Nicole Hancock
Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony ...

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.

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

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A moment in history: Oct. 5, 1914

A moment in history: Oct. 5, 1914

On this day in 1914, the City of Edmonton was under a court order to clean up its act when it came to dumping sewage into the North Saskatchewan River. The injunction had been handed down by a justice that January and meant, according to the city’s lawyer, that Edmonton would have to halt building any new sewer connections that put additional waste into the river. It also gave the city two years “to construct a proper disposal plant,” according to a short item published in an Edmonton newspaper. The story indicates that both the province and the city tried to get the injunction softened, to no avail.

Under pressure, company cancels Tennessee pipeline

Under pressure, company cancels Tennessee pipeline

Environmentalists and activists claimed victory recently after a company cancelled plans to build an oil pipeline through southwest Tennessee and north Mississippi, and over an aquifer that provides drinking water to one million people. Byhalia Connection said it will no longer pursue plans to build a 79-kilometre underground artery that would have linked two major U.S. oil pipelines while running through wetlands and under poor, predominantly Black neighbourhoods in south Memphis.

Students at Fort Saskatchewan Elementary speaking out about children's rights

Students at Fort Saskatchewan Elementary speaking out about children's rights

"Then we learned about Autumn Peltier, who's a water warrior; she speaks about the sacredness of water and advocates for clean drinking water for all children in Canada, especially first nations communities, because there are so many communities that don't have clean drinking water." After learning about the children's stories, the class came up with a campaign to bring public awareness to issues Indigenous children face in Canada. They created the hashtag #SayTheirNamesShareTheirStories to get the message out.

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