Why lakes and rivers should have the same rights as humans | Kelsey Leonard

翻译人员: chunhua zhang 校对人员: Yolanda Zhang

Aquay Wunne Kesuk. Kelsey Leonard Nooweesuonk.

Aquay Wunne Kesuk. Kelsey Leonard Nooweesuonk.

Hello, good day, everyone.

大家好。

I'm from the Shinnecock Nation.

我来自辛奈考克部落。

Tabutni to the Cahuilla peoples,

感谢卡惠拉人，

whose land we gather on today.

我们今天就聚集在 他们的土地上。

I was taught that water is alive.

他们教会我，水是有生命的。

It can hear,

它可以听，

it holds memories.

它有记忆。

And so I brought a water vessel up with me today,

今天我也带来了一个水壶，

because I want it to hold the memories of our conversation today.

因为我想让它保存 关于我们今天对话的记忆。

Who gets legal rights?

谁拥有法律权益？

History has shown us some people but not others.

历史表明了一部分人有， 而另一部分没有。

In the United States, Indigenous peoples like myself

在 1924 之前的美国， 像我一样的印第安土著

were not citizens under the law until 1924.

都不是在法律上被承认的公民。

My Shinnecock ancestors, pictured here,

照片上， 我的辛奈考克祖先，

were not citizens under the law.

当时都不是合法公民。

Then why do we claim to be nations governed by the rule of law

如果只是部分人得到保护，

if some people are protected, but not others?

那我们为什么还要称这些国家 是被依法治理的呢？

Because it remains one of the best ways to fight injustice.

因为，它仍是抗击不公正的 最佳手段之一。

And, as Indigenous people, we know injustice.

作为印第安土著， 我们明白什么是不公正。

A dear friend, mentor, water walker,

我的一个密友、导师、水行者，

Nokomis, Grandmother Josephine Mandamin-ba,

Josephine Mandamin-ba 奶奶，

she told me of a prophecy that comes from her people,

她跟我说了关于她们部落，也就是

the Anishinaabe of the Midewiwin Society.

密得微文社会的 奥吉布瓦人的一则预言。

And in that prophecy,

在那个预言中，

she told me that it tells of a day that will come

她告诉我有一天，

where an ounce of water costs more than an ounce of gold.

一盎司的水要比一盎司的黄金还贵。

When she told me that prophecy, I sat for a moment,

听了她的预言，我坐着思考了一会儿，

and I thought about all of the injustices we see in our world today,

我想到了我们今天在全世界 见到的所有不公正，

the water crises we see in our world today,

我们所见到的水危机，

and I said, "Nokomis, Grandmother,

然后我说，“奶奶，

I feel like we are already in that time of prophecy."

我觉得我们好像已经 处于预言中所说的时代。”

And she looked back at me directly,

她回过头来看着我，

and she said,

说道，

"So what are you going to do about it?"

“那你打算怎么做呢？”

That's why I'm here with you today,

这就是我今天来到这里的原因，

because I believe that one of the many solutions

因为我认为，解决当前世界

to solving the many water injustices we see in our world today

众多水资源不公的方案之一，

is recognizing that water is a living relation

就是承认水是一种活体，

and granting it the legal personhood it deserves.

并且赋予它应有的法律人格。

So to do so, we need to transform the way in which we value water.

为此，我们需要转变 衡量水的价值的方式。

We have to start to think about how do we connect to water.

我们要开始思考如何 与水资源建立连接。

Usually, someone might ask you,

通常，人们会问你，

"What is water?"

“什么是水？”

and you would respond with "Rain, ocean, lake, river,

而你可能会回答 “雨水、海洋、湖泊、江河、

H20, liquid."

H2O、液体。”

You might even understand the sacred essentiality of water

你甚至有可能明白 水的神圣的重要性，

and say that water is life.

然后回答，水是生命。

But what if I asked you, instead,

但如果我换个方式问你，

"Who is water?"

“谁是水？”

In the same way that I might ask you, "Who is your grandmother?"

而且是用问“谁是你奶奶？”

"Who is your sister?"

“谁是你姐姐？” 这样的方式去问。

That type of orientation

这种表述方式

fundamentally transforms the way in which we think about water,

从根本上转变了我们看待水的方式，

transforms the way in which we make decisions

转变了我们制定保护水资源的

about how we might protect water,

决策的方式，

protect it in the way that you would protect your grandmother,

要像保护你的祖母、妈妈、

your mother, your sister, your aunties.

姐妹、阿姨一样保护水资源。

That is the type of transformation

如果我们想要

that we need if we are going to address the many water crises we see

解决今天所面临的诸多水危机， 那么这种转变

in our world today,

正是我们所需要的，

these harrowing water crises

这些令人痛心的水危机

that have streamed across our digital devices

从一开始，也就是城市供水被切断

in countdowns to Day Zero,

那一刻起，

the point at which municipal water supplies are shut off.

就在我们的电子设备上刷屏了。

Places like Cape Town, South Africa,

例如南非的开普敦，

where in 2018,

在 2018 年

residents were limited to two-minute showers

就规定居民洗澡不得超过两分钟，

and 23 gallons of water per day per person,

每人每天用水不得超过 23 加仑,

or just this past summer, where the mismanagement of water

又例如刚过去的这个夏天， 因为对水资源的管理不善，

led the streets of Chennai

导致印度钦奈的街头出现了

to be lined with thousands of plastic water jugs

数千只塑料水壶排队的场景，

as residents waited hours for water tankers

这些都是当地居民为了 取得日常所需的用水，

to deliver water, first by rail, then by truck,

花了好几个小时等待 送水车的到来，这些水

to meet their daily needs.

先被火车运过来，再装到卡车上。

Or even here in the United States,

甚至就在美国，

one of the most developed nations in the world.

这个世界上最发达的国家之一，

Today, Flint, Michigan still does not have clean water.

在密歇根州的弗林特市， 至今还没有干净的饮用水。

But you are likely unfamiliar with these water crises,

但是你很可能对以下的 水危机不是很熟悉，

such as Neskantaga First Nation in Northern Ontario, Canada,

例如加拿大安大略省北部的 纳斯坎塔加原住民地，

where residents have been on a boil water advisory since 1995.

这里的居民从 1995 年开始 就被建议要把水烧开再饮用。

Or Grassy Narrows First Nation,

又例如在 Grassy Narrows First Nation，

which for decades has been dealing with water contamination

人们这几十年来一直 在处理由造纸行业

from the paper mill industry

所引起的水污染问题，

and where a recent study found

而最近的研究发现，

that nearly 90 percent of the Indigenous population

将近 90% 的当地土著人口

has some form of mercury poisoning,

都出现了不同程度的汞中毒，

causing severe health complications.

导致了严重的并发症。

Or even among the Navajo Nation.

美国的纳瓦霍地区 也面临严重的水污染的问题。

Pictured here is the Animas River on an early morning in 2015,

图中是 2015 年的某个清晨 在遭遇 Gold King 矿井泄漏事故

prior to the Gold King Mine spill.

之前的阿尼玛斯河。

After the spill leaked millions of hazardous mine waste

这次事故导致数百万吨 有害的矿井废水

into the river system,

流入了阿尼玛斯河，

this was it later that day.

这是那天晚些时候河水的样子。

Today, the Navajo Nation and the Diné People

今天，纳瓦霍地区和当地的人民

and the river itself are still trying to recover from contamination.

以及这条河本身都还在 尝试从污染中恢复。

Or even right here in Palm Springs, California,

甚至就在此地， 加利福尼亚的棕榈泉，

where the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians

卡惠拉印第安人的阿瓜卡特部落

has been fighting for decades to protect groundwater from exploitation

为了保护地下水资源 不被过度开采而斗争了数十年，

so that future generations

以此来保证他们的后代

can not only live but thrive in their homelands,

不仅能在他们的故土生息， 更能够长久的繁荣下去，

as they have since time immemorial.

就像他们一路从远古 走过来所经历的一样。

You see, a recent study by DIGDEEP and the US Water Alliance

DIGDEEP 和美国水资源联盟 最近的一份研究发现，

found that race, in the United States,

种族在美国

is the strongest predictor of water and sanitation access,

强烈预示着获取水资源 和公共卫生的难易程度，

and that for us,

就拿我们来说，

as Native American people,

作为美国的原住民，

we are the group most likely to have access issues

我们是最可能在获取 水资源和公共卫生方面

as it comes to water and sanitation.

面临各种问题的。

So, as an Indigenous legal scholar and scientist,

因此，作为一个土著法学家和科学家，

I believe that many of these water injustices

我认为，很多的水资源分配不公

are the result of the Western legal system's failure to recognize

都是西方法律系统无法承认

the legal personhood of water.

水的法律人格的结果。

And so we must ask ourselves --

因此我们必须问问自己——

who is justice for?

我们的公平是为了谁而存在？

Humanity alone?

仅仅是人类自己吗？

We've granted legal personhood to corporations.

我们授予了公司法人地位。

In the US, the Supreme Court found in "Citizens United"

在美国，最高法院裁决“联合公民”组织

that a corporation was a person

这一非盈利公司

with similar protections under the Constitution,

享有跟公民一样的 受宪法保护的各项权利，

such as freedom of speech,

比如言论自由，

and applied similar reasoning in "Hobby Lobby,"

并且将同样的推理 用在了“Hobby Lobby"案上，

finding that a corporation had the right to freedom of religion

裁定企业拥有宗教自由的权利

in defense against the implementation of the Affordable Care Act

以对抗《平价医疗法案》

for its employees.

在员工身上的实施。

Now, these are controversial cases,

这都是一些有争议的案件，

and as a Shinnecock woman and a legal scholar,

而作为一个辛奈考克女性以及法学家，

they make me question the moral compass of the Western world,

它们让我对西方世界的 道德指南针有了疑问，

where you can grant legal personhood to a corporation

你可以授予企业法律人格， 却不能授予自然

but not nature.

同样的权利。

You see, legal personhood grants us the ability

法律人格赋予我们

to be visible in a court of law,

在法庭上被看到的能力，

and to have our voices heard as a person protected under the law.

让我们作为受法律保护的人 能够发出自己的声音。

And so if you can grant that to a corporation,

如果你能将这些权利授予一个企业，

why not the Great Lakes?

那么为什么不能授予五大湖？

Why not the Mississippi River?

为什么不能授予密西西比河？

Why not the many waterways across our planet

为什么不能授予我们赖以生存的

that we all depend on to survive?

密布在这个星球上的众多水资源？

We know we are in a global climate crisis,

我们知道，全世界现在 正经历气候危机，

but globally, our waters are also threatened,

但是从全球来看，我们的水域 也正在遭受威胁，

and we are facing a global water crisis,

我们正面临一场全球水危机，

and if we want to address these crises in our lifetime,

如果我们想要在有生之年 解决这些危机，

we need to change.

就需要做出改变。

We need to fundamentally transform the way in which we value water.

我们需要从根本上转变 我们衡量水的价值的方式。

And this is not something new for us as Indigenous peoples.

而作为土著人民，这些 对我们来说并不新鲜。

Our Indigenous legal systems have a foundational principle

我们的土著法律系统中有一个

of understanding our nonhuman relations

将我们与非人类的关系理解为

as being living and protected under our laws.

有生命且受法律保护的基本原则。

And even for the Western world,

即便是在西方世界，

environmental legal theorists

自 1970 年代起，

have argued for the rights of nature since the 1970s.

环境法律理论家也已经开始 为自然的权利而争辩。

But we need to do better.

但是我们需要做得更好。

We need to change.

我们需要改变。

And we need to grant legal personhood to water,

我们需要赋予水法律上的人格，

because it affords the following rights and protections.

因为它能提供相应的权利和保护。

It grants water the right to exist,

它授予水资源生存、

flourish, and naturally evolve,

繁荣以及自然进化的权利，

and most of all, it protects the water from us,

最重要的是，它能保护水资源

from human beings that would do it harm,

远离会伤害到它的人类，

from human-caused climate-change impacts,

远离人类导致的气候变化的影响，

from pollutants,

远离污染物，

and from man-made contamination.

以及远离人为污染。

Moreover, it reverses the accepted hierarchy

此外，它还颠覆了公认的

of humanity's domination over nature.

人类对自然界的统治地位。

As human beings on this planet,

作为这个星球上的人类，

we are not superior to other beings on this planet.

我们并不比其它的众生更高级。

We are not superior to the water itself.

我们也并不比水更高级。

We have to learn how to be good stewards again.

我们需要重新学习 如何成为一个好管家。

We often imagine that the world is filled with infinite water.

我们经常想象世界上的水资源 是无穷无尽的，

In fact, it's not.

但事实并非如此。

This planet, Ohke, Mother Earth,

这个星球，我们的地球母亲，

has very finite freshwater resources.

她所拥有的淡水资源是非常有限的。

Currently, nearly two billion people

如今，全世界将近 20 亿人

live in countries experiencing high water stress.

生活在水资源极度匮乏的国家。

It is also estimated that by 2030,

据估计到 2030 年，

up to 700 million people could be displaced, worldwide,

全世界将会有多达 7 亿的人口

due to water scarcity.

因水资源短缺而流离失所。

We have to address this crisis.

我们必须得解决这些危机。

And so it's time for us to change.

因此，是时候做出改变了。

We have to transform the way in which we value water.

我们必须改变衡量水的价值的方式。

And we can do that.

而且我们能够做到。

We can learn to be good stewards again.

我们可以重新学习做一个好的管家。

We can create laws through which we grant legal personhood to water.

我们可以立法来将法律人格授予水。

We can start to honor the original treaties

我们可以开始致敬那些

between Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous peoples

土著居民和非土著居民 为了保护水资源而签订的

for water protection.

最初的协议。

We can appoint guardians for the water

我们可以指定一位守护者，

that ensure the water's rights are always protected.

以确保水资源的各项权利 总是受到保护。

We can also develop water-quality standards

我们还可以开发一套

that have a holistic approach,

经过整体分析的，

that ensure the well-being of the water before our human needs.

确保水的福祉优先于 人类需求的水质标准。

And moreover, we can work to dismantle exclusive property ownership over water.

此外，我们还可以去除 对于水的专属所有权。

And there are amazing successful examples of this around the world.

在全球范围内已经有了 一些惊人的成功案例。

The Whanganui River in Aotearoa, in New Zealand,

例如新西兰的旺格努伊河，

and the Ganges River in India

以及印度的恒河

were both granted legal personhood in 2017.

都在 2017 年被授予法律人格。

And even this year,

就在今年，

the residents of the city of Toledo

托莱多市的居民

recognized the legal personality of Lake Erie.

承认了伊利湖的法律人格。

And right here in California,

而就在此地，加利福利亚，

the Yurok Tribe granted legal personhood to the Klamath River.

Yurok 部落授予了 克拉马斯河法律人格。

You see, I imagine a world where we value water

我想象了一个

as a living relation,

我们将水视为生命，

where we work to restore our connection to water.

并努力重建与水的联系的世界。

As women, we are water carriers.

作为女人，我们是水的载体。

We nurture water in our wombs for nine months.

我们用九个月的时间 在子宫里孕育水（中的生命）。

It's the first medicine that each of us as human beings

它是我们作为人类所接触到的

is exposed to.

第一剂良药。

See, we are all born as human beings with a natal connection to water,

作为人类，我们天生 就与水有一种联系，

but somewhere along the way, we lost that connection,

只不过后来我们失去了这种联系，

and we have to work to restore it.

我们需要去重建它。

Because I imagine a world

因为我想象了一个

in which water is healthy and ecosystems are thriving.

水资源很健康， 生态系统也欣欣向荣的世界。

I imagine a world

我想象了一个

where each of us takes up our right of responsibility

所有人都承担起自己作为

as water citizens

水的居民的责任，

and protects water.

去保护水的世界。

So, in the words of Nokomis,

正如奶奶所说，

what are you going to do about it?

你打算怎么做呢？

What are you going to do for the water?

你打算为水做些什么？

Well, you can call your local politician.

你可以联系当地的政治家。

You can go to a town meeting.

你可以去参加镇上的会议。

You can advocate for granting legal personhood to water.

你可以倡导将法律人格授予水。

You can be like the residents of the city of Toledo

你也可以像托莱多的居民一样

and build from the grass roots,

从基础做起，

and craft your own legislation if the politicians won't write it,

如果政治家们不帮你， 那就自己起草法律

recognizing legal personality of water.

承认水的法律人格。

You can learn about the Indigenous lands and waters that you now occupy

你可以去了解你现在所占有的， 但仍然被原住民法律系统所管辖的

and the Indigenous legal systems that still govern them.

那些原住民的土地和水域。

And most of all, you can connect to water.

最重要的是，你可以跟水建立联系。

You can restore that connection.

你可以重建那种联系。

Go to the water closest to your home,

去离你家最近的水域看看，

and find out why it is threatened.

找出它为什么受到威胁。

But most of all, if you do anything,

然而最重要的是，不管你做任何事，

I ask that you make a promise to yourself,

请你对自己承诺，

that each day, you will ask,

每一天，你都要问一下自己

"What have I done for the water today?"

“我今天为水做了什么？”

If we are able to fulfill that promise,

如果我们都能遵守这个承诺，

I believe we can create a bold and brilliant world

我相信我们能创造 一个勇敢和辉煌的世界，

where future generations are able to form

在这个世界里，我们的后代能够同样

the same relationship to water that we have been privileged to have,

跟水建立起我们曾经 有幸拥有的那种关系，

where all communities of human and nonhuman relations

所有的人类和非人类

have water to live,

都能获得赖以生存的水资源，

because water is life.

因为水就是生命。

Tabutni. Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）