Amiskwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton, Alberta)
Frédérique is a Congolese Canadian scholar raised on Treaty 6 Territory in Amiskwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton, Alberta). Her academic and research interests lie at the intersection of religion, gender, identity, migration, and trauma. She focuses on the experiences of forcibly displaced women who settle in settler-colonial contexts across North America, exploring how their identities—and processes of identity formation or reformation—interact with and challenge dominant narratives of belonging in their new “home.”
What story does the land we are on tell us? More importantly, how does it dictate the well-being of all those who inhabit in it? This paper will explore the intricate relationship between land, body, indigeneity and the well-being of its inhabitants. The starting point of my project is that ecotheology is pregnant with possibilities that haven’t been worked out, particularly in understanding how ecological degradation intersects with health and well-being. The analysis begins with a critical examination of environmental moral distress, a concept that situates ecological emotions, such as eco-anxiety, within their broader social and political contexts. Unlike medicalized conceptions of eco-anxiety, which focus on individual pathology, environmental moral distress highlights the ethical dilemmas and systemic injustices underpinning ecological crises. This paper argues for a paradigm shift toward an ethics of care rooted in an eco-womanism framework. Looking at Indigenous Canadian communities as they fight for safe drinking water, I suggest that the proposed shift reinterprets ecological emotions as reflective of morally questionable actions that demand collective ethical responses. By reframing these emotions, eco-womanism opens pathways for empowerment and moral agency, fostering collective responses to the shared moral and political struggles of climate crises. Paying close attention to the ethic of love rooted in womanist theology with the concept of moral injury to address the compounded effects of colonization and ecological exploitation on marginalized communities. This framework demonstrates that addressing the current water crises requires empowering remote Indigenous communities to lead their own water governance initiatives through systems rooted in Indigenous knowledge and practices. Rebuilding trust through meaningful reconciliation is equally critical, as it lays the groundwork for genuine partnerships. Central to these efforts is actively listening to the voices of remote Indigenous communities and committing to collaborative action. These steps are essential for fostering equitable and sustainable solutions to the water crises, rooted in respect and mutual understanding.