Returning to the water to enact a treaty relationship: the Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign

Abstract

The Two Row Wampum is the first treaty between Europeans and Indigenous Nations on Anowarakowa Kawennote/Great Turtle Island/North America.1 The 2013 Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign culminated in a 14-day paddle on the Mahicantuck/Hudson River. This article draws on the author's experience as a participant and interviews conducted with full trip paddlers and organizers to argue that the enactment (re)inscribed the Two Row Wampum treaty relationship into the waters of the Mahicantuck/Hudson, the surrounding landscape, and enactment paddlers. The renewal campaign is one example of how water can form the basis of decolonial political practice, revealing colonial understandings of territory, law, and entitlement.2