New book on the power of water takes centre stage during political threat

Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg writer, scholar and musician Leanne Betasamosake Simpson admits she was worried that when her book Theory of Water: Nishnaabe Maps to the Times Ahead was finally published it would no longer be relevant.

“I wrote the book at a different time. Trump wasn't elected yet,” said Betasamosake Simpson.

But with Theory of Water, which hit bookstores April 22, Betasamosake Simpson’s non-fiction is even more relevant as U.S. President Donald Trump insists that Canada should become the 51st state, having his sights set on Canada’s water, minerals and natural resources. At the same time, the federal Liberals and Conservatives are vowing to extract those resources for an economic advantage at home.

“I'm always thinking the people that that is going to impact the most are Indigenous communities…(and) it makes you wonder about treaties. It makes you wonder about how far Canada would go to protect the rights that Indigenous peoples have with the Canadian state,” said Betasamosake Simpson.

Theory of Water examines the relationship the Nishnaabeg have with water, land, animals and other different forms of life. The book draws a stark contrast with how colonialism and racial capitalism skews that relationship.

“Nishnaabeg think of water as the lifeblood of the earth,” writes Betasamosake Simpson, but “from the perspective of capitalism and the colonialism that fuels it, these overlapping zones of abundance are therefore territories rich in resources and capital. This is land that must be opened up to facilitate the material gain of a few elite white men…”

Betasamosake Simpson pulls on the work of Indigenous and Black scholars and artists while beautifully weaving in the multiple First Nation creation and re-creation stories that focus on the role of Nibi (water).

“Within Nishnaabeg world making, then, Nibi is crucial. We humans first exist in a water world, a world that meets our needs, and we learn from this what it feels like to be safe,” she writes.

Betasamosake Simpson admits that she came late to fully understanding and appreciating Nibi, even though water is the responsibility of Anishinaabe women in her culture.

“I’ve always thought of water as a part of the land and our land is very, very important and it's very, very important to Indigenous peoples. But taking this time in this book to really focus on water and just what I could learn from water as a teacher, I think it's the spine of the book,” she said.

Also integral to the book are the teachings from Curve Lake First Nation Elder Doug Williams, who was Betasamosake Simpson’s mentor for decades. Shortly after she started writing Theory of Water at the tail end of the Coronavirus pandemic, Williams passed away.  Betasamosake Simpson’s grief runs deeply throughout the book.

“When an Elder dies, you want to remember everything that they taught you and you're so afraid that you're going to forget, and you wish you paid better attention. So I was writing in that frame of mind as well,” she said, noting that at the same time the air was full of wildfire smoke. Yellowknife was burning and residents had to evacuate more than eight hours to the south. “I was writing in this time where I was feeling a lot of bad things for the present moment and where we are collectively.”

Anger also seeps through in Betasamosake Simpson’s work.

“I think that anger is a part of grief, but it's also, I think, a pretty normal and healthy response to colonialism and to extractivism and dispossession and the loss of our land. I think that sometimes I feel quite angry about the history and the current moment in terms of colonialism. And I think that I tried to not just bury that, push it down, but to also use it as fuel to dream and imagine otherwise,” she said.

And that dreaming is important, especially in the “pretty intense situation” Canada finds itself in right now.

“Theory of Water was sort of imagining, what if you take these teachings and the way these land-based practices and the way that my ancestors live? And what if I learn from water? What kind of ideas and practices of care can I start to imagine?” she said.

In her work, Betasamosake Simpson calls for “the radical transformation of the Anishinaabe out from under the domination of colonialism,” adding that “capitalism is incommensurable with Indigenous life.” 

Is she being unrealistic with her call to action? Betasamosake Simpson says that’s what Canada and the United States want people to think.

However, she says, when she’s at a ceremony, a protest, or takes students out on the land with Elders and they set up their canvas tents and try to figure out how to live together as a community, she sees “tiny glimpses of another world in the present already happening.”

“I think the things that we're learning and the knowledge that we're generating helps to imagine a time of putting this at the centre in a contemporary context and growing it,” said Betasamosake Simpson. “It's small. It's hard to imagine it on a bigger scale, but for me, I think these kinds of rehearsals, these tiny rehearsals, are the way that we grow it and the way that we figure it out.”

And the best lesson for that comes from Nibi. As many qualities as Nibi has, it’s the quality of persistence that Betasamosake Simpson values most.

“I'm thinking of rushing water, moving over rock in the Canadian Shield and many of our territories and how over large expanses in time that water is able to make an arch or cut away at that rock… As Indigenous people, we can emulate that. We have to be very persistent when we're standing up for ourselves and our communities and our cultures and our homelands,” she said.

Betasamosake Simpson is quick to point out that Theory of Water doesn’t hold all the answers.

“I hope that it sparks a conversation between all of us about how we can live together differently, how we can put those Indigenous practices of taking care of our families and our communities and of each other and of the plants and animals around us and of the lakes and the rivers and oceans around us at the centre of our lives and build something that someone like Trump can't imagine,” she said.

Theory of Water: Nishnaabe Maps to the Times Ahead is published by Knopf Canada. It is available in bookstores or online, including indigo.ca. It is available as an audio book and ebook as well.

Local Journalism Initiative Reporters are supported by a financial contribution made by the Government of Canada.