Critical Indigenous Fish Philosophy

In my work, I explore fish pluralities, which I define as ‘multiple ways of knowing and defining fish’ (Todd 2014: 223):

“During my fieldwork, fish were loosely characterized in different ways depending on the situation, were treated variously as both individual fish and plural entities depending on the situation, and could fit into many categories, specifically as specimens of scientific study, as food, as trophies in sport fishing or fishing derbies, as non-human persons with agency, as metaphors for people’s relationships to the land and to one another, and as nodes of engagement between various actors.”

This work builds on pluralities expressed and articulated by fishermen in the community of Paulatuuq, where I conducted research in 2012. It is also a play on legal pluralities and the mobilization of Indigenous legal orders that incorporate fish as nonhuman kin —  drawing on the work of Val Napoleon and John Borrows. For more in-depth analysis, please refer to the following:

https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=963949318240665;res=IELIND

https://www.daniels.utoronto.ca/events/2016/03/14/fish-pluralities-refraction-and-decolonization-amiskwaciwaskahikan-zoe-todd

https://www.afterall.org/journal/issue.43/fish-kin-and-hope-tending-to-water-violations-in-amiskwaciwaskahikan-and-treaty-six-territory