CANCELED (LOW RSVP TURNOUT, WITHOUT RSVP, THE BUILDING WILL NOT ADMIT ENTRANCE): UNPFII22ND Session Parallel Event: Indigenous Water Justice, Global Collaboration, & Dismantling Water Colonialism

Indigenous Peoples have protected and stewarded water since time immemorial through community-based water approaches and water co-governance systems that recognized the traditional roles of Indigenous Peoples and youth in the future of water. Throughout the world, many Indigenous Peoples and youth played critical roles in the co-governance and stewardship of their water rights. However, with the advent of western water management systems, many of these Indigenous water systems were disrupted, prompting Indigenous Peoples and youth to launch initiatives for Indigenous water justice. On April 17-22, the Mni Ki Wakan Indigenous Water Decade & MKW Summit team will be attending the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) to voice the rights of water, call for global collaborations, and announce the 2023 Mni Ki Wakan Summit. MKW honors the planetary history of Indigenous water justice and co-governance, speaking to the Kyoto Water Declaration that raises Indigenous principles of water protection to the global level, and other water declarations that embody timeless principles of Indigenous water co-governance and justice. With the passage of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the UN General Assembly in 2007, global Indigenous water rights were further articulated: Article 25 of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, states, ‘Indigenous Peoples have the right to maintain their distinctive spiritual relationships with their traditional or otherwise occupied waters, and coastal seas… for future generations.’ MKW believes in the global power of Indigenous Peoples and the sacredness of water to bring about a transformative and sustainable future for water and all life. Water is not a resource, but a relative. Because water relates and connects us all, we cannot address national and global water issues in isolation of each other. Too often, water colonialism has gone unabated as colonial and western water entities find themselves in a dominant position of power, wealth, and resources. Throughout the planet, we find instances where the western and global water paradigm rose to prominence and notoriety from a long-standing history of water theft that continues to threaten the traditional and otherwise occupied sacred waters of Indigenous Peoples whose water governance and justice depends upon them. Still, Indigenous Peoples have enabled 80 percent of the world’s richest and rarest biodiversity to survive across land and water. After years of convening MKW Summits, members of the global Indigenous community, Indigenous water departments, water advocates, researchers, and grassroots organizations have contributed to the formulation and composition of the MKW Indigenous Water Decade & Summit. The water innovations and recommendations MKW Co-conveners will bring to the UNPFII 22^nd Session in New York City are emblematic of this historical formation. Following the wisdom of Indigenous Peoples, youth, and partners, MKW seeks to advance Indigenous-led water rights, and water justice for all. It does this through advocacy, research and education, partnership building, Indigenous-led community conversations, and the MKW Summit. MKW calls upon the global Indigenous Community and water entities to:

• Dismantle water colonialism
• Redirect resources and investment to Indigenous water initiatives
• Institute equitable and just water policies in equal consultation and decision-making with Indigenous Peoples
• Attend the 2023 MKW Summit in Rapid City, South Dakota, USA, August 15-17