Why lakes and rivers should have the same rights as humans | Kelsey Leonard
TED Talks Daily
TED
4.1 • 12.1K Ratings
🗓️ 23 December 2020
⏱️ 13 minutes
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Summary
Water is essential to life. Yet in the eyes of the law, it remains largely unprotected -- leaving many communities without access to safe drinking water, says legal scholar Kelsey Leonard. In this powerful talk, she shows why granting lakes and rivers legal "personhood" -- giving them the same legal rights as humans -- is the first step to protecting our bodies of water and fundamentally transforming how we value this vital resource.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to TED Talks Daily. I'm Elise Hume. Water. Our bodies are mostly water. Our planet is mostly water, and we need it for survival. But clean water resources are scarce or threatened in many parts of the world. In today's talk from TED Women 2019, Kelsey Leonard of |
| 0:23.0 | the Shinnecock Nation asks us to completely rethink water so that we protect it more like |
| 0:28.7 | we protect our families. And by doing so, we protect the future. |
| 0:36.1 | Akwee Winnikasek, Kelsey Lennonennon-N-N-A-Wi-Sawank. |
| 0:40.0 | Hello, good day, everyone. |
| 0:42.0 | I'm from the Shinnecock Nation. |
| 0:45.0 | Tabutni to the Kuiya peoples whose land we gather on today. |
| 0:50.6 | I was taught that water is alive. |
| 0:54.2 | It can hear. |
| 0:55.8 | It holds memories. |
| 0:57.7 | And so I brought a water vessel up with me today |
| 1:00.5 | because I wanted to hold the memories of our conversation today. |
| 1:06.0 | Who gets legal rights? |
| 1:09.8 | History has shown us some people, but not others. |
| 1:14.2 | In the United States, indigenous peoples, like myself, |
| 1:18.0 | were not citizens under the law until 1924. |
| 1:22.4 | My Shinnock ancestors were not citizens under the law. |
| 1:27.0 | Then why do we claim to be nations governed by the rule of law |
| 1:32.3 | if some people are protected but not others? |
| 1:37.3 | Because it remains one of the best ways to fight injustice. |
| 1:42.3 | And as indigenous people, we know injustice. |
| 1:48.3 | A dear friend, mentor, Waterwalker, |
... |
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