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Indigenous Water Justice

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Published: 
Friday, July 9, 2021
Indigenous Peoples are struggling for water justice across the globe. These struggles stem from centuries-long colonial legacies and hold profound significance for Indigenous Peoples’ socioeconomic development, cultural identity, political autonomy and external relations within nation-states. Ultimately, Indigenous Peoples’ right to self- determination is implicated. Growing out of a symposium hosted by the University of Colorado Law School and the Native American Rights Fund in June 2016, this article expounds the concept of “indigenous water justice” and advocates for its realization in three major trans- boundary river basins: the Colorado (U.S./Mexico), Columbia (Canada/U.S.), and Murray-Darling (Australia). The article offers overviews of the basins and accounts of enduring water-justice struggles experienced by Indigenous Peoples. The article also synthesizes commonalities evident from the indigenous water-justice struggles by introducing and deconstructing the concept of “water colonialism.” Against this backdrop, the article articulates principles and prescriptions aimed at realizing indigenous water justice around the world.
Theme(s) & Sub-theme(s): 
GovernanceTribal Territories
Nexus Tag(s): 
Environmental Justice
Resource type: 
Topical Report
Region & Countries: 
Global
Resource Scale: 
Global

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