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.
Welcome to the first stop on the journey of the story of plastic in Canada: the Athabasca region in Northern Alberta. The Athabasca has been home to Indigenous people since time immemorial and part of Treaty 8, originally signed in 1899. This is the territory of Cree, Déne and Métis nations who live and work in a beautiful and bountiful place. A place that also happens to be on the frontlines of one of the most destructive large-scale industrial projects in the world…the Alberta tar sands.
Treaty obligations outlined by Standingontheroad included the medicine chest clause or "universal health care, assured to First Nations free of cost" as well as rights around education, fishing, hunting, minerals and clean drinking water. "We are all treaty people," Standingontheroad said. "We all agreed to share this land and respect treaty between our peoples."
