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.
In an ancient Peruvian folktale, a hummingbird fetches water to put out a forest fire, one drop at a time. The other animals look on and laugh at her. Then, the little bird replies, “I’m doing what I can.” The tale inspired UN-Water, which coordinates the world body’s work on water and sanitation, to launch the ‘Be the change’ campaign for World Water Day on 22 March, that urges everyone to do what they can to change the way they use and manage 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.
