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.
An Indigenous group has raised a large traditional tent on the lawn of Parliament Hill to celebrate a program that places agents known as “guardians” across Canada to care for lands and waters. The communal tent, known as a shaputuan in the Innu language, was organized by the Indigenous Leadership Initiative, a group that advocates for the guardian program nationally and promotes Indigenous-led conservation efforts.
Every Wednesday drinking water is delivered to the home of Dylan Whiteduck, chief of Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg near Maniwaki, Que. His home, which is just a 90-minute drive from Parliament Hill, used to belong to his grandmother, and for years the water coming from the tap has been unsafe to drink. "All these politicians live on our unceded traditional territory in Ottawa. ... So close to us, [yet] we don't have access to this clean drinking water," said Whiteduck, who partly blamed unsafe levels of uranium in the well water.
Ten Indigenous men and women walked from Kingston to Parliament Hill with a copper pail in hand as part of an annual water walk. “Mr. Trudeau said he’d give all of our people fresh water, clean water on our territories,” said Lisa Cadue, who organized the walk. Cadue is from Tyendinaga and says she still doesn’t have clean water. “We’ve been on a boil water advisory for 33 years,” she said. Cadue has been participating in the water walks for at least 10 years, but Indigenous peoples have been doing these walks all across Canada for clean water before her.
With tears in her eyes, Peltier has also pressed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau directly about the ongoing threat that oil pipelines pose to the environment, specifically clean drinking water. “I’m kind of still holding him accountable because I’m not going to forget that,” she said. “When you think about Canada, you don’t imagine having a crisis or issue this big because we’re looked at as a rich country." The Trudeau government promised to end all long-term water boil advisories on First Nations reserves by March 2021. As of last March, 88 were lifted, but 61 still remain. Even through the pandemic, Peltier’s activism hasn’t stopped. Along with completing her school work, she’s also been empowering other youth through online events and speaking engagements.
