Indigenous Women and their connection to the Earth and Her Waters

Our Mother, the Earth, is home to all living beings. Water is the life blood of Mother Earth. Her waters not only cleanse and nourish her own body, but the bodies of each living being she carries. In this way, water represents the interconnection between all living beings. The Indigenous peoples of North America recognize this sacred relationship and interconnectedness, as water is an integral facet of our ways of life that have sustained our people for thousands of years. Traditional activities of many Indigenous nations depend on water for transportation, drinking, cleaning, and habitat for all of the living beings we depend on, such as the plants and animals that our ancestors relied on for sustenance.

People must relate to water in order to live. This relation has been forgotten by the general population as corporations, the government and the media have normalized the increased commercialization, commodification, and privatization of waters across the globe. People have forgotten their original instructions, as well as the makeup of our own human bodies. Humans are made up of about 60% water, and in order to continue to physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually function, we must intake plenty of water on a daily basis. Many neglect this integral relationship between their physical body and water, which can lead to physical and mental damage. As humans, water is our life force and the life force of all of the beings that we depend upon for our survival.

As women, we are connected to the earth through a strong relational bond. Not only do we carry responsibilities to the water outside of our physical beings, women also carry water inside of our beings, especially when we are in the process of creating new life. This sacred relationship between women and the earth’s waters has existed since time immemorial. There are many facets which make up the identity of an Indigenous woman. Indigenous women are inextricably connected with the non-human world: the earth, the waters, and all other-than-human life forms that live on our Mother Earth. Women in many Indigenous societies are denoted as the matriarchs of each community, connected to the land, the animals, the water, and all of the people. The earth, Mother Earth, is inherently feminine in her creation and development of life, both human and non-human. Water is also feminine; as the lifeblood of the planet, it sustains life just as human women do in their communities.

Our Grandmother, the Moon, has a special relationship with the waters on earth; she controls the ebb and flow of the water according to the cycles of the moon. Women also share a special connection with Grandmother Moon. Some call our menstrual cycle our ‘moon time’. This is because just as the moon regulates the water, she regulates women’s bodies. We have a menstrual cycle that lasts 28 days, just like one cycle of the moon phases. When we are menstruating, this is our most powerful time of the month, when the energy in our body is letting us know that we are ready to create life. This connection to the earth’s water is also related to the birth experience for women who choose to have babies. When a woman is set to give birth and the baby is ready to be born, water comes out first. Water gushes out, and this tells the mother that the baby is ready to come. Mother Earth does the same thing in the springtime when she is ready to give birth to her young; her water starts to gush, spring waters start to flow, and new life emerges (Anderson, 2016). This relationship between Mother Earth, Grandmother Moon, the waters, and women is a feminine relationship that has been maintained for millenia. It is a relationship of life cycles; the earth produces and nourishes life, the moon regulates the water which sustains life, and the women hold the power to create life.

The power of the Creator is inside all of us as women, and we must harness that life-giving power in order to thrive here on Mother Earth. Recent history for Indigenous women has been difficult to navigate. As a result of colonization, women have been stripped of their power and the matriarchy has been forcefully replaced with the patriarchy. In order to harness our power as women, as strong women with a strong bloodline, we must decolonize and return to the land from which we came to recognize the power that we hold which is reflected in the natural world around us. The most prominent connection between Mother Earth and Indigenous women is the power to create and give life. Women hold the power of the Creator; the innate power to bring life into the world. Feminine energy in all of Creation and all of the animal kingdom shares this power. The next generations are made possible and powerful because of the power of the feminine. “As life givers, women bring the children into the world, and for this they have traditionally commanded a great deal of respect…They talk about women and the ability to give life; that is like the Creator. The Creator gives life, and women are like that. They give life. You can’t get much better than that really,” (Anderson, 2016, p. 141). Bringing life into the world is equated with the power of bringing the next generations into the world, which is highly important in an Indigenous context.

As a result of our oral teachings, many nations make every decision in the best interest of the next seven generations. There are direct connections between these seven generations. When a mother is pregnant with her baby, that baby holds their reproductive cells already inside of their tiny bodies. This means there is a direct cellular connection between a grandmother and her grandchildren. The children are at the core of every traditional Indigenous society. Children are gifts on loan from the Creator, and it is up to those who have lived a longer life to continue the traditions and culture and good ways of being in the world to the next generations so they can continue to thrive. These new people born into the world represent the future. The future is determined by the next generations and how they learn to live in the world and connect to their mother the earth and all their relations. “If we can reclaim the traditional notion of woman as life giver, we can reclaim a vital sense of our power. Whether we eventually give birth or not is not important; it is the power of the symbol of life giver that is significant,” (Anderson, 2016, p.141). Women must reclaim and harness their power as life givers to re-establish that strong connection we hold to the Creator as sacred beings here on Mother Earth. When an Indigenous woman begins to see her body in relation to Mother Earth, she embodies a sense of sacredness.

Sources

Anderson, K. (2016). A recognition of being: Reconstructing Native womanhood. Women’s

Press: Canadian Scholars’ Press Inc.

Cave, K. & McKay, S. (2016). Water song: Indigenous women and water. https://www.resilience.org/stories/2016-12-12/water-song-indigenous-women-and-water/

McGregor, D. (2015). Indigenous women, water justice and Zaagidowin (love). [PDF]. Canadian Woman Studies, 30(2-3), 71-78.

McGregor, D. (2015). Anishnaabe-Kwe, Traditional Knowledge, and Water Protection. [PDF]. Canadian Woman Studies, 26(3-4), 26-30.

Simpson, L.B. (2017). As we have always done: Indigenous freedom through radical resistance. University of Minnesota Press.

Turner, A. (n.d.). Honouring Water. Assembly of First Nations. https://www.afn.ca/honoring-water/