i am the river

The river is me. I just finished watching a documentary about the first river in the world given legal rights, the Whanganui River in Aotearoa/New Zealand. As if a river needs rights from humans in the first place. But sadly, it does, and now it can be protected, so long as it is recognized as a legal person, as a living and indivisible being. We Westerners have given corporations such rights, why not provide the same rights to life sustaining entities – such as mountains, bodies of water, flora, fauna, and funga – things that are more-than-human?

I wrote a rhetorical piece my last semester of grad school, titled, The constitutive rhetoric of non-human entities as they relate to legal standing: A dialogic case for building a collective identity. The paper basically detailed efforts made by a group of people today (MOTH) who are attempting to influence the public sphere and affectively infiltrate the “mainstream,” by naming the more-than-human-world and protecting it legally. The measure of success in their constitutive process is whether they, and other humans, can collectively agree and see this new persona the same, whether through names such as: personhood, beinghood, or selfhood, they can create a legal framework that provides protection for the more-than-human-world.

This documentary is proof that this movement is making traction and I am thrilled! One of my favorite takeaways was recognizing the difference between ownership and guardianship. From a greater scale, ownership is a myth. Do we ever truly own something, things that can be turned around to be bought and sold? “Congratulations! You’re the richest man in the graveyard.” But guardianship is bigger and nobler; guardianship is passed on and involves respectful stewardship. I commend those who represent and protect the more-than-human-world. And the Māori people are guardians.

I have a passion for environmental communication and I enjoy sharing ideas here. Thank you for reading!