Meaning(s) of Water: Fish and the Human Ecology in Ethiopia’s Upper Nile

Water is a media that sustains both belief and life. One of its powers is symbol of power and destiny. In the Upper Nile it carries meaning as a place (point of origin, a highland spring or montane rivers), a conduit for travel, and a source of food. This paper uses fish and waters as both a material, living part of nature and as part of the human imaginary. In this structured ecology human relationship with environment requires intervention of the supernatural that can be reached through mediation by holy men, who mediate between humanity and the environment (natural world). Hitherto, there has been no study looking at how local ecology of fish and the human settlement collide and interact. Drawing on a broad range of local historical sources, science studies, and field observations over several decades from Ethiopia’s Blue Nile region, this article addresses human interaction with environment (and fish) in the Lake Tana region and sheds light on competing narratives that have resulted from this interaction. The article recognizes the centrality water as habitat in the relationship between people, water, and nature in this part of Ethiopia and addresses the impact of human movement on ways in which people make sense of their environment (past and present).