Reclaiming the River: Two-Spirit health and climate change in Deshkan Ziibi

The Deshkan Ziibi, known to settlers as the Thames River in southwestern Ontario, heaves under the weight of history. It carries the chemical runoff of modern industry and the ancient stories of the Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, and Lūnaapéewak peoples. For the Indigenous communities along its banks, the water is not a resource to be managed; it is a relative. Yet, this relative is sick. As temperature records shatter and floodwaters rise, a specific group finds themselves at the sharp edge of the crisis.

Science often ignores the spirit. However, a new critical multi-method study argues that we cannot separate the ecological collapse from the colonial violence that precipitated it. Researchers examined traditional stories through queer-decolonial frameworks, contrasting them against a scoping review of current environmental literature. They sought to understand how the fracturing of land connects to the fracturing of identity.

Understanding Two-Spirit health and climate change

The data paints a grim picture of exclusion. The review indicates that Two-Spirit people—those identifying with distinct, culturally specific gender roles within Indigenous communities—face compounded risks. Their health is tethered to the land. When extractivism poisons the soil and colonial policies restrict access to traditional territories, the mental and physical well-being of Two-Spirit individuals suffers disproportionately. They are navigating a storm created by systems that sought to erase them.

But the narrative does not end with victimhood. The study suggests that the very perspectives marginalised by Western science hold the key to survival. The analysis of traditional stories reveals 'kincentric' worldviews: a philosophy that treats plants, animals, and rivers as family members with agency. This stands in stark contrast to the sterile, anthropocentric governance models currently failing to halt the climate emergency. By treating the earth as kin rather than capital, Two-Spirit epistemologies offer a distinct model for resilience.

The findings serve as a warning. Continuing to ignore these voices does more than perpetuate inequality; it blinds policymakers to vital strategies for planetary health. The river is speaking. It is time we listened to those who know its language.