Reconciling our relationships with the Great Lakes

Abstract

The 2012 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement is an Agreement between the United States and Canada to restore and protect the Great Lakes that recognized the involvement and participation of Indigenous Peoples is essential to achieve the objectives of the Agreement. Stemming from this Agreement, the Canada-Ontario Agreement (COA) on Great Lakes Water Quality and Ecosystem Health (COA) set goals and objectives to restore and protect the Great Lakes. The COA includes Annex 13: Engaging First Nations and mentions that Canada is committed to reconciliation. Guided by an Anishinaabek Research Paradigm (ARP), which addresses decolonizing research on Indigenous peoples and employs a conversations style design, I explore what reconciliation is in Great Lakes water governance and how reconciliation can influence Great Lakes water governance. Reconciliation is more than words and involves the restoration of good relationships between people and with the waters. Reconciliation can also play a significant role in water governance. We are all water, and all come from water understanding that without water, there will be no life. This knowledge commits every human to preserve, protect, and conserve the waters. Understanding Anishinaabek views on reconciliation can assist with water governance.