Colibri (Hummingbird) Waterways, 2022.
Homecoming with Bodies of Water. Each of us is a body of water; isn't that magical?
Each of us is a body of water; isn't that magical? Recent years have stretched me farther than I imagined, but time and time again, water has been my greatest teacher. I've learned to pray with water and let it cleanse me: may I be like water, flow, release, clear. The "Art of Attentiveness" is a simple yet potent act of being present with what is, which has allowed me to deepen my relationship with this vital life force that nurtures my well-being. Scholars Thom Van Dooren, Eben Kirksey, and Ursula Münster argue, "the art of attentiveness reminds us that knowing, and living are deeply entangled, and that paying attention can and should be the basis for creating better possibilities for a shared life" (Van Dooren et al 2016, 17) [2]. Such awareness inspired me to learn more about my local waterways in "Colibri (Hummingbird) Waterways." Since I don't know the original names that Patwin, Pomo, Onasatis, and Miwok peoples call(ed) the places I know with colonial names, I omitted them.
This piece highlights our local watershed, traced in white lines over a blue body of water. The darker "Napa River" outline in the backdrop reflects how the waterway flows across the valley. Recently, I learned that the willow, a Native plant used for various healing practices, grows alongside or near water, as pictured in the bottom right corner. In her essay, "Indigenizing the Anthropocene," scholar Zoe Todd brings in Dwayne Donald's idea of "enactment of ecological imagination," which requires "paying attention to the webs of relationships that you are enmeshed in, depending on where you live" [2]. In 2018, I signed onto Measure C, "Watershed and Oak Protection," which would have limited the acres of oak woodland from development since there's no existing cutting restriction in the Napa Valley. Given that the initiative threatened capitalistic "development" interests and white supremacy, it did not receive enough support to pass as a law—an anthropogenic crisis during an ever-long drought.
When I turn on my sink faucet, water still sprouts. I learned that my water comes from Napa River Watershed, Susin Creek Watershed, and Putah Creek Watershed. Donald's decolonial epistemology depends on all my sensibilities and insists that I am present with water. As I imagine regenerative relationships, a "place-based" approach to the Anthropocene feels in alignment with my spirit. Do you see a bird on the watershed map too? I added a hummingbird (messenger), which blesses us with their nectar. Water is life worth protecting at all costs, especially as the Anthropocene continues polluting our waterways.
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[1] Van Dooren, T., Kirksey, E., & Münster, U. (2016). “Multispecies Studies.” Environmental Humanities, 8(1), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1215/22011919-3527695.
[2] Todd, Zoe. “Indigenizing the Anthropocene.” In Art in the Anthropocene: Encounters Among Aesthetics, Politics, Environments and Epistemologies, edited by Davis, Heather and Turpin, Etienne. London: Open Humanities Press, 2015.