Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory
A Wiikwemkoong Elder could be featured on Canada’s $20 bill following a campaign to have an Indigenous woman featured on the note. CEO of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, Lynne Groulx, says they launched the “Change the Bill” in January, a campaign aiming to get an Indigenous woman featured on the bill to acknowledge contributions made in Canada.
Peltier says world leaders are always shocked and surprised when they hear her describe the water situation for First Nations in Canada. She says Canada is viewed by the outside world as a safe, rich country but feels First Nations people are treated like “animals.” Peltier says it seems to be ok for First Nations to go 20 years without clean drinking water but if that were to happen in any Canadian city, it would result in a state of emergency, that would be handled quickly.
A Pickering, Ont. elementary school will soon bear the name of a female Indigenous leader from Manitoulin Island instead of that of the first prime minister of Canada. Sir John A. Macdonald Public School, located at 777 Balaton Ave., will be renamed Biidassige Mandamin Public School, according to the Durham District School Board. Trustees voted in favour of changing the name at a meeting on Monday.
Autumn Peltier knows something about the value of water. The 16-year-old is the Anishinaabe Nation’s chief water commissioner – a “warrior” for clean water – from the Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory on Manitoulin Island. She became globally recognized when, on World Water Day March 22, 2018, she delivered an impassioned speech to the United Nations in New York. At five feet tall then, Pelletier had to stand on a stool behind the podium to reach the microphone. She spoke softly, but to the point. “No child should grow up not knowing what clean water is,” she said. “We all have a right to this water as we need it – not just rich people, all people.”
Autumn Peltier of Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory has been named to the national Clean50 list, which recognizes “outstanding contributions to clean capitalism.” The initiative was created in 2011 by the Delta Management Group, a staffing firm with a focus on ‘green’ initiatives such as cleantech, renewable energy and sustainability.
The Shingwauk Anishinaabe Students Association hosted a talk with Autumn Peltier and her mother Stephanie Peltier, “Our Water, Our Future: A Conversation with Water Defenders.” This talk was in alignment with the Sugar Moon, which is celebrated as the Anishinaabe New Year. This marks the time of year when the sweet water begins to run, and the medicine it produces balances the blood and provides healing.
Activists in northeastern Ontario fighting for safe, clean water in First Nations communities across Canada are getting tired of broken promises. After five years and millions in spending, the Liberal government announced in early December that it would not fulfill its commitment to end all long-term water advisories on reserves by March 2021. Although some progress has been made – 97 advisories have been lifted since November 2015 – there’s still a long way to go. There are 59 active long-term water advisories in 41 communities across the country, and activists maintain that clean water should be a priority for the federal government, especially during a global pandemic. “Water is a basic human right, and nobody should have to beg for it. This is wrong, and it’s come to the point where I think it comes down to racism,” said Autumn Peltier, a teenage water-rights activist from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory on Manitoulin Island.
The Waabnoong Bemjiwang Association of First Nations (WBAFN), a tribal council with six member First Nations in Northern Ontario, and Canadian charity Water First Education & Training Inc. announce their partnership to deliver a drinking water treatment and environmental water science internship program for young Indigenous adults. Approximately 12 interns will be recruited from six participating First Nations communities across the tribal council’s region to pursue Operator in Training (OIT) and Water Quality Analyst (WQA) certifications.
I would like to thank the Global Landscapes Forum and the United Nations General Assembly for having me here today to share my concerns and share why my people have a sacred connection to the water and the lands. I would like to start by sharing that the work I do is in honour of my late Great Auntie Biidaasige-ba. If it weren’t for her lifetime commitment and sacrifices to create the awareness and the sacredness of water, I would not be standing here today. She inspired me to do this work as she was an Elder when she began. I thought about who would keep doing her work one day; I just didn’t expect that day to come as soon as it did. She created the Mother Earth Water Walks. She walked around all the Great Lakes, more than once. She did this because the Elders began to see changes in the lands, medicines, animals and waters.
