Responsibilities to rivers, mountains, inlets, and seas
Responsibilities to Rivers, Mountains, Inlets, and Seas
Under Ts’msyen law, the land and waters are not passive resources. Rivers, mountains, inlets, and seas are living relations with whom the people hold **ongoing responsibilities**.
These responsibilities arise from *ayaawx*, are carried by houses (*wilp*), and are maintained through conduct, stewardship, and public accountability.
Foundational Understanding
Ts’msyen relationships to the natural world are governed by responsibility, not domination.
Responsibility includes:
- care
- restraint
- respect
- accountability
- continuity for future generations
Use without responsibility is unlawful.
Rivers
Rivers are lifelines.
Responsibilities to rivers include:
- protecting water quality
- safeguarding fish and spawning areas
- maintaining access and passage
- respecting seasonal rhythms
- preventing harm from overuse or contamination
Rivers carry memory, travel, and law. Harm to rivers harms the people.
Mountains
Mountains hold law, history, and protection.
Responsibilities to mountains include:
- respecting sacred and restricted areas
- avoiding unnecessary disturbance
- honoring places tied to adaawx
- maintaining balance between use and preservation
Mountains are not empty places; they hold presence and meaning.
Inlets and Coastal Waters
Inlets are shared spaces of travel, harvest, and relationship.
Responsibilities include:
- respectful navigation and passage
- sustainable harvesting
- honoring inter-house and inter-tribal protocols
- preventing damage to shorelines and marine habitats
- maintaining safety and hospitality for travelers
Inlets connect peoples; they must not become sites of conflict.
Seas
The sea is both provider and teacher.
Responsibilities to the sea include:
- respecting weather and seasonal limits
- protecting marine life
- maintaining safe travel practices
- honoring maritime law and protocol
- sharing abundance according to law
The sea rewards humility and punishes arrogance.
Role of the Wilp
Responsibilities to land and waters are carried primarily by wilp.
Each wilp:
- holds stewardship obligations for specific places
- teaches proper conduct to its members
- answers for harm caused by misuse
- participates in restoration when imbalance occurs
Territory without stewardship loses legitimacy.
Witness, Ceremony, and Accountability
Proper relationship with land and waters is affirmed through:
- feast witnessing
- ceremony
- public acknowledgment
- correction when harm occurs
Environmental harm is a legal matter, not only a practical one.
Restoration After Harm
When rivers, mountains, or seas are harmed:
- responsibility must be acknowledged
- corrective action must be taken
- compensation or restoration may be required
- ceremony may be needed to restore balance
Ignoring harm deepens imbalance.
Some places carry shared responsibility.
In such cases:
- cooperation is required
- protocol governs access and use
- disputes are resolved through law, not force
- stewardship is collective
Shared responsibility does not mean absence of law.
Teaching Responsibility
Responsibilities to the natural world are taught through:
- observation
- apprenticeship
- story and adaawx
- lived practice
- correction and example
Youth learn law by watching how land and waters are treated.
Living Relationship
Responsibilities to rivers, mountains, inlets, and seas are living law.
They endure through:
- continued care
- lawful use
- public accountability
- respect for limits
- intergenerational teaching
When responsibility is upheld, balance remains. When it is ignored, imbalance follows.