Professor Aimée Craft has been awarded a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Partnership Development Grant for an ambitious new project entitled “Building the Lake Winnipeg Watershed Treaty.” Bringing together Indigenous nations, community organizations, scholars, and water governance leaders, the initiative seeks to develop a new treaty relationship grounded in Indigenous laws, knowledge systems, and responsibilities to the Lake Winnipeg Watershed.
The Lake Winnipeg Watershed is one of the largest freshwater basins in the world. At its centre lies Lake Winnipeg, the world’s tenth-largest freshwater lake, a water body that supports ecological biodiversity, local economies, cultural practices, and community well-being across the region. But the watershed faces growing environmental pressures, including pollution, invasive species, resource extraction, and climate change. These challenges have contributed to concerns ranging from harmful algal blooms to drinking water advisories, while also exposing the limitations of existing governance structures that divide responsibility across multiple jurisdictions and institutions.
This new project responds to these challenges by exploring a fundamentally different approach to water governance, one that places Indigenous nations and Indigenous legal traditions at its centre. Drawing inspiration from the internationally recognized Buffalo Treaty, developed by Blackfoot nations to restore and protect buffalo populations, the research team will work with communities throughout the watershed to develop a Lake Winnipeg Watershed Treaty rooted in Indigenous laws and responsibilities.
Over the course of the project, researchers and partners will convene a series of “Treaty Dialogues” with Indigenous nations and communities throughout the watershed. These conversations will inform the drafting of a treaty that can be considered, refined, and ultimately ratified by participating nations. Once established, the treaty will serve as a framework for shared stewardship and mutual responsibilities within a complex, transboundary watershed, while also articulating expectations for governments, institutions, and civil society actors engaged in water governance.
A distinctive feature of the initiative is its relational approach to environmental governance. Rather than viewing water solely as a resource to be managed, the project is grounded in Indigenous understandings of water as a living relation. The treaty-development process will seek to foreground reciprocity, responsibility, and interconnection, while exploring how Indigenous legal traditions can contribute to more sustainable and equitable governance models in the face of the climate crisis.
Professor Craft leads the project alongside a distinguished team of collaborators, including Professor Deborah McGregor of the University of Calgary and Professor Susan Chiblow of the University of Guelph, as well as artist and researcher KC Adams; Alexis Kanu of the Lake Winnipeg Foundation; Daniel Kanu of the Lake Winnipeg Indigenous Collective; Professor Sherry Copenace of the University of Manitoba and Jaimie Isaac of the University of Manitoba’s Centre for Human Rights Research Initiative.
The project is supported by a broad partnership network that includes the First Nations Health and Social Secretariat of Manitoba, the Grand Council Treaty #3 Administrative Services, the Lake Winnipeg Foundation, and the Lake Winnipeg Indigenous Collective.
Building on longstanding relationships among Indigenous communities, partner organizations, and researchers, the initiative seeks not only to address pressing environmental challenges within the Lake Winnipeg Watershed, but also to advance broader conversations about Indigenous governance, treaty-making, and environmental stewardship. The resulting framework may ultimately serve as a model for watershed governance elsewhere in Canada and around the world.
SSHRC Partnership Development Grants support the development of innovative partnerships that advance research, knowledge mobilization, and social impact. Through this project, Professor Craft and her collaborators are helping to reimagine how law, governance, and Indigenous knowledge can work together to protect one of Canada's most important freshwater ecosystems.
The Faculty of Law congratulates Professor Craft and her collaborators on the launch of this important initiative!