflects on the teachings, traditions, stories and creative work of others in her community - particularly those of her longtime friend, Doug Williams, an Elder whose presence suffuses these pages; reads deeply the words of thinkers from other communities whose writing expands her own; and begins to shape a "Theory of Water" that reimagines relationships among all beings and life-forces.
