Nibi by Jaimie Isaac

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What if the Red River was a person? What would it be like if it held personhood status? In 2017, New Zealand/Aotearoa passed a groundbreaking law granting legal personhood status to the Whanganui River. This declares that the river is a living whole, from the mountains to the sea, incorporating all its physical and metaphysical elements, honouring the Māori perspective of it as an ancestor – a relative. It is the first river in the world to be recognized as an indivisible and living being.

Embedded in Indigenous worldviews, water is sacred. The waterways are like mother earth’s veins, the lifeblood of existence sustaining and nurturing life. The Red River is an important waterway of Winnipeg and envisioning a future for it as a person compelled Indigenous artist Jaimie Isaac to create Nibi – a project that speaks to water sovereignty, protection and rights. Nibi (meaning water in Anishinaabe) is a work that poses the concept of the Red River and Lake Winnipeg gaining personhood through supporting the work of others that have been advocating on behalf of the waterways in Manitoba.

Colonial interferences polluted the Red River and Lake Winnipeg to the point of dangerous environmental degradation impacting human livelihood, food security and precious water security. In 2022, 60 million litres of raw sewage spilled into the river and again in 2024, more than 230 million litres of raw sewage caused extensive environmental damage directly impacting the health and wellbeing of many dependent on the waterways.

Conceiving the Red River and Lake Winnipeg as carrying personhood legal status gives these sacred waterways rights, thus any actions and violations against them is a human rights issue. Given their deep spiritual and social connection to communities, what could this mean for it’s future and everyone that depends on them?

Nibi is an immersive experience with projected images and film of the Whanganui River and Red River paralleled showcasing the relationship of what is and what could be. This piece honouring water with lights, energy and sound will be projected on the entryways of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights until midnight. From 6 to 7 p.m., speakers, including the artist, will be sharing their ideas through prose and poetry about water sovereignty.

Links

• HumanRights.ca humanrights.ca

Organizer

Canadian Museum for Human Rights

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is the first museum solely dedicated to the evolution, celebration and future of human rights. The Museum is located on Indigenous ancestral lands on Treaty One Territory. The Red River Valley is also the birthplace of the Métis.