{"id":1863,"date":"2024-07-16T06:30:01","date_gmt":"2024-07-16T10:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/engagingsports\/?p=1863"},"modified":"2024-07-16T13:14:48","modified_gmt":"2024-07-16T17:14:48","slug":"landback-also-means-waterback-revisiting-sports-on-stolen-waterways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/engagingsports\/2024\/07\/16\/landback-also-means-waterback-revisiting-sports-on-stolen-waterways\/","title":{"rendered":"#LandBack also means #WaterBack: (Re)visiting Sports on Stolen Waterways"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Approximately<\/a><\/p>\n

Traditional Indigenous canoes alongside dragon boats at the 2013 All Nations Canoe Gathering, on the unceded Sen\u0313\u00e1\u1e35w waterways (False Creek, Vancouver, BC) (\u201cCanoe-0104<\/a>\u201d photo by Rey Torres<\/a>, granted special permission for non-commercial use)<\/em><\/p>\n

The #LANDBACK campaign across Turtle Island<\/a> is a movement organized to get Indigenous Lands back into Indigenous hands<\/a> and governance. It is an active, sociopolitical, \u201cIndigenous-led movement\u201d<\/a> that resists settler colonialism<\/a>. In some ways, #LANDBACK also resists political and legal tools, such as the Doctrine of Discovery and terra nullius<\/em>, used to justify claims of land “discovered” along water routes.<\/a> While the former doctrine claims that a “discoverer” could take possession of land if it was deemed as “discovered<\/a>,” British colonialists used terra nullius <\/em>(land belonging to no one<\/a>) to justify claiming, renaming, and settling, as they understood their relationship to \u201cvacant land<\/a>\u201d as ownership.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The perception of land<\/em> or Land<\/em> differs depending on whether one uses a colonial definition or Indigenous understanding. In Pollution is Colonialism<\/em>, Dr. Max Liboiron refers to small l<\/em>-land as the colonial perspective that generalizes and universalizes land<\/a> as property and resource<\/a>. In this colonial perspective, Tuck and Yang explain that \u201chuman relationships to land are restricted”<\/a> to those owning land. In contrast, capitalized L<\/em>-Land is the \u201cunique entity that is the combined living spirit of plants, animals, air, water, humans, histories, and events recognized by many Indigenous communities.\u201d<\/a> An understanding of identities, responsibilities, and \u201creciprocity<\/a>\u201d occurs when Land is seen in relation to humans.<\/p>\n

Within the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada\u2019s (TRC) 94 Calls to Actions<\/a>, four (45i, 46ii, 47, & 49) call upon Canadians to reject both doctrines and the ways they continue to show up within the spaces where they work, play, and live. Sport sociologists continue discussing the environmental and ecological impacts of sporting equipment and events, as well as how sport normalizes settler colonial ideas of space and place<\/a>. Some, like Dr. Victoria Paraschak, have answered<\/a> the TRC\u2019s 5 sport calls to action<\/a> (87, 88, 89, 90, & 91). While responding to such calls to action is valuable, sport scholars and athletes should also consider the ways in which terra nullius<\/em> continues to operate within and around sports. However, there remains a specific group of sports missing in these conversations because we store our equipment on land spaces<\/em> but our place of play or competition is not on the land.<\/em> What about sports that compete on the water?<\/p>\n

\"Approximately<\/a>
Dragon boats racing at the 2024 Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival on the unceded Sen\u0313\u00e1\u1e35w waterways (False Creek, Vancouver, BC) (Photo owned personally by the author)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Unceded (Stolen) Waterways<\/h2>\n

While the tangibility of land allows us to see the impact of colonialism via buildings and colonial monuments, the fluid nature of water makes the ongoing effects of colonialism less visible. Dr. Virginia Marshall refers to the aqua nullius<\/em> as the \u201cmyth\u201d that water belonged to no one before \u201cBritish colonial settlement\u201d<\/a> to justify their governance of waterways while also denying the existence of Indigenous people’s own<\/a> water governance principles and knowledge. As Dr. Michelle Daigle explains, water is political and the \u201ccolonial capitalist dispossession of water also dispossess Indigenous peoples<\/a>.\u201d Preventing or limiting access to water erases culture, language, and knowledge<\/a> passed down through traditional activities with water, such as fostering community ties, fishing, the art of building canoes, and dance.<\/a> Given this ongoing injustice, how might watersport athletes, organizations, and governing bodies respond to the TRC\u2019s Calls to Action?<\/p>\n

Your Waveprint<\/h2>\n

I offer the concept waveprint<\/em><\/strong> to understand and reflect on the complexity of relationships and responsibilities we have above, on, below, and to Water<\/strong>. Guided by Dr. Liboiron\u2019s capital L-<\/em>Land, I use W-<\/em>Water to define waveprint<\/em><\/strong> as the unnoticeable social, cultural, political, and biological imprint(s) to bodies of Water made by an individual, group, and\/or human-made watercraft.<\/em> While the concept of a carbon footprint can help us visualize environmental impacts, it was not designed to reflect the ongoing sociocultural impacts of settler colonialism. The waveprint, meanwhile, is an invitation to ask questions, such as how can watersports like rowing, kayaking, surfing, sailing, paddle boarding, and dragon boat racing be aware of their responsibilities to Water, marine life<\/a>, and to Indigenous Peoples.<\/p>\n

The TRC references access to clean and safe water<\/a> as well as water access for ceremonies and cultural vitality of Indigenous communities; thus, the waveprint<\/em><\/strong> offers a broader way of understanding the relations between humans and Water. Just as ripples return to stillness after something connects with Water, the waveprint<\/em><\/strong> is also meant to be a returning promise to take action and care, as we begin to understand how aqua nullius<\/em> operates through watersports.<\/p>\n

The Waveprint of Watersports in Sen\u0313\u00e1\u1e35w (False Creek, Vancouver, BC)<\/h2>\n

On September 17, 2013, the All Nations Canoe Gathering<\/a> began Reconciliation week on the unceded waterways of Sen\u0313\u00e1\u1e35w, where 60 traditional canoes, dragon boats, and other vessels<\/a> welcomed Indigenous Peoples and Canadians to Coast Salish Lands. Indian Residential School<\/a> survivors paddled in their canoes for recognition and honor as \u201cthe canoe movement signifies the resurgence of songs, dances, names, language and teachings.\u201d<\/a> However, you\u2019re more likely to know about the activities of the paddling and rowing community including dragon boat, waka ama, va\u2019a, surfski, sprint canoe and kayaks, and marathon canoes. These groups follow the rules set by the following governing structures, including the City of Vancouver, Vancouver Park Board, Vancouver Police Department Marine Unit, Vancouver Fire Rescue Services, Port of Vancouver, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Transport Canada, Coast Guard Canada, and Vancouver Coastal Health. They advise monitoring and reporting concerns “about safety, pollution, and mobility”<\/a>\u00a0such as abandoned boats, oil<\/a> and sewage spills<\/a>, and suspicions of “illicit activity”<\/a> to protect the water.<\/p>\n

But as Anishinabek Chief Water Commissioner, Autumn Peltier says, \u201cwhole ecosystems depend on water and the chain reaction effect [of our watersports too] will happen if water is not protected and slowly things will die.\u201d<\/a> Public reporting becomes a form of policing who can and cannot access the water, so that on Water<\/strong> sports and activities can continue in Sen\u0313\u00e1\u1e35w. The objects that allow us to be on the water, such as faster and lighter boats made of fibre glass and equipment made out of carbon fibre, reflect above Water<\/strong>. As our sports\u2019 equipment enters the water, we directly impact the marine<\/a> ecosystem below Water. <\/strong>If False Creek\u2019s June 20, 2024 sewage spill can lead the community to advocate for \u201csafe [water] access for its thousands of users<\/a>,\u201d then they must also advocate for the same water access for Indigenous communities. Y(our) actions are interconnected to the relationships to Water<\/strong> #beyondthesport. As St\u00f3:l\u014d Nation\u2019s knowledge keeper, Lee Maracle, wrote in Goodbye Snauq<\/a>, “there is hope in irony.”<\/p>\n

Y(our) Waveprint<\/h2>\n

We have to be honest and realize that most commercialized, modern day versions of watersports in Canada have a responsibility to the TRC\u2019s calls to action. In 1992, Indigenous Meriam successfully overturned terra nullius in Australia.<\/a> The Canadian Supreme Court denied the use of terra nullius<\/em><\/a> but acknowledged use of discovery in 2012. Therefore, aqua nullius<\/em> remains very present and active in watersports because all waterways are <\/strong>unceded<\/strong><\/a>. My hope is that the waveprint<\/em> helps others reflect, have conversations, and act on y(our) responsibilities to Water beyond your boat, board, and sport. Here are some starting questions to ask yourself:<\/p>\n