Narration: Run little rivulet, run!

Summer is fairly begun.

Bear to the meadow the hymn of the pines, And the echo that rings  where the waterfall shines; Run little rivulet, run!

Run little rivulet, run!

Sing of the flowers, every one, - Of the delicate hair bell and the violet blue; Of the red mountain rose-bud  all dripping with dew; Run little rivulet, run!

Run little rivulet, run!

Stay not till summer is done!

Carry the city the mountain-birds' glee; Carry the joys of the hills to the sea; Run little rivulet, run!

Lee Francis IV: Mni Wichoni.

Translated, it means water   is life.

Indigenous peoples  around the globe have long understood the importance of water and how  it must be used effectively and sustainably.

From the deserts to the oceans, Indigenous  communities have a deep knowledge   of how the cycles of water are  interconnected with the cycles   of life.

And, we're going to talk all about those  interconnections today... here on Indigi-Genius.

Offscreen voice: Cut... water.

Lee Francis IV: Oh please... thank you.

Offscreen voice: We need water.

Lee Francis IV: Oh, thank you.

♪ ♪ For many Indigenous people water is life and  water is sacred.

Since almost 60 percent of the human body is made up of water and water makes up  over 70 percent of the world itself, water plays   an important part in many cultural practices.

It is also related to Indigenous identities and   origin stories.

For the Dine, there is the Hero  Born for Water.

And the clans, that include Big   Water, Near the Water and many other water-based  clans.

The use and practice of taking care of   water is woven with an inherent respect for water  as a living being that gives us life and supports   health.

This understanding of the connections of  traditional values, sustainability and resource   management, is key to Indigenous life around the  globe.

This understanding begins with fresh water   collection.

Although the methods for collection  and sustainability have been labeled as primitive,   they are the foundations for all our water systems  to this very day.

Water ponds and aquifers,   efficient sanitation and farming and recycling  methods all have their roots in Indigenous water   management systems.

As many of us learned  in elementary school, there are three stages   of water cycles: evaporation, condensation and  precipitation.

As the planet is made up on mostly   salt water, this water cycle is the only way life  developed on land from fresh water consumption.

After collecting the fresh water, Indigenous  peoples would use many methods to purify   and maintain the water system.

This included  boiling and filtering the water.

For example,   the Mayan people filtered through a mixture of  zeolite and coarse, sand-sized crystalline quartz.

Zeolite is a non-toxic, three-dimensionally  porous crystalline, hydrated aluminosilicate,   with natural absorbent and ion-exchange  properties, which removes harmful microbes   as well as disperses insoluble and soluble toxins  from drinking water.

From ancient waffle gardens,   acequias, cisterns, snowmelt and irrigation  lines, to modern day underground plumbing,   rain barrels, aqueducts, diversion channels  and water catches of all shapes and sizes,   Indigenous understandings and methods of  sustainability echo throughout the millennia.

For Indigenous water management systems,  careful considerations continue to be made   in balancing cultural and spiritual elements  with the biological need for fresh water,   which can be especially important for peoples  where fresh water is scarce.

These considerations   highlight how Indigenous peoples have been  water management experts for thousands of years.

When I was little, my father and I planted little  corn seeds in clay pots beside our apartment   window.

It was part of a grad study that he had to  do and he wanted me to join in with him on that.

I marveled at how delicate these little seeds  were and how little water it took them to sprout.

It was my first understanding of the importance of  water and how it contributes these cycles of life.

If we consider that only three  percent of the water on this earth is   fresh water that is used to sustain  life, it becomes even more critical   that we have a deep understanding of  how to sustain that water for all of us.

All of us that are living.

And these  understandings come from a deep, Indigenous   knowledge.

And that knowledge is on display  each and every day, here on Indigi-Genius.

Mni  Wichoni.

♪ ♪