Climate Literacy in Education

Intergenerational Healing within Waterscapes:

The Spiritual Connection between Girls and Water in the Films Estiu 1993 and Whale Rider

Milena Renee Rodriguez

Erasmus Mundus Children's Literature, Media, and Culture

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/cle.v2i2.6109

Keywords: Seascape, Waterscapes, Rivers, indigneous youth, rights to water

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Abstract

Since time immemorial, humans have had a flowing communication with Water and have been connected to Water in infinite ways through ritual, celebration, storytelling, and contemplative practices (Leonard et al., 2023). We are Water. This essential truth of our interconnected existence has been denied by past and present interrelated systems of violence, such as colonialism, patriarchy, and pollution, which have affected us and our planet (Ansloos, 2023). In this article, I analyze the films Estiu 1993 (2017) and Whale Rider (2003), their girl child protagonists Frida and Pai, and illustrate how young girls find a spiritual connection to themselves, their departed loved ones, and the world through a spiritual connection with the Waterscapes they have access to. I also highlight Indigenous perspectives about intergenerational healing through embodied Water practices and rituals. with the beyond-human world (Rodriguez, 2024). I offer suggestions on approaching the films pedagogically, emphasizing the potential to integrate anti-oppression and eco-justice discussions within multigenerational and culturally safe educational environments.

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Author Biography

Milena Renee Rodriguez, Erasmus Mundus Children's Literature, Media, and Culture

Milena R. Rodriguez is an interdisciplinary professional whose passion for the revitalization of Mesoamerican cultures has guided her work as a researcher, educator, library manager, artist, and activist for Indigenous community development initiatives in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. She believes that Indigenous stories of interconnection and well-being within Land and Water ecologies have the power to heal and create new realities for Indigenous children, their families, and future generations. She received her B.A. in Human Ecology from the College of the Atlantic, Maine, United States; and she is an awarded scholar of the 4th cohort of the Erasmus Mundus International Master in Children’s Literature, Media and Culture (CLMC). Her research focuses on Indigenous children’s naturecultures and more specifically their watercultures, children’s perception and interactions with water. Milena aims to contribute to Childhood and Media Studies through attention to Indigenous authors, artists, and scholars, the interconnection between access to natural spaces and wellbeing, intergenerational learning, Indigenous collective and relational agency, and Indigenous futurisms.