Taking place during the week of World Water Day, this panel invites you to come share in ceremony, water stories and water justice strategies. Whether you’re already familiar with the topics of water health, justice, and organizing, you are guaranteed to learn something new in this event organized by students for students.
Wednesday, March 19th 5:30pm to 7pm
2017 Dunton Tower
Participants:
Justin Roy (Kebaowek First Nation): A member of Kebaowek’s Chief and Council & Director of Community Development for Kebaowek. He advocates for Indigenous rights, cultural preservation, protection of all lands, waters, and life that make up the nation’s unceded Algonquin territory and governance that reflects the needs and aspirations of his people.
Colleen James (Carcross First Nation): An elder and teacher from the First Nation in the Yukon. The protection of water is a priority for revitalizing Indigenous legal and governance systems. While the citizens have governed the waters and lands within their traditional territory since time immemorial, their Tagish and Tlingit legal orders have been disrupted by colonial forms of governance. Nevertheless, Colleen will share how the knowledge of these systems endure in practice and oral history.
Palestinian Youth Movement representative: A transnational, independent, grassroots organization. They will discuss the current water justice issues facing Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and all of occupied Palestine as a result of the ongoing zionist occupation.
Meera Karunanathan: An assistant professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies. Her academic work is shaped by many years of experience in environmental and social justice organizing. Building on relationships with feminist, Indigenous and environmental justice movements, her research investigates the processes that produce uneven distribution of water in the global South. She supports frontline water justice struggles through research, advocacy and popular education.