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

pulp mills

‘In our culture, water is so much more. It’s sacred.’ New wave of Indigenous operators look to tackle drinking-water woes

‘In our culture, water is so much more. It’s sacred.’ New wave of Indigenous operators look to tackle drinking-water woes

Jamie Lee Parenteau knows that water is where life originates. She knows that it must be protected in every way possible from pollution or waste. The Ojibway woman’s ancestors were able to live off the water as a resource, and to sustain all living things in their care. Yet in some First Nation communities today, water has become a curse. “In our culture, water is so much more. It’s sacred,” says Parenteau, who is from the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation. “Our people could just go to the lake for everything. That was before all these things like the (pulp) mills and mercury poisoning. Our people drink that water and got poisoned by it.” The young mother is a water protector — and she now has a licence that says so.

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