Indigenous Water Ethics: A Traditional Dialogue 
October 7, 2022 - 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time

On Thursday, October 7, the Center for Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminary convened “Indigenous Water Ethics: A Traditional Dialogue.” 

Mona Polacca, senior fellow for CEE’s Original Caretakers Program, assembled representatives of different Indigenous cultures to present their diverse perspectives and lived experiences stabilizing, protecting and creating resiliency for their communities’ water sources.

In addition to Polacca, the speakers at the dialogue were the following:

- Betty Lyons, president and executive director of the American Indian Law Alliance (AILA), an Indigenous and environmental activist, and citizen of the Onondaga Nation.

- Austin Nunez, chairman of the Wa:k—San Xavier District of the Tohono O’odham Nation located in the arid Sonoran Desert region of southwestern Arizona.

- Rāwiri Tinirau, co-director of Te Atawhai o Te Ao, a Māori research institute focused on health and environmental research, and deputy chair of Ngā Tāngata Tiaki o Whanganui.

Karenna Gore, founder and executive director of the Center for Earth Ethics, welcomed participants and introduced the speakers.

CEE’s Original Caretakers Program promotes learning from Indigenous knowledge to address the ecological crisis. The program also supports wisdom keepers from Indigenous traditions, advocates for Indigenous rights and self-determination, and seeks the engagement of Indigenous peoples in economic development decisions.

The Center for Earth Ethics (https://centerforearthethics.org) works at the intersection of values, ethics, and ecology to confront the climate crisis. Founded in 2015 at Union Theological Seminary, CEE centers the moral and spiritual dimensions of climate change, especially its impacts on Indigenous communities and other groups that have been underrepresented in policy-making. CEE encourages necessary changes in our culture and public policy, cultivates a more expansive and inclusive public consciousness, and prioritizes the well-being of all people and our planet.