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.
For many of us, drinking water from the tap, taking a shower or flushing a toilet are things that are taken for granted. However, residents of the Cheekye, or Cheakamus 11, reserve say they are sometimes left wondering when and if those necessities are available to them. Those who live on that reserve say that their water infrastructure cuts out, leaving them dry and without any means to perform basic functions. When it does work, they say, it supplies them with water they don't trust.
