A Gendered Perspective on the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act

Water for First Nations Act 1

A Gendered Perspective of the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act

A Collaborative Project with a Circle of Indigenous Teachers and Water Walkers

Under the stewardship of:

Livia Beqo

The Glendon School of Public and International Affairs, York University

Supervisor: Dr. Joanna Robinson

Toronto (a Haudenosaunee word, roughly translated as 'where the trees are in the water'),

Canada, January-April 2015


Writer's Declaration

This collaborative project on the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act was initiated

by this writer as a 'Major Research Paper', at the Glendon School of Public and International

Affairs. It is my aspiration to make a modest contribution to policymaking, by further bringing to

light and healing our interconnectedness through water. One of my Indigenous Anishinaabe

teachers, Dorothy, taught me a way to greet people by saying 'giin gdibanim'. It is translated as 'I

belong to you'. I adopted it as a way to describe the authorship or stewardship of this project.

This is an original project, which would be an empty vessel without a circle of Indigenous

teachers and the support of their communities. Moreover, my work has been guided and inspired

by many other human and non-human relations intertwined in our web. The act of any future

acknowledgment of this work springs from the respect and appreciation for these relations;

relations which graciously sustain me as a part of the whole. Thus, I belong to you.


Summary

The Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act is the first formal regulatory framework

passed by the Canadian government to govern the provision of drinking water, water quality

standards and waste water treatment in First Nations communities (Government of Canada,

2013). It received royal assent on June 19, 2013 and came into force on November 1, 2013.

In this paper, I argue that water-related policy and legislation, or 'water stories', may

allow us to better understand a nation's institutional culture, and its engrained collective set of

values. Moreover, I explain how water governance is not merely a technical or administrative

decision-making process, but requires a holistic analysis of the state's territorial policies and

power dynamics amongst multiple actors. It is only through such an analysis that we may be able

to find a viable solution to the water crisis that we are in fact all currently facing in Canada, from

which Indigenous peoples have been bearing the heaviest burden. The concept of equitable

'water stories' is introduced as a solution, vis-à-vis the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act.

Through an equitable Water Act and its rightful implementation, Settler Canada has the potential

to truly reconcile and heal its relations with the Indigenous peoples of this land, as well as shift

its current hierarchical, self-destructive relationship to water to one that is life-sustaining and

holistic in approach.

The inclusion of Indigenous women's perspectives and input in policymaking is central to

making this shift to 'equitable water stories'. A background is given on Indigenous women who

uphold their traditional roles as 'the carriers of water' through Water Walks, while analyzing their

inclusion in the consultation process for the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act. I

maintain that in fact, the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act does not represent an

equitable 'water story', which involves participatory, community-based engagement. Thus, as a

non-Indigenous woman, I describe my story in reaching out to a community of thirteen

Indigenous women teachers and Water Walkers, through a detailed conceptual framework and

methodological process. The two research questions that will be addressed are as follows:

1) How does the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act impact Indigenous women?

2) What is an alternative to this Act, based on the shared perspectives of Indigenous

women?

The framework is then set for understanding the interpretations of terms such as 'First

Nations' or 'drinking water' in the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act, based on the

interviews with my Indigenous teachers. It is explained that the core concept that is vital in

understanding the Water Walks, the water ceremonies, and Indigenous women's perspectives on

water is that water is believed to be sacred and sentient. For many Indigenous cultures, water has

spirit and memory, which contains the intergenerational knowledge of all creation, as well as

cultural identities. It is through the respect for such Indigenous knowledge and cultural identities,

that we can establish equitable water stories in our shared land and waters.


The Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act is also framed in the context of the

globalized economy. Through the interviews, this paper presents some of the ways that

Indigenous women may be impacted by the current deregulation and lack of liability of the

Crown, as legislated in the Act. It is argued that the homogenization of neoliberalism annihilates

biological, group and individual memory through water degradation. The shared perspectives

from the interviews also discuss the current complex issue of investor-state agreements which

may prevent us from making the shift to equitable water stories.

The role of the Crown in Indigenous water governance and the potential challenges in

local Indigenous governance are then presented based on the interview findings. Various stories

of Water Walks further describe the role of Indigenous women in Indigenous water governance,

and how that role may be included in policymaking. This paper also discusses the possibility of

reconciliation between Western and Indigenous science in taking care of the waters. Through this

reconciliation, I present findings on the importance of culturally-appropriate technology that

needs to be respected in a Water Act for First Nations. A summary of short-term and long-term

recommendations is then given to make the shift to an equitable water story, by presenting an

alternative to the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act, based on the research findings. This

paper concludes with a discussion on the possible future collaboration between Settler Canada

and Indigenous women and their nations.


For those who have sought glimpses of freedom through love;

For those who speak for water.

.......

Fingers of silk was the grass,

Its tips with specks of gold.

Adorning my bare feet,

Like a bride of the Sahara.

The birch trees lifted me

Up high in their arms.

I said I was sick with love,

As they gave me to the sky.

Galloping branches I climbed,

And they showed me their light.

Forever joined to my palms,

Were their petals of rainbow.

In awe, I bowed to the ground,

And kissed the fluttering soil.

That soil moving like a fledgling,

Whispering secrets from its womb...

--Livia B.

(April 14, 2012)


Gchi'Miigwech/ Remerciements/Acknowledgements

Much gratitude to all the Indigenous teachers who breathed life to this project, in trust and in

kindness. I was raised near deep waters whose spirit humbled me, as she was infinitely complex,

yet passionate, wise, and generous. To me, you are like those waters. Dorothy, miigwech for

helping me reach out to the community. Amy, I'm thankful for your patience and support through

it all.

Dr. Robinson, thank you for all your invaluable guidance. I feel fortunate to have worked with

someone who guided this research in a way that my heart understands; through shared stories,

trust, and genuineness.

Dr. Montsion, thank you for your time and advice as second reader.

Dr. Lavoie and Dr. Barutciski, I'm grateful for your support.

Native Women's Resource Centre of Toronto; Paul Baines (Great Lakes Commons); Maria

Montejo (Dodem Kanonhsa'): Many thanks for your help in deepening my connections to the

community as well as to the water teachings.

This research was monetarily supported by the 2014-2015 Dr Paul-Émile Chaput & Thérèse

Thouin Chaput Award. Thank you for helping to make this project possible.

The three strong women who raised me were also a source of inspiration.

My maternal grandmother, who has gifted me with oral history and a self-sacrificial kind of love;

My mom's sister, who embodies divine-like acceptance and compassion;

Mom, who taught me about the power and honour of the word;

I have yet much to learn from these teachings. To my family, thanks/faleminderit.

To Creation, faleminderit.


Contents Term Clarification and Glossary ................................................................................................................... 9

As Long as the Waters Flow: Story Reconciliation ...................................................................................... 11

1.1 Reflections......................................................................................................................................... 11

1.2 Water Stories: Going Beyond 'the Technical'.................................................................................... 13

1.3 Settler Canada's Inequitable Water Stories .................................................................................... 16

1.4 Making the Shift to Equitable National Water Stories? .................................................................... 21

The Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act and the Sacred Feminine ................................................... 25

2.1 Background and Literature Review ................................................................................................... 25

2.1.1 As Long as Water Flows, When Women Give Birth... .............................................................. 25

2.1.2 A Broken Promise ...................................................................................................................... 28

2.2 Conceptual Framework ..................................................................................................................... 32

2.3 Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 36

2.3. 1 Limitations ................................................................................................................................ 40

2.3.2 Introducing the Teachers ............................................................................................................ 41

2.3.3 Situating the Researcher ............................................................................................................. 44

A Tipi Relationship: Defining the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act .......................................... 46

3.1 Water has Memory: The Indian Act and Indigenous Women .......................................................... 46

3.2. About the Treaties.... ....................................................................................................................... 51

3.3. Reductionist Meaning of Water ....................................................................................................... 53

The Four Directions: From Commons to Commodity ................................................................................ 54

4.1 Water Commodification .................................................................................................................... 54

4.2 The Commodification of Women ...................................................................................................... 58

4.3 Investor State Agreements: 'Dammed' If You Regulate, 'Dammed' If You Don't Regulate? ............ 62

Defining the Crown's Role in Indigenous Water Governance .................................................................... 65

5.1 Reconciling Settler Canada's Stories ................................................................................................. 65

5.2 A Position of Restitution ................................................................................................................... 67

5.3. Meaningful Consultation ................................................................................................................. 69

5.4 Community Involvement and Capacity-Building .............................................................................. 70

Indigenous Women: Healing the Waters .................................................................................................... 72

6.1 Decolonizing Science in the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act ............................................ 72

6.2 Water Walks: Sacrifice, Prayer, Ceremony for Water....................................................................... 77


TEK-nology ................................................................................................................................................ 82

7.1 The Need for Reconciling TEK-nology ............................................................................................... 82

7.2 Further Incorporation of Traditional Ecological Knowledge in the Act ............................................ 84

7.3 Funding in Innovative Water Technology ......................................................................................... 85

Renewal: On the Way Forward ................................................................................................................... 86

8.1 Concluding Messages ........................................................................................................................ 86

8.2 A Summary of an Alternative to the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act ............................... 88

Reconciling the Settler Story ...................................................................................................................... 89

Flowing Back to Unity ................................................................................................................................. 91

References ................................................................................................................................................... 93


Term Clarification and Glossary

I will be employing the pronoun 'I' throughout this research, when necessary. This is to ascertain

that as every other human, I am a subject. As a non-Indigenous woman, the use of 'I' is an

expression of humility for the teachings I have received, while also acknowledging my human

limitations. 'I' has been consistently discouraged in mainstream institutions to the extent that it

disembodies the individual and perpetuates the misleading claim that subjects somehow have

access to 'objectivity'. The lack of access to an 'objective' realm does not signify, however, that

the stories and perspectives of a subject are necessarily untrue or less 'worthy' in any way .

Throughout this paper, there will be a few words used in Ojibwe (Anishinaabemowin), an

Indigenous language of this land. I'll also be using terms like Turtle Island or Settler. This is to

be solely interpreted as my respect for the sacredness and importance of all Indigenous

languages, which are intricately tied to culture and land (including water).

Turtle Island: For Indigenous peoples, the term Turtle Island refers to North America, and in

this context, the land that is now known as Canada.

Settler: This is used to make the distinction between the Indigenous nations of this particular

land that we call Canada, and the non-Indigenous population. However, it is recognized that this

land has also become home for the past hundreds of years to many generations who identify with

the latter population. In addition, this term is used to express support for the Indigenous peoples

of this land to have the right to choose their own individual citizenship, whether it be of their

own nation, the Settler Canada nation, or both.

Western: This term has been historically appropriated, and is being used in this paper to refer to

a set of institutionalized cultural values and epistemological beliefs originating from Europe,

which characterizes Settler societies on Turtle Island. The use of the term 'white' is also tied to

the same meaning. 'White' should not be taken to imply that all individual 'white-skinned' settlers

are represented by the collective ethos of 'Western culture', whether they originate from the

continent of Europe or elsewhere in the world.

Indigenous peoples: I have used the word 'indigenous' to emphasize the connection to this land

and the word 'peoples' in plural to indicate the diversity of Indigenous cultures. I have sometimes

used the term 'First Nations' when necessary, due to legal definitions. The terms such as

'Aboriginal' or 'Indian' used by this author throughout this paper should be understood as socially

and legally constructed terms imposed by the Settler government to define the diverse

Indigenous nations of this land.

I will be using the following words that I have learned from my teachers in

Anishinaabemowin:


Anishinaabeg-This is the plural of Anishinaabe, which is also known as 'Ojibwe' or 'Chippewa'.

Anishinaabeg is roughly translated as 'the original people' or 'the good people'. The name has

many variations, depending on the dialect (e.g., Nishnaabeg, Anishnawbe, Anishinape, etc.) The

Anishinaabeg include the Council of Three Fires, also known as the Three Fires Confederacy:

the Potawatomi, the Odawa and the Ojibwe nations. Although not part of the Three Fires, the

Nipissing, the Mississaugas and the Saulteaux are also Anishinaabeg. The Oji-Cree are closely

related to the Anishinaabeg and speak a similar language.

Anishinaabe-kwe or Anishinaabe-kwewag-Anishinaabe woman or women in plural

Asemaa-Tobacco (a sacred medicine)

Gaaming-Bay

Gitchi Manitou-The Great Spirit or the Great Mystery

Midewiwin-The Grand Medicine Society for the Anishinaabeg

Miigwech/Chi-miigwech-Thank you/A great thank you

Miigis-Sacred cowry shell

Nibi-Water

Nokomis- Grandmother

Ode- Heart

Zagidiwin-Love

Ziibi- River


A Gendered Perspective of the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act

1

As Long as the Waters Flow: Story Reconciliation

1.1 Reflections

A pebble dropped in Lake Ontario. My reflection in the shining water expanded in the

likeness of concentric circles, until all the ripples were encompassed in one. At that moment, I

became aware that I was embraced by a lifelong teacher; water.

In this way, the story begins with a representation of an infinitesimal single point--a

dimensionless, immeasurable point which contains all of life's consciousness in its darkness and

expands to mirror such consciousness through the light of a circle. A circle is like looking into a

mirror which reveals, through an infinite number of points around the circumference, the

interdependency of life's existence of which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Moreover, the circle teaches us that nothing can exist without a center holding it together. This is

the reason we describe something as 'pointless' whenever speech or actions are not held together

coherently by a center. To claim coherency in our interdependent existence, the center point of a

life's consciousness must then be existing in objective truthfulness. By implication, it is thus only

possible for the story to begin and be coherent from a center founded on truth.

Astute readers may ask: which story is 'the story'? After all, even if we acknowledge the

beginning of life's infinitely complex story founded on the consciousness of interdependent

existence, this does not necessarily lead to ripples of values and worldviews that can be

coherently woven and encompassed in one. Some individuals may even enfold themselves in a

solipsistic kind of relativism, by arguing that various factors such as time, place and culture

make it acceptable to create any possible kind of social, economical, cultural and political

system, based on the principle of 'interdependence'. Examples may include oligarchic, colonial or

apartheid systems. Perhaps, such a system may not be spatially compatible with the form of a

circle, in which there is no top or bottom, first or last, while its center is always equidistant from

its points. However, why should one privilege the form of a circle over other forms, such as a

triangle or a square, to best symbolize life's interrelatedness?

These are not merely abstract philosophical musings. In fact, the answers to such

questions are essential in determining the kind of stories or social agreements through which we

wish to see and interact with the world. Julie Cruikshank suggests that stories depict "humans,


animals, and other nonhuman beings engaged in an astonishing variety of activities and

committed to mutually sustaining relationships that ensure the continuing well-being of the

world" (as cited in Stark, 2013: 261). Stories, which teach us how to relate to one another, are an

organizing force within virtually every society. Thus, stories can also be understood as law

(Stark, 2013: 261). A nation's stories or laws are inevitably linked to a perceived spatial

configuration of interdependence, which subsequently, determines the institutional culture

through which we interact with all human and non-human life forms. An institutional culture

doesn't necessarily have to be confined to particular types of organizations. In a broader sense,

institutions can also refer to a relatively durable or routine set of practices and ideas that

"continue to shape or channel social choices, constraining certain courses of action and enabling

others" (Frickel & Moore, 2006: 8). Hence, an analysis of a nation's laws, including its creation

story and consequent narratives, can help us better understand the perceived spatial configuration

of interdependence engrained in its institutional culture, whether such a perception is true or

'imagined'. It can also help us envision the kind of narratives we wish to establish as a society in

the future.

As a non-Indigenous Canadian citizen, it was necessary for me to primarily reflect on

Canada's narratives as a Settler nation. Pericle's famous populist speech made to his fellow

citizens about 2500 years ago in Athens' public square captured my initial sentiments on one of

the Settler nation's most well-known stories (as cited in Crick, 2005: 625):

"Let me say that our system of government does not copy the institutions of our

neighbours. It is more the case of our being a model to others, than of our imitating

anyone else. Our constitution is called a democracy because power is in the hands not of

a minority, but of the whole people. When it is a question of settling private disputes,

everyone is equal before the law; when it is a question of putting one person before

another in positions of public responsibility, what counts is not membership of a

particular class, but the actual ability which the man possesses. No one, so long as he has

it in him to be of service to the state, is kept in political obscurity because of poverty."

We may interpret such a narrative as legitimizing the governance of a democratic state by

the political inclusion in decision-making of 'the people' and not only of an elite minority.

Moreover, the legal system of such a state recognizes the inherent equal value of every human

being, and as such is a model to all other nations. Thus far, such an interpretation, which

resonates in the hearts of many, defines our relations as most spatially compatible with a circle.

While I was exploring this particular story as a child, I remember mostly struggling to

understand the reference to equal opportunity, while simultaneously acknowledging the privilege

bestowed to one upon birth due to membership of a particular class. This was 'spatially'

confusing for some time. Nevertheless, water guided me to clear away such a paradox.

Water plays a pivotal role in understanding Canada's national stories because through

water, we are able to see a clear reflection of our relations with one another, with neighbouring

nations and with non-human life forms. Veronica Strang (2004:5) suggested that "interactions

with water take place within a cultural landscape which is the product of specific social, spatial,

economic and political arrangements, cosmological and religious beliefs, knowledges and

material culture, as well as ecological constraints and opportunities". Sociologist Michael


Mascarenhas (2012:24) added racial arrangements to this list. As water is essential to all life on

this planet, a nation's stories or laws that teach us how to interact with water can easily mirror the

perceived spatial configuration of interdependence that is embedded in all its other stories.

Although the same water laws may evoke different responses within a nation's heterogeneous

power dynamics, this spatial perception on which a nation is founded and sustained is rooted in

the interlinked core values and beliefs upheld by a society, as a collective whole. In other words,

a nation's water laws can provide a powerful lens of the institutional culture in which its citizens

live.

Firstly, water laws reflect the collective humbleness and cognitive awareness which

shape an institutional culture. Water positions humankind in the Grand Universe, as it can be

found in extraterrestrial bodies such as the moon, comets, meteorites, etc. All life in this world

would cease to exist without the constant flow of water through our bodies, in the Earth's ground,

in the atmosphere, and through all organisms and ecosystems. Since the hydrological flow of

water transgresses geopolitical boundaries and defies jurisdictions, our water stories or laws are

intensely political and may be implicated in contested relationships of power and authority

(Bakker, 2010: 190). Water laws are biopolitical as well, because water necessarily determines

the health and sustainable development of the population as well as of the individual. Water, a

vital part of our everyday life, is critical to human social dignity and well-being. Before we are

born, we are living in water. Adult humans are made of approximately 60% water, with our

hearts and brains consisting of more than 70% water (water.usgs.gov, 2014). The respect for

something as essential as water, including the waters that mainly compose us, signifies the

respect for human life that is upheld in a nation's institutional culture. Hence, water laws guide

us to understand the construction of Settler Canada's national stories not in illusionary isolation

but instead, as a set of narratives relational to all human and non-human life forms, which are

founded upon a set of collective values. Subsequently, whether we choose to acknowledge it or

not, water remains central to policymaking, which both produces and is the product of our

stories.

1.2 Water Stories: Going Beyond 'the Technical'

The centrality of water in Canada's policies stems from the fact that water is touched by

everything that we do. Sadly, Settler Canada's national water stories are currently perpetuating

the reductionist myth that the hydrological cycle and Western technological advances make

water infinitely abundant as well as able to dilute and be cleansed of anything, regardless of the

nation's activities. This deceptive myth is necessary to continue the exertion of racist biopolitical

power ingrained in Settler Canada's institutional culture, through inequitable water stories which

maintain colonial economic endeavours. Its ancient roots can be traced back to the dominant

worldview of Canada's two Settler nations' languages, English and French, in which the word

'rivalry' or 'rivalité' is linked to 'river' or 'rivière'. This 'rivalry/ rivalité' comes in fact from the

Latin rivalis or 'one using the same river as another' (Wolf et al, 2006).

Today, this Darwinian, colonial institutional culture reflected in Settler Canada's water

stories is sustained by the collective whole which constructs the abstract idea of 'a state'.


Nevertheless, water stories also have complex power dynamics and multiple decision makers,

since water governance is a shared responsibility. It would be misguided to view this shared

decision-making process as merely administrative or technical, as often framed by mainstream

discourses. As water governance is the practice of coordination and decision making between

different actors, water stories become inevitably an expression of 'Foucauldian' political, cultural

and social power (Bakker, 2010:9) The toxic biopolitics of our current water stories impact all

relations in various ways, with the Indigenous nations of this land bearing the heaviest yoke of

oppression. A distinct focus on human relations will be necessary in this case, as humans are

mainly responsible for water stories founded on a mindset of dominance, which have in return

damaged all relations on Earth.

In the case of Settler Canada, the state does not currently have any national drinking

water standards, as is commonplace around the world (Christensen & Macdonald, 2014). Instead,

it is the only materially wealthy or 'developed' country that has transferred the technicalities of

providing safe drinking water entirely to the provincial level (CASA, 2007). Thus, it has a

patchwork of standards which vary from province to province to territory-- provinces and

territories whose standards are often impacted by the funding as well as by the economic

endeavours of all levels of government. In the recent decades with the rise of economic

globalization or 'neoliberalism', there has also been a greater devolution of authority onto local

municipalities, though they are highly dependent on provincial funding.

The provinces and municipalities have not been able to address the immediate 'technical'

drinking water needs of many of Settler Canada's citizens, particularly in rural communities. The

Ecojustice report Waterproof: Standards (Christensen & Macdonald, 2014) studied all provinces

and territories and found that Canada's overall standards of drinking water continue to lag behind

international standards and that significant improvement won't happen without meaningful

government action. It's important to note that international standards may also not be appropriate

for many diverse peoples and individuals. Nevertheless, this report reveals that there are at

minimum, 105 unregulated substances in Canada's filtered drinking water that at least one other

country deems harmful enough to regulate (see also Mohapatra and Mitchell, 2003; Hattersley,

2000). It is reported that if not banned, many of these unregulated substances require more

advanced filtration technology.

It is estimated that there are about 90,000 cases of illnesses and 90 deaths occurring

annually in Canada as a result of waterborne diseases (Environment Canada, 2008). As of

January 2015, there were 1669 Drinking Water Advisories across Canada, not including

Indigenous reserves (Lui, 2015). Drinking Water Advisories are issued when there are disease-

causing bacteria, specific chemicals, and sediments in water that are in high enough

concentrations to cause an immediate threat to physical health amongst residents. The Walkerton

crisis in 2000, which resulted in seven deaths and more than 2300 illnesses from Escherichia

Coli contamination also revealed serious flaws in the municipality's drinking water system

(waterandhealth.org). Mascarenhas (2012: 33, 138) argues that deregulation and privatization of

drinking water were partially to blame for the tragedy in the rural, white community of

Walkerton, Ontario; a water crisis which cost at least $64 million, without taking into account

human suffering. In spite of this, industrial 'self-monitoring' systems and private sector contracts


are becoming increasingly more common as a band-aid solution, due to the passed regulation (or

deregulation) of the government (Mascarenhas, 2012: 64).

These findings cast doubt on the common perception expressed by public figures and in

mainstream media that our neighbouring First Nations only need 'to catch up' and better

assimilate in Settler Canadian society to 'fix their water issues'. Nevertheless, 'Walkerton

tragedies' are in fact ongoing for Indigenous peoples because of systemic colonization and

racism. Due to the lack of resources, Drinking Water Advisories (DWAs) have become a way of

life in many communities. According to Statistics Canada (2011), there are 617 First Nations

communities, where nearly half (49.3%) of the 637, 660 'registered' First Nations live on reserves

(although the number of First Nations communities was not consistent in other readings). The

federal level of Settler Canada is legally and morally responsible to ensure that First Nations,

who represent 60% of all Indigenous peoples in Canada, have clean water. This responsibility is

carried by the federal departments of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada

(AANDC), Health Canada and Environment Canada. Moreover, this legal fiduciary duty does

not apply to the provinces. Although a very small population in size compared to the roughly 35

million people in Canada, First Nations' immediate infrastructural needs have been

disproportionately the most neglected. Seventy-three percent of the inspected water systems of

532 First Nation communities were deemed at medium or high risk (Simeone & Troniak, 2012).

As of January, 2015, there were 169 DWAs in 126 First Nations communities (Lui, 2015). The

reserves that do not have running water at all are not counted in the DWAs tallies.

A 2014 report in the McGill Journal of Law and Health describes some of the deplorable

water conditions continuing on First Nations reserves. An example is Pikangikum, Ontario,

where 80% of a community of 2500 people lack sewage pipes or running water (Hewson, 2014).

In 2000, the media disturbingly described this community as having the highest suicide rate in

the world (Boyd, 2011). It's important to note that Pikangikum is located in Ontario which has

250,000 lakes, rivers and streams, yet First Nations communities have the highest number of

Drinking Water Advisories out of all other provinces --79 in total as of January, 2015 (Lui,

2015). In Little Buffalo, Alberta, a Lubicon Cree First Nation of 225 people has no running

water. Residents have to buy bottled water by driving one hour each way to Peace River

(Hewson, 2014). In Manitoba, 10% of First Nations have no water service. The purchase of

bottled water not only further contributes to the destruction of our home planet, but it is also

expensive, especially for Indigenous peoples in Canada who are living in disproportionately high

rates of poverty. In fact, there are 1800 reserve homes lacking water service and 1777 homes

which lack sewage services across Canada (Vowel, 2012). Neskantaga First Nation has been

living on a boil water advisory since 1995. This nation borders the Ring of Fire, a massive

mining site in Northern Ontario. In late 2011, the community of Attawapiskat made headlines for

poor housing and water problems. According to Health Canada, between 1995-2007, one quarter

of all of water advisories in First Nations lasted longer than a year and sixty-five percent of these

advisories lasted longer than two years (Vowel, 2012).

These seemingly technical issues are said to be 'Canada's paradox'. Technology is not an

issue because Canada, as an advanced industrial country, has the capacity to deliver clean water

and treat wastewater anywhere in this country (as cited in White, 2012). Ecojustice reasserts that

there is no reason for the current state of Canada's water, after reporting that Canada lags behind


international standards in 2014. The Settler federal government ('the Crown') can allocate to the

National Defence a budget of $18.2 billion in 2014-2015, down from the higher $21.1 billion

allocated in 2009 (Brewster, 2014). It is not too much for the Crown to meaningfully consult

with First Nations and commit to a set amount of funding to address such water issues. This

wouldn't be charity money, but rather, a small step to recognizing First Nation's inherent rights

and a form of restitution for the ongoing injustices. For instance, the Canadian Centre for Policy

Alternative Federal Budget 2014 advocates for a10-year plan of only $4.7 billion that's required

for water and wastewater facilities to address safe drinking water issues on First Nation reserves,

in addition to other investments of protecting water, our life source (as cited in Council of

Canadians, 2014). This would at least address the immediate, technical issues of reserves, so that

they have a similar water quality to most of the non-Indigenous population (which leaves much

room for improvement in itself!).

Nevertheless, the laws or stories of a nation are mainly determined by the nation's

political will and priorities, for two pragmatic, economic reasons for which I will not elaborate in

detail for the purposes of this research. Firstly, a state can have many kinds of distributive means

and allocate money in their budget according to its priorities, which would result in many other

possible alternatives. Secondly, despite misleading austerity measures and debt talk, many

economists know that a sovereign nation-state's budget economy is in fact quite dissimilar to the

management of a family household (e.g., readers may see Eisenstein, 2011;Stiglitz, 2012).

Unfortunately, it seems that defending human life doesn't seem to be really high on the Settler

representative government's 'radar'. As aforementioned, water stories are political and

biopolitical. Of course, going beyond 'the technical' is not to undermine the Settler government's

responsibility to address the immediate needs of adequate water infrastructure and sanitation,

especially for First Nations communities. In the case of water stories, however, it is necessary to

better analyse their rooted institutional culture in order to make the appropriate steps forward and

provide a viable solution to water inequities.

1.3 Settler Canada's Inequitable Water Stories

Water has an inseparable connection to the land, analogous to our blood veins, without

which our bodies would be dead. Thus, water stories need to be understood holistically, "as part

of the repertoire of territorial policies possessed by the state", which would include the nation's

political, social and economic activities such as energy policies, forestry, geology, foreign

affairs, etc. (Vaccaro, 2008: 243). The federal government plays a significant role in shaping all

of such territorial economic activities, with the support and leadership of multiple actors. These

activities impact the water sources. Even from a reductionist, anthropocentric perspective, if

these activities are irresponsibly handled, this leads in return to weakened water standards as

well as 'technical' problems. After all, even with sufficient material resources, it becomes

increasingly difficult to filter or have a reliable set of 'filtering standards', when there is increased

pollution and different, unregulated hazardous chemicals poisoning the waters.

We cannot expect to constantly mistreat and misuse water, while evading the

consequences solely through technology or water's ability to cleanse and regenerate. In


comparison to other places in the world plagued by growing water scarcity, Canada has been in a

relatively fortunate geographic position. Nevertheless, as chairperson of the Council of

Canadians Maude Barlow (2015:3) explains, Canada is not immune to the water crisis facing the

planet. Its water supplies are continuously diminishing. It is often quoted that Canada holds one-

fifth of the world's water supplies. In fact, it only has about 6.5% of the world's renewable water-

-water we can use without destroying whole watersheds. Unfortunately, water is taken quite for

granted or often neglected in Canada, which in return sustains an institutional culture of water

inequities. As in many other materially wealthy countries, many people live under the illusion

that water is abundant and clean when they see clear-looking water running from their taps at

their convenience. This is especially true for those who live in urban areas, who tend to be

oftentimes artificially disconnected from the Earth and entrapped in a 'turn-on the tap'

reductionism. Due to perhaps a disembodied, almost robotic corporate lifestyle, we forget

elementary knowledge that even a child could comprehend. Water doesn't come from 'the tap',

but rather from a source, which can be easily contaminated from human activity, such as

polluting industries or non-organic agriculture.

It's sometimes necessary to remind ourselves that whenever we walk outside, we're

walking on a network of streams and rivers underneath the ground. In Canada, 30.3% of the

population depend on groundwater to meet their daily needs (Environment Canada, 2013). The

groundwater carries contaminants and pollutants from the land into the lakes and rivers, in

addition to other hazardous chemicals currently being poured directly into surface water. Surface

water provides life for the rest of the population and non-human life forms. It is widely accepted

today that groundwater can also be influenced by surface water and exhibit similar water quality

issues (Mascarenhas, 2012: 126). Furthermore, contaminants in water permeate through the food

that we eat and the air that we breathe. At bare minimum, our health suffers the oftentimes

bioaccumulative and biomagnifying effects of these contaminants after prolonged exposure,

which are known to be significant risk factors for a range of health conditions like cancer,

hormonal imbalance, immune system suppression, mental health problems, birth defects, etc

(Chan et al., 2014). While some may temporarily shop their way to safety, the deleterious

physical, economical, cultural, spiritual and emotional impacts of these contaminants are

disproportionately borne by Indigenous nations, the poor, ethnic minorities or other

disadvantaged groups in Canada (Boyd, 2012: 23). This has had genocidal implications on the

Indigenous nations of this land, in particular, many of whom suffer the most from lack of clean

water, even when compared to other disadvantaged groups of Settler Canada (see MacIntosh,

2009).

The reality is that Canada's Settler national water stories are thus far worsening the water

crisis by continuously permitting dangerous levels of pollution and over-extraction of water,

fuelled by an unrestrained desire for unlimited material growth. Interrelated issues such as

climate change may appear 'abstract' to some (especially, to climate change deniers), or

disturbingly, its effects may be viewed as economically advantageous to some countries due to

their geographic position, at the expense of other nations' suffering. However, water and its

quality indisputably affects people throughout the most intimate aspects of their day-to-day lives.

To return to the analogy of Pericle's narrative in Ancient Athens, the accepted notion of justice in

our nation's story is the recognition of everyone's inherent equal value as human beings.

However, it isn't possible to coherently reconcile such a narrative, when inequitable national


water stories allow some to profit, while they violate other people's health, inherent right to life

and self-determination. This signifies that some people's lives are deemed as less valuable than

others.

Also, if one's essential life source is polluted and taken away without their consent for

another one's gain, then the latter cannot claim to have deserved 'the fruits of their labour' or their

privileged position, as many seem to argue. Unclean water is an affront to the fulfillment of

human capacity, amongst other injustices. In fact, our nation's stories or laws use the term

'criminal activities' to describe other analogous cases. Anishinaabekwe writer and professor,

Leanne Simpson, bluntly describes the current extractivist mind-set as "stealing" and "taking

things out of relationship" (as cited in Klein, 2014: 443). It follows that inequitable water stories

are also irreconcilable with other elements of 'Pericle's speech', if democracy is taken to mean

more than an oligarchy with formal voting. This would include the narrative about legitimizing a

nation upon the political inclusion and equal opportunity of 'the people'. Historians now tell us

that Pericle was in fact a demagogue.

To be clear, the human innate desire for profit is not necessarily the culprit for inequitable

water stories. After all, economical profit may be defined as being analogous to planting a single

tree seed, only to benefit from one's labour and the Earth's generosity by gathering an abundance

of fruits in return for themselves and for others. Nevertheless, this definition of 'profit' is seldom

the case when one privileges anthropocentric, individual, 'universal' rights over collective rights

and responsibilities; a philosophically liberal position which is the root and cause of a dominant

human nature. It is this liberal position that is also the root of most assumptions on which both

capitalism and neoliberalism are founded. In the current context, we may rather point at the

destructive, globalized, neoliberal trend of chrematistics practices of profit that our nation's water

stories or laws permit. They are founded on the contradictory principles that 'resources' are

scarce enough to privilege the selfish, individualistic nature in humans, yet the Earth and its

living waters can be infinitely and carelessly exploited for 'endless growth' in order to meet our

assumingly infinite material needs. It is further claimed in the religion of so-called ‘economics’

that the selfish nature of the profiting elite will cause their wealth to trickle down to the masses

with the least amount of state regulation. If one continues to genuinely believe the latter claim,

despite the growing levels of inequality in Canada and other places, then it may kindly be said

that due to their selfless nature, they haven't believed nor fully understood the first assumption

that at bare minimum, the nature of elite individuals is selfish and individualistic. Nor have these

'believers' fathomed that such selfish exploitation would be only possible by greatly abusing an

essential common life source like water. In reality, the Settler nation's water stories have

sacrificed this ecologically vulnerable yet powerful life-giving source, to the myopic market

gods.

Climate change, unsustainable industrial farming practices, toxic waste dumping in

waterways, wetland and forest destruction, storm water runoff, aging infrastructure,

hyperconsumerism, and a suicidal addiction to Corporate U.S. petrodollars and hydrocarbons are

all increasingly clotting Canada's 'blood veins' (e.g., see Barlow, 2015, 2011; Lui, 2015; Klein,

2014; Mascarenhas, 2012; Leduc, 2010; Wood, 2008). Canadian author Naomi Klein (2014:

420) describes in despair the current practices of careless, extreme extraction as "a kind of

nihilistic, final farewell" in which we gobble up nature before it's gone. This is despite the fact


that our water stories can be the product and the producers of many other alternative,

economically, ecologically and politically sustainable national stories. During this era of

transition, such alternative water stories are possible with the currently available renewable

technology, as well as of course, a nation's collective political will and support (amongst a

plethora of research, see for example Magnuson, 2013; Jackson & Victor, 2013; Wiseman &

Edwards, 2012; Eisenstein, 2011; Petras & Veltmeyer, 2011). Instead, in the most recent years,

the Settler nation's water stories have taken a deeper nihilistic turn, while using water as a tool

for further political oppression. The 2012 omnibus budget bills undermined many previous

efforts in protecting waters with 'a stroke of a pen'. The paths were paved for industries that rely

on over-extraction of water such as tar sands development and mining by gutting environmental

legislation, cutting funds to water research and muzzling scientists researching such polluting

industries (see Scientists for the Right to Know, 2015; Page, 2015; Barlow, 2015; Lui, 2015;

McAdam, 2015; Suzuki, 2012).

The two omnibus bills that are now known as the 'Jobs and Growth Act' as well as the

'Jobs, Growth and Prosperity Act' removed protection for 99% of lakes and rivers in Canada by

overhauling the Navigable Water Protections Act. Three thousand federal environmental

assessments were eliminated. Through the new regulations, the Cabinet was given the power to

determine which projects will be environmentally assessed or ignored. The modified Navigable

Water Protections Act exempts oil pipelines from federal scrutiny. The Fisheries Act, once the

strongest piece of Settler Canadian legislation to protect water, was gutted. It now permits

mining companies to freely dump their toxic waste into lakes. The Fisheries Act further allows

other toxic substances to be deposited in the waters, without taking into account basic science, in

which it is known that oftentimes, the most lethal substances are chronic and bioaccumulative

over a duration of time. The Act's new definition of deposits being 'acutely lethal' to fish is only

if the deposit kills more than 50% of fish at 100 per cent concentration over a 96-hour period.

Unsurprisingly, under the 'Jobs and Growth Act', the Settler nation also found it

necessary to unilaterally infringe upon the sovereignty rights of neighbouring Indigenous nations

by allowing an easier opening of treaty lands and territories through a number of amendments

and new policies. While the Indian Act originally required a majority of band member electors to

vote to absolutely or conditionally surrender land, the new amendments now require a simple

majority of whoever shows up to vote (Morris, 2014). The government is well aware that First

Nations can make it difficult for multinational corporations to 'extract resources', through their

treaty rights. Since 2012, there have been fourteen bills applying specifically to Indigenous

nations that have become laws through royal assent. Kanien'kehaka Russell Diabo (2013), calls

such laws 'Canada's Termination Plan', in which the colonial state seeks to completely dispossess

Indigenous peoples of their lands, inherent and treaty rights. Land dispossession for Indigenous

peoples in Canada includes widespread displacement by leaving them in poverty in reserves,

destabilization of their relationship with land through processes of acculturation and assimilation

such as residential schools, unprecedented resource extraction, land disputes, and deadly

environmental contamination for them and their children (Tobias & Richmond, 2014;

Altamirano-Jimenez, 2013:123). In other words, 'termination' is defined as the displacement,

eradication, or absorption of Indigenous populations in the mainstream society.


Amongst other issues, these new water stories further bring to light the basic creation

narrative on which Settler Canada continues to exist as a nation-state. As Native Cherokee public

intellectual, Thomas King (2012: 215-249) states, white people have wanted and continue to

want land. Land encompasses the subsurface and surface flows of water which give it life. In

fact, growing evidence suggests that in many cases, 'land grabbing' is motivated by the desire to

capture water resources (as cited in Mehta, Veldwisch, Gert & Franco, 2012: 194). To justify this

'land-water grabbing', Patricia Tuitt describes narratives of nation-state emergence as acquiring

legal shape and status through stories of settlement, conquest, exploration and discovery of land

(as cited in Stark, 2013: 263). On the same note, Bain Attwood further explains that in the case

of settler societies, colonizers found it necessary to persuade others as well as themselves that the

land they have appropriated as their basis is rightfully theirs through the formulation of legal

stories of one kind or another. Such positivistic law, notwithstanding its illegitimacy, has been

used as the most powerful weapon to 'legalize' continuing oppression and theft from Indigenous

peoples. Scholar Jennifer Reid (2010) echoes the voices of numerous Indigenous writers when

she argues that this 'legal theft' is based on the racist, religious Doctrine of Discovery. This

doctrine asserts that European monarchies had the right to appropriate Indigenous lands for the

sake of converting 'heathens' to the monarchies' favourite politically-driven religion of

Christendom. Reid argues that such a doctrine continues to be deeply entrenched in Canadian

law. Such an entrenched doctrine serves to create the illusion of a monolithic state, when the

Settler nation is in fact sharing the land and waters with multiple nations.

It is during the time that these deeply nihilistic 2012 laws were passed that three First

Nations women, Nina Wilson, Sylvia McAdam, Jessica Gordon, and their non-Indigenous friend

Sheelah McLean, founded the ongoing global grassroots movement, Idle No More. This

Indigenous women-led movement has a vision: "Idle No More calls upon all people to join in a

peaceful revolution to honour Indigenous sovereignty, and to protect the land and water". There

were popular signs that also read "when sleeping women wake, mountains move" or a Cheyenne

proverb that says "a nation is not conquered until the hearts of its women are on the ground".

Morris (2014) describes the Idle No More as a resistance to governmental tyranny, which

brought to light an intersectionality of systemic issues such as racism, colonialism, patriarchy

and sexism.

This movement is also described by Morris as seeking to collect 'the 500-year-old debt'.

Most of First Nations territories are located on, or adjacent to Settler Canada's most 'precious

resources' such as oil, gas, mineral deposits, forestry, fishing and of course, fresh water supplies.

As Mascarenhas (2012: 142) noted, much of the stability of Canada's extractivist chrematistics

has been contingent on the Settler government's stories "to include First Nations within their

legal boundaries and, at the same time exclude them from access to resources that socially and

spatially reproduce a range of material and cultural forms and practices that have sustained First

Nations for centuries". This depicts the blatant injustices of the Settler government's recent

funding cuts to First Nations communities, degrading corporate media Idle No More headlines,

and some racist, unrealistic comments from Settler Canadians about the need for 'lazy'

Indigenous peoples to accept 'the defeat' and assimilate into the mainstream society.


Ironically, Canada's recent water stories, which only further fanned the flames of the

existing pre-Idle No More resistance, came shortly after a long-awaited apology from the same

Settler government, in which Harper stated, in part (as cited in Palmater, 2011:33):

Two primary objectives of the residential school system were to remove and isolate

children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to

assimilate them into the dominant culture. These objectives were based on the

assumptions that aboriginal cultures and spiritual beliefs were inferior and unequal.

Indeed, some sought, as was infamously said, "to kill the Indian in the child". Today, we

recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm, and has no

place in our country.

The Truth and Reconciliation Committee was set up shortly after this apology. However, as

Johnny Mack (2011), a Nutka Nation law scholar at the University of British Columbia remarks,

seemingly progressive models like reconciliation may threaten to ultimately absorb "the

indigenous story into this larger narrative of imperialism". In fact, in September 2009, Prime

Minister Harper declared to the global media, despite criticisms from the international

community on Canada's treatment of Indigenous peoples, that "Canada has no history of

colonialism". Such a term is embraced by many settlers who lash out in public anger directed to

Indigenous peoples when land confrontations arise, while ignoring the issues arising from

colonial injustices or broken promises (Crosby, 2012: 422). Indigenous peoples have not sought

to assimilate Settler Canada through genocidal means, in order to 'reconcile' with Settler Canada.

The term 'reconciliation' is only appropriate when Settler Canada reconciles its own narratives

that produce and are produced from its currently racist and colonial institutional culture.

1.4 Making the Shift to Equitable National Water Stories?

Water is key to understanding that Settler Canada's current narratives are indeed filled

with contradictions and thus, lack coherency. This would include 'Pericle's democratic narrative'

or even the heroic story of 'discovery'. When stories lack coherency, it is because they are not

grounded on truth. Consequently, water provides insight into Settler Canada's perceived spatial

configuration, or institutional culture of racist colonialism. This is contrary to a nation-to nation

genuine partnership, in which multiple diverse nations closely collaborate and meaningfully

consult in economic activities on a shared land, while preserving territorial integrity and inherent

rights. Kanien' kehaka philosopher Taiaiake Alfred (2005:149) states that colonization is a lie

built on flat-out propaganda and the manipulation of innate human fears to force the acceptance

of the false claim of the Settler nation over the Indigenous peoples and the land. I interpret this to

mean that despite the existence of colonial culture permeating Settler Canada's institutions,

colonization in itself is merely an illusory deception. Although oftentimes insidious, this racist

institutional culture or 'matrix' in fact pervades through all our human and non-human relations

in the same way that water saturates all of our bodies, the food we eat, the air we breathe and the

ecosystems in which we live. Nevertheless, as stories are produced by heterogeneous agents, this

implies that they are also by no means static. Analogous to water, they are constantly flowing


and renewing themselves. In other words, each one of us is given the opportunity every new day

to regenerate our ways of interaction with life through the reconciliation and the renewal of our

stories.

Amid the aforementioned water stories and the fourteen bills that were enacted after 2012

for Indigenous peoples in particular, one of them was the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations

Act (SDWFNA). This Act received little attention from mainstream media and society, amid the

many other passed legislations. The SDWFNA (Bill S-8) is a short, French and English twelve-

page Act, which received royal assent on June 19, 2013 and came into force on November 1,

2013. It is the first formal regulatory framework passed by the Canadian government to govern

the provision of drinking water, water quality standards and waste water treatment for First

Nations communities. The Settler government declares that "this bill is the product of seven

years of engagement with First Nations" and that it "supports the shared goal with First Nations

of ensuring strong and sustainable First Nation communities" (AADNC, 2013). Bill S-8 is

described by the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (2014) as "a vital step

toward ensuring that residents on First Nation lands have health and safety protections for

drinking water similar to those enjoyed by other Canadians". From 2006-2014, the Federal

government spent $3 billion on water and wastewater systems in First Nations communities,

from which 18 out of 21 communities were removed from the Settler government's high priority

list (Boyd, 2011; Hyslop, 2014). On a 2015 annual statutory report pursuant to the 2012

amendments of the Indian Act, it is further stated about the SDWFNA that "the federal

government has maintained an open dialogue on safe drinking water and wastewater issues

within First Nation communities, and is continuing to do so by engaging with First Nations on a

region by region basis on viable options for a regulatory regime and on the development of

regulations stemming from the Act" (AADNC, 2015).

The idea of a Water Act between the different nations sharing this land could have

represented a transformative, healing point in history for both non-Indigenous and Indigenous

peoples. The 2013 Assembly of First Nations National Water Declaration states (as cited in

LeBlanc, 2014): "First Nations must be adequately and fairly consulted and accommodated prior

to any decisions or actions related to our waters in Canada's provinces or territories. First Nations

are entitled to free, prior, and informed consent to any activities within and surrounding our

waters." Unfortunately, Indigenous scholars, Elders, Chiefs and advocates have been in blatant

disagreement with the current SDWFNA (LeBlanc, 2014). They have argued that the Settler

government has failed to fulfill its constitutional duty to consult with Indigenous peoples, as

provided in s.35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 (see detailed Crown's constitutional duty in

Morellato, 2008). The Assembly of First Nations commented: "Bill S-8 will not guarantee that

First Nations have access to safe drinking water" (House of Commons Debates, 2013). The

Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (2013) also did not support the Bill, and stated that "we have

watched with dismay as legislation after legislation continues to be drafted and passed with little

regard or participation from First Nations while resulting in significant impacts over our lives".

Just prior to the enactment of Bill S-8, Roger Redman, a member of the Federation of

Saskatchewan Indian Nations spoke at the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples

and stated "....the federation has opposed this bill due to the lack of consultation. We oppose Bill

S-8, and we requested adequate representation and discussions with our First Nations"


(Parliament of Canada, 2012). In accordance with the Chiefs of Ontario, the Anishinabek nation

included this Bill in the package of legislative attacks such as Bill C-45 that undermine First

Nations future, and declared that they "unconditionally reject any Canadian or provincial

legislations, policies, or processes that impact our lands, air, water, resources or peoples, which

have not obtained our free, prior and informed consent"(Union of Ontario Indians, 2012).

Ontario Regional Chief, Angus Toulouse, publicly expressed that the outcome of Bill S-8 is not a

product of meaningful consultation and fails to address the real and pressing needs that exist

(Goodleaf, 2012).

The Act allows the Crown to delegate responsibility and liability to third parties, such as

provinces, without any mention or commitment of funding on the Act. Municipalities and

provinces are worried about the millions of dollars this Act may cost them, in addition to their

current austerities and collapsing water infrastructure (e.g., see Carman, 2013). In 2014, four

Alberta First Nations filed a lawsuit against the federal government, arguing that the lack of

clean, drinking water violates their international and constitutional rights to life, liberty and

security as Indigenous peoples and that Bill S-8 "does nothing but protect the government from

liability" (Barrett, 2014). They state that a nationwide engineering assessment conducted in 2011

found 73% of Indigenous reserves across Canada face serious risks to human health from

drinking water.

This lawsuit has been supported by some non-Indigenous lawyers as well. The Canadian

Environmental Law Association noted three major problems with Bill S-8: 1) It does not respect

constitutionally protected Aboriginal rights, 2) There is no long-term vision for First Nations

water resource management, and 3) First Nations governance structures are not being respected

(as cited in Vowel, 2012). David Boyd (2011) argued in the McGill Law Journal that the

constitutional right to clean water, although not explicitly written, can be provided under s.7 of

the Charter, the right to life, liberty and security of the person; s.15 of the Charter, the right to

equality; and s.36 of the Constitution Act, 1982, the federal and provincial government's

obligation to provide essential public services of reasonable quality to all Canadians. Certainly,

this is only if the Canadian constitution is truly a living tree and not 'a dead wood', in the sense

that it can include not only Settler Canada's citizens but also neighbouring sovereign Indigenous

nations with whom Canada shares a long history of treaties, moral and legal obligations.

It is sufficient to say that the rejection from most First Nations demonstrates that the Safe

Drinking Water for First Nations Act was neither an appropriate nor equitable response from the

Settler government. However, with political will, an Act for First Nations' drinking water could

have the potential to shift Settler Canada's currently inequitable water stories to equitable ones.

This can only be done by overcoming "the often noted moral austerity" of western water

management (as cited in Arnold, 2008: 38). A Water Act between nations would be an

opportunity for the Settler society, including politicians, academics, public servants at all levels

of government, scientists, engineers, etc., to reconcile and renew the collective set of values

engrained in the nation's institutional culture. After all, incoherent stories create unstable,

collapsing structures.

Despite the term 'equitable' being diverse and contextual, it is used here interchangeably

with justice. I see it as superfluous to use the term 'environmental justice', as we are always part


of the environment and dependent on this planet's life sources, without which we would not

survive. Anishinaabe professor Deborah McGregor (2009) would agree with this outlook. She

states that the term 'environmental justice' and its current literature encompass an ideology in

which certain labelled groups of people are impacted by environmental destruction, as if the

environment were somehow separate from us. From an Indigenous view, environmental justice is

about power relationships among people, colonization and racism. This is the reason I prefer the

term 'equity', or simply justice. As succinctly explained by Ingram, Whiteley & Perry (2008),

equity suggests fairly obvious ethical principles, such as that every human being should have

access to sufficient water to maintain life and health. Health is also multidimensional, thus

community interests and respect for value diversity in water should be fairly considered through

participatory, inclusive decision-making processes. Equitable water stories would indisputably

have an economic perspective (as opposed to chrematistics), which would include broader

community values such as human dignity and the fulfillment of human capacity, 'water

diplomacy' with neighbouring nations, intergenerational equity, as well as equity towards non-

human life forms.

To further concretize this opportunity of having equitable water stories, the current Safe

Drinking Water for First Nations Act will be analyzed in this research project through a

community-based participatory process. This analysis of community-based shared perspectives

and stories will help further determine the engrained issues in Settler Canada's institutional

culture that are reflected in this particular Act. An alternative water story or 'Act' will then

emerge through this study. For the cynics who may nihilistically consider such an alternative as

utopian (meaning 'good place'), let water be the guide once again in determining the spatial

configuration of interdependency that is necessary to preserve life.

While the institutional culture of Settler Canada is currently characterized by a linear,

fragmented and hierarchical logic of dominance, the Indigenous heterarchical worldview of

interdependence is in fact symbolized by a holistic, integrative circle. Unlike other forms, the

circle has no end points. Thus, it never ends and it is self-sustaining. Lines end in dead ends

(Kempton, 2005).The search for an alternative, equitable water story can remind us of the intent

of trust and never-ending friendship of pre-confederation treaties between Indigenous nations

and Settlers; a nation-to-nation promise which Indigenous peoples have not forgotten. It is a

mutual promise of Life. It's often represented by the following oral agreement: "As long as the

sun shines, the grass grows and the waters flow" (Venne, 2007). The words "the waters flow"

were women's teachings (Craft, 2013). According to Sharon Venne from the Treaty 6 Cree, this

doesn't refer to a body of water like the North Saskatchewan river, but instead it refers to the

water that breaks when a woman gives birth. Equitable water stories would then last for as long

as water flows, when women give birth...


2

The Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act and the Sacred Feminine

“The woman is the foundation on which nations are built. She is the heart of her nation. If that

heart is weak, the people are weak. If her heart is strong and her mind is clear, then the nation is

strong and knows its purpose. The woman is the center of everything.”

-Dr. Art Solomon, Ojibwe (1914- 1997)

2.1 Background and Literature Review

2.1.1 As Long as Water Flows, When Women Give Birth...

In 2008, the Chiefs of Ontario passed 'a water story' by declaring: "First Nations women

are the keepers of water as women bring babies into the world carried on by the breaking of

water". This water declaration also states that "First Nations in Ontario through the teachings of

women have the responsibility to care for the land and the waters by our Creator", and that "we

need to respect, honour, and share the spirits of waters in the ceremonies given to us by the

Creator" (Chiefs of Ontario, 2008). Indigenous cultures are very diverse, but the collective ethos

in many of their cultures is that the women are the carriers and protectors of water. Certainly,

everyone has the responsibility to take care of water. However, as life-givers, women are given

this primary responsibility to be 'the water's voice' by the Creator. 'Creator' and 'Creation' will be

used interchangeably to represent the Universe's higher power, or as the Anishinaabeg say,

Gitchi Manitou (The Great Mystery or Spirit).

New life forms in a woman's womb surrounded by birth water or as referred to as

'amniotic fluids' in Western scientific terms. Women are the carriers of water, as the waters of

the womb sustain new life and transport it from the spirit world to the physical world (Anderson,

Clow & Howarth-Brockman, 2013; McGregor, 2008, 2009; UNESCO, 2008; Blackstock,2001).

As in many other different cultures and religions around the world, for Indigenous peoples, water

is sacred because the gift of life from the Creator is considered as sacred (e.g., see other cultures

and beliefs for whom water is sacred in Marks, 2001; Shiva, 2002; Strang, 2004, etc.).

Spirituality is a core component of the Indigenous worldview. For Indigenous peoples, the

widespread phrase 'water is life' doesn't mean that water is closely associated with life, or merely

a part of life, but rather, that water is life itself because like everything else made by Creation, it

is imbued with a spirit (Alfred, 2005; McGregor, 2009: 37). It is through life, that one is able to

have life.

The use of terms like 'spirits' and 'Creator' in nations' declarations may currently be

difficult for the positivist Western mind to grasp, despite the fact that Western laws were rooted

in institutional religious beliefs not too long ago. For Indigenous peoples, this spirituality isn't a


religion, in which one has fragmented, possibly contradictory institutions like a church, a judicial

system, a school, etc. Instead, it is a holistic way of life (Craft, 2013). A prevalent feature of

many Indigenous cultures is that human law should be in harmony with sacred and natural law,

and this comes with a set of procedures and given responsibilities from Creation. Tidemann,

Chirgwin and Sinclair (2010:4) note that "from the indigenous perspective, the Western culture

is the only culture in the world-perhaps the only culture that the world has ever known-that

argues for the non-existence of any dimension or reality which the senses cannot perceive". This

perception is, of course, confined to a 'normative', perhaps even dulled ability of only five senses.

Nevertheless, non-Indigenous peoples who may have difficulty understanding this worldview

should not entrap themselves yet again in the social Darwinian matrix, for which the Settler

Canadian government has already apologized by stating that it was wrong to assume "aboriginal

cultures and spiritual beliefs were inferior and unequal". In other words, there is no need for

empiricists or positivists to 'convert'. However, they should recognize and respect other people's

inherent rights, as well as not deem others as 'inferior' due to their beliefs in a spiritual realm.

It is important to understand that for Indigenous peoples, any injustice committed against

them (e.g., residential schools) is 'an environmental injustice', to the extent that it impairs their

ability to fulfill responsibilities to Creation (McGregor, 2009: 40). Indigenous peoples have an

intimate relationship with the land and waters, which is the source of their interrelated

knowledges, languages, cultures and deeper spiritual truths. 'Culture', in particular, is an

ambiguous term. It is being used here to describe the constantly evolving, porous beliefs and

worldviews of a group that is often open to inter-mixture, while retaining its own peculiarity.

This dynamic definition stands contrary to the mainstream stereotypical 'noble savage' image, in

which Indigenous peoples have a static, homogenous culture, which has a romantic past but no

place in modern society. To further counter such a stereotype, many Indigenous women in

particular are continuing to revitalize and uphold their cultures and traditions today as the

carriers and voices of water.

Despite the fact that the traditional role of Indigenous women has been the most

systematically marginalized due to Settler Western ideology rooted in a colonial, patriarchal

matrix, Indigenous women, as the carriers of water, in fact continue to play a critical, political

role in the survival and healing of their families and communities (O'Faircheallaigh, 2013;

Castellano, 2009; Anderson, 2000; Allen, 1992). On a global level, for example, thirteen very

concerned Indigenous Grandmothers came together in New York, in the land of the people of the

Haudenausanee Confederacy, to form the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous

Grandmothers. They have gathered from the four directions of the Earth, including the

mountains of Tibet and Nepal, the Amazon rainforest, the Alaskan tundra, etc., in "an alliance of

prayer, education and healing for our Mother Earth, all her Inhabitants, all the children and for

the next seven generations to come" (grandmotherscouncil.org).

On Turtle Island [Canada], Indigenous women are also speaking for water. Idle No More

was the voice for water and all that water encompasses. In 2007, the Anishinabek Nation

established a Women's Water Commission to advise policymakers on Great Lakes management

and water issues in general (Anderson, Clow & Howarth-Brockman, 2013: 11). Anishinaabe

author, McGregor (2008) describes that Indigenous women living in urban areas, such as

Toronto, are upholding Indigenous knowledge 'alive and well' and holding ceremonies for water


in the cities. The primary focus of this paper, the vibrant community of 'Water Walkers', is

another recent example of Indigenous women healing communities by upholding their roles as

'the carriers of water'. (motherearthwaterwalk.com).

The Water Walks began in spring 2003, with Anishinaabe Grandmother Josephine

Mandamin who wished to bring awareness to the pollution of the waters. Nokomis

[Grandmother] Josephine grew up on Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron in the 40s, where her

family was always out of water and the wells were dry (LeMay, 2011). One day, Grandmother

Josephine said: Nga-zhidchigemin (I will do it for the water)! Since then, she has walked over

11, 525 miles, around all five of the Great Lakes and up the St. Lawrence seaway. The Water

Walks have a powerful, prophetic aura. Nokomis Josephine has become an inspiration for all

Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples coming together to walk and hold ceremony for water.

Although the Water Walks are led by Anishinaabe women, one of my Anishinaabe

teachers, Dorothy, explained:

The traditional teachings are about the partnership of men and women. Women can’t do

it alone. It’s the man that has to go forward, ahead of the woman, to protect the creation

power that we [women] have. We can’t do any work without that man helping us to clear

the way and help us do our work. So, we have to have that balance, that help... When we

do the Water Walk, you notice how the Water Walk starts with two men or a man in the

front, holding a staff. Then, the women will come behind, holding the water. That’s

how we have to implement the work that we do. The men have to help protect and clear

the way, so that we can bring that work we have to do as Aboriginal women. We are the

ones who make the decisions and we implement. But we can't do it without men.

During the walks around a body of water, a copper pail is filled with nibi [water] and

carried by Anishinaabe-kwewag (Anishinaabe women) who bless and sing to the water. They,

along with a group of supporters, incorporate Indigenous and Western scientific knowledge to

teach about water as well as raise awareness about the pollution that is making the waters,

including the waters of our bodies, very ill. The Water Walks are decentralized, led by different

Anishinaabe elders, around different bodies of water. They are held during the spring ,when

"Mother Earth gives birth to her young" and "her water starts to gush out" (Anderson, 2013).

Moreover, like water, Indigenous peoples are not confined to the political boundaries artificially

created by the Settler Canada and the Settler U.S states. In 2015 alone, the Water Walks have

flourished and are held around Lake Winnebago and the Chippewa river in Wisconsin, James

River in Virginia, Cuyahoga river in Cleveland, the Kawartha water walks around the Otonaabe

river in Ontario, etc. (idlenomore.ca/waterwalks). The Mother Earth Water Walk is also having

the Great Migration Water Walk in 2015, starting in Matane, Quebec, going along the St.

Lawrence River and the Great Lakes, and ending in Madeline Island, Wisconsin. This walk,

which will raise awareness on oil spills across Ontario and Quebec, is said to trace back the

original migration journey of the Anishinaabeg ancestors (motherearthwaterwalk.com).


2.1.2 A Broken Promise

Interestingly, the $600 million First Nations Management Strategy program which led to

the product of the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act, was also established in 2003, when

the Water Walks first began. Prior to this Act, there was no legal framework from the Settler

government to govern safe drinking water on reserves. In accordance with their inherent rights,

individual First Nations had passed their own water laws of varying complexity, although

funding and capacity remained an issue (Thornton, 2012). Provincial water laws had not

generally applied to First Nations because s. 91 (24) of Settler Canada's Constitution Act, 1867

grants the federal government exclusive jurisdiction over "Indians and lands reserved for the

Indians", in addition to their legal fiduciary duty. With the rise of industrialization and economic

globalization or 'neoliberalism', however, safe water became increasingly more difficult to

guarantee for First Nations. In fact, the Settler Canadian government first initiated federal

policies, programs and funding related to drinking water on reserves since the 1960s, with no

comprehensive plan (Simeone & Troniak, 2012). The objective at the time was the same as it is

today; to ensure that on-reserve residents had access to water facilities comparable with those for

other Canadians.

Unfortunately, there is a literature gap amongst non-Indigenous scholars regarding these

past federal policies and programs, in terms of analysing the reasons these policy efforts were a

failure amongst different communities. There is academic literature on community-based

research regarding water policy failures (including in Indigenous communities) in poor countries

like Kenya, India, Mexico, Bolivia, Peru, Ghana, Zimbabwe, etc. and even wealthy countries like

the United States and Australia. However, grassroots, community-based policy analysis on water

and Indigenous peoples living on Turtle Island [Canada] is largely missing among non-

Indigenous scholars. Instead, First Nations water issues have remained mainly within a top-down

abstract, legal and technical analytical framework, which may ignore the social, cultural, spiritual

and material interactions between local community members and implemented policies. The

plethora of specific cases around the world will not be described here, for the purposes of this

research, although the readers may use some of the references to inform themselves.

Nevertheless, much of the available literature reveals that in various settings around the world,

an inequitable, undemocratic process was the primary reason for failed water policies. John

Whiteley, Helen Ingram, and Richard Perry argue that water governance reform must "recognize

the multiple and incommensurable meanings of water in all of its specific geographical and

historical sites of encounter" (as cited in Robinson, 2013: 29).

Inequitable policies occur when, due to a racist sense of superiority or 'white supremacy',

the local cultural practices, values, and traditional knowledge of taking care of water are

discounted or deemed as inferior or primitive in comparison to 'Western' technoscience and

extractivist mindset. This leads to a lack of meaningful consultation and participation.

Schlosberg argues that there are three circles of concerns that need to be addressed for 'equitable

water stories'; 1) recognition of difference, 2) plurality of participation and 3) equitable

distribution of resources and costs and benefits (as cited in McLean, 2007). The use of the term

'resources' is rooted in an extractivist mindset. Nevertheless, he goes on to argue that if the first

two circles of concern are not existent, then an inequitable distribution of a life source like water

is a likely outcome.


It seems obvious that if the two first circles of concern are not addressed, it is due to a

dominant, fragmented mentality that holds an 'adversarial' as opposed to a relationship-healing

worldview of water. As a result, the water policies fail due to the direct or indirect, often

grassroots rejection of dominant, assimilative tools, including tools like reductionist, band-aid

technology, that are not culturally appropriate to suit the local community's diverse lifestyle, nor

are a part of a more comprehensive, holistic plan (see various cases in Subramaniam, 2014;

Andalina, R., 2012; Schlosberg & Carruthers, 2010; Whiteley, Ingram & Perry, 2008; McClean,

2007; Singh, Bhattacharya, Jacks, & Gustafsson, 2004; Crew & Harrison, 1998). Moreover, the

situation is worsened when the input of women, who bear the primary responsibility for

collecting water in the world and suffer the most from contaminated or scarce waters, is excluded

from the decision-making process. (Domestos, Water Aid, WSSCC, 2013; O'Reilly, 2006;

Makoni, Manase & Ndamba, 2004; UNESCO, 2004)

This racialized exclusion of culture in water governance and management towards

Indigenous peoples in Canada has been only recently more thoroughly explored by non-

Indigenous sociologist Mascarenhas (2012), through his book "Where the Waters Divide:

Neoliberalism, White Privilege and Environmental Racism in Canada". As aforementioned,

much of the non-Indigenous literature on the water conditions for First Nations remain confined

to newspaper articles and Settler government's parliamentary reports. On the other hand, for the

past five-hundred years, Indigenous peoples and their leaders have been speaking through

various means like art, activism, story-writing, policy discussions, reports, etc. against colonial,

racist relations, which regard their cultures and ways of knowing as 'inferior'. Furthermore, it is

noteworthy to mention that the current objective of the Settler government to ensure drinking

water quality for Indigenous peoples as more or less 'equal' to other Canadians, even if well-

intentioned, continues to be rooted in an assimilative era, where the dominant public discourses

were about "killing the Indian in the child".

To most Indigenous peoples, the word 'equality' suggests the elimination of Indigenous

rights. For example, Trudeau's 1969 White Paper plan to treat Indigenous peoples as 'equal' to

other Canadians, abolish the Indian Act and eventually eliminate their protected rights was met

by powerful Indigenous activism that stopped its implementation (Altamirano-Jimenez, 2013).

This is not to say that Indigenous peoples should continue bearing the heaviest burdens of water

issues in our society. However, a controlling, biopolitical market-like utilitarian view of 'equality'

that attempts to lump diverse peoples under a homogeneous label, paradoxically has only

resulted in further inequalities, divisions and blatant resistance. A successful equitable water

story, including even simple infrastructural implementations, could only stem from a position of

a nation-to-nation partnership and genuine respect for the diversity of Indigenous cultures and

their traditional teachings grounded in their spiritual as well as material connections with the

land, waters and all Creation. Moreover, any kind of 'environmental collaboration' should treat

Indigenous peoples as the sovereign Indigenous nations of this land, rather than as 'mere

stakeholders', which stems from a colonial, 'Doctrine of Discovery' mindset (see Phd

dissertation, Von der Porten, 2013). In order to do so, McClean (2007) argues for 'cultural flow'

in policy relating to Indigenous peoples, in which there is necessary funding to ensure a fair,

participatory process. Moreover, through cultural flow, there is reparation for past dispossession


of water and its associated impacts. In other words, equitable water stories related to Indigenous

peoples should start from a position of restitution.

It follows that the cultural role and knowledge of Indigenous women, as the carriers of

water, is also crucial to water policy success for Indigenous peoples. Traditional wisdom in many

Indigenous circles speaks about the centrality of women to the strength and survival of nations

(Castellano, 2009: 203). Cree/Metis Kim Anderson and Anishinaabe-kwe Deborah McGregor,

for example, have constantly spoken and written about the importance of including women's

traditional knowledge in water governance and management. Indigenous lawyer, Aimee Craft

also prepared a report in 2013 with eleven Anishinaabe elders to write their traditional teachings

on water, in order to serve as a future guide for any kind of policy analysis. Women, as the

carriers of water, was a significant teaching in her report. During the so-called consultation

process for Bill S-8, there were thirteen sessions held, which involved 544 First Nation

individuals out of 637,660 registered First Nations. It is reported that even during these thirteen

sessions, the first expressed statement was a call to recognize the sacred place of water in First

Nations cultures and worldviews, with the importance of women vis-à-vis water being a cross-

cutting theme (Graham, Mitchell and Edgar, 2009).

In 2006, prior to the enactment of the SDWFNA, the Expert Panel was also set up to

make recommendations to the federal government based on their findings in First Nations

communities regarding drinking and waste water. While the Expert Panel favoured a formal

federal statute to establish water standards for First Nations communities, they worried about the

complexities and the ambiguities of incorporating provincial regimes. Further, they noted the

evident point that regulation is not effective, unless there is capacity building and the much

needed infrastructure for First Nations. However, they only paid lip service to perhaps applying

customary law, which they said could create "uncertainty, both in terms of how to get a

comprehensive modern water regime and how long the process might take" (Simeone & Troniak,

2012). Certainly, this Act was a heuristic framework and thus it necessitated ambiguities, since

ongoing consultations would need to be occurring at the local level to meet the needs and

geographical realities of diverse communities. Nevertheless, there was absolutely no mention

regarding the role of Indigenous women as 'water carriers' in the recommendations.

Understandably, the main criticisms centered on the fact that the federal government did

not follow the Expert Panel's recommendations. Various critics, including First Nations chiefs,

said that the Act 'regulated' First Nations communities who are responsible for the administration

of water, but did not commit to helping them achieve their set standards through funding and

capacity building. They also passed the responsibility to the austerity-struck provinces to deal

with the issue, whose implications were quite ambiguous and consultations are still ongoing.

Sylvia, one of my Indigenous teachers who was a policy analyst for the Chiefs of Ontario, and

was quite involved in researching the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act prior to its

enactment expressed during our interview:

I wouldn’t say that there was a consultation process. The only kind of consultation

process that I have seen was with the municipalities. There was a lot of feedback in terms

of the provinces and the municipalities.... They were kind of unsure about the bill, just

because there is some deregulation and decentralization in terms of giving federal


responsibility for water to the provinces. There are some different clauses in that Bill that

take away federal responsibility for any types of accidents or spills. So the municipalities,

were like: We just have barely enough money to take care of our own populations and

now we have to take on a federal responsibility. So, there are reports and documents that

actually show that...like B.C. was very vocal about their position--the bill doesn't say

how this is going to be rolled out and what’s going to happen. [....] At this point,

obviously, they haven’t done a very good job. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have all these

Boiled Water Advisories right across Canada. It isn’t just a First Nations issue. It’s

general Canadians who are also facing these problems as well. So, they’re obviously not

doing a very good job. We need to really assess who can really step up to that, and

actually make a change.

Based on the rejection from most First Nations, the continuing deplorable conditions on

reserves, as well as the reluctance of the provinces and municipalities, we may say that this Act

is an example of a policy failure and 'a broken promise', despite its relatively recent enactment.

However, as aforementioned, Settler Canada does have the capacity to provide cost-effective

technology and adequate infrastructure for drinking and waste water in First Nations

communities. As Mascarenhas (2012: 129) notes, the disproportionate risks to First Nations'

drinking water systems are not to be framed as a problem of knowledge or expertise. Instead,

they are a problem of Settler Canada's government's discriminatory practices, namely its

"possessive investment in whiteness".

The time is thus ripe to see the other side of the story; a story that calls for holism in

policymaking which is linked to the right to life, or as Naomi Klein (2014) states, 'the right to

regeneration'. It is also time that non-Indigenous peoples start from a position of restitution. This

would include a relationship of genuine partnership, as well as respect for Indigenous women

and their carried traditional knowledge in taking care of the waters. Through this shift alone, we

can solve the root problem of the current 'Western moral austerity', which has led to the

inequitable, self-destructive water stories. Despite their great diversity, Indigenous women have

traditionally transmitted a consensus on a model of economic development rooted in broader

civic participation and principles of social justice, which prioritize community cohesion,

reciprocity and balance, over myopic and racist individual 'advancement'. Such values can offer a

basis for sustainable policies at all levels of policymaking, and can be key to combating poverty

and other interlinked issues stemming from colonialism, in the women's communities (A

Companion Report to the United Nations Secretary-General's Study on Violence Against

Women, 2006).

Certainly, equitable water stories for Indigenous peoples cannot exist without the

recognition of their inherent sovereignty rights, so that they do not have to live under a colonial,

racist system. However, the current state of colonization has primarily targeted 'the heart of the

nation'; the indigenous woman. For Indigenous peoples, producing life and raising children is

understood as the creation of a people, a nation and a future (Anderson, 2000: 170). In addition

to being the carriers of waters, the protectors of Earth, and life-givers, women in many

Indigenous cultures are also seen to be 'society's moral guardians' and 'the keepers of stories' that

transmit their people's culture and history by educating future generations (see Blind, 2006;

Wilson; 2005; Anderson, 2000). Through the exclusion and oppression of Indigenous women,


the children, who represent the future generations and the heart of the communities, are ripped

apart, in the same way as when many Indigenous women watched their children being forcibly

placed in residential schools. It is my premise that the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act

is a neoliberal Act that objectifies and further marginalizes Indigenous women as a target for

colonial termination.

For a long time, I have reflected upon a question that seems so simple, yet overlooked in

today's society: If it is granted that the gift of life is sacred, and that the water that permeates

through all living bodies is sacred, why would we pour toxic chemicals in it...? The primary

research questions that I sought to explore are as follows:

1) How does the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act impact Indigenous women?

2) What would be an alternative to this Act, based on the shared perspectives of Indigenous

women?

To help answer these questions, I reached out to the community of Water Walkers, who

understand the centrality of water in all cycles of life. The research follows 'the Water Walker'

structure in the sense that it will use some Anishinaabemowin and Anishinaabeg stories that we

are permitted to use, as a lead. Thirteen Indigenous teachers and Water Walkers who uphold

their traditional roles as 'water carriers' were interviewed. While ten of them are Anishinaabe-

kwewag, I also had the opportunity to speak to three 'water carriers' from other Indigenous

nations, namely the Cree, the Kanien'kehaka, and the Tahltan.

Admittedly, due to various personal circumstances, I have only had the opportunity and

privilege to reach out to Indigenous communities in the last four months. However, as a non-

Indigenous of this land and new to the community, it is my aspiration that my story about

community-based research with my Indigenous teachers may perhaps serve as a helpful

conceptual and methodological guide to non-Indigenous policy-makers, policy analysts, public

servants, scientists, or simply members of the larger community as myself.

2.2 Conceptual Framework

Water, including the water that mainly composes us, has a duality, as recognized by

many Indigenous cultures. It is acknowledged that the spirits of water have the ability to give and

take life (Craft, 2013). A woman may also be acquainted with various forms of dualisms

throughout her lifetime. She may understand the concept of dualism in oneness, when she carries

another life inside of her. Dualisms such as light/darkness may be observed when from the

darkness of her womb, a woman brings life to light. Another form of dualism or 'dichotomy' is

when a woman is torn between her life-giving light, beaming from a sense of interconnectedness,

but also her 'shadow' side stemming from an illusionary, fragmented ego, which brings spiritual

death.


As previously noted, it is the illusionary, fragmented ego that needs to be dismantled, in

order to overcome the current inequitable water policies, while epistemologically accessing a

truthful reality of the ontological, life-sustaining spatial configuration of interdependence. For

non-Indigenous peoples, a conceptual tool that is helpful to relate to Indigenous worldviews

regarding the relationship between women and water is ecofeminist theory. Since all forms of

domination are interconnected, ecofeminism aims at dismantling the wrong dualist, fragmented

conceptions of reality, or Western dichotomies (Nhanenge, 2011). Ecofeminism is a term coined

by Francoise D'Eaubonne, in 1974, shaped by the convergence of anti-racism, peace and feminist

movements (Stearney, 1994: 141). Although a predominantly 'white' movement, it is a useful

conceptual framework, to the extent that it views all forms of domination as interrelated and it

counters reductionist, positivist worldviews by adopting holism in policymaking. Nevertheless, it

is critical to note that every Indigenous individual and nation is diverse. Thus, understandings of

gender differ even within a nation, including amongst the Anishinaabeg (Simpson, 2011:60).

Some Indigenous women have indeed identified themselves as 'ecofeminists' (Eikjok,

2007). However, it is decolonization and the recognition of the inherent rights of sovereignty that

are most often seen to be the antidote to Indigenous women's marginalization (Ouellette, 2002).

After all, it was Settler society that forced the Western patriarchal worldview upon Indigenous

peoples. In pre-contact Indigenous societies, although conceptions of gender differed amongst

nations, societies were certainly more egalitarian. For instance, for the Anishinaabeg, it is said

that there was fluidity around gender in terms of roles and responsibilities (Simpson, 2011; 60).

In Anishinaabemowin, as a language, there is not a classification of nouns based on a

female/male gender. Even the word 'gendered' in the title of this project is mainly intended to

reach out to a non-Indigenous audience, especially considering the limitations of differences in

language that may limit our worldviews.

Despite patriarchy's origins, as aforementioned, all forms of domination are interrelated.

Thus, addressing gender justice also addresses decolonization, for one cannot happen without the

other (Smith, 2007). Defining 'gender justice' may lead to various issues, however, especially

since mainstream discourses of Western feminism tend to impose their own set of cultural values

onto other cultures. This is especially true when Western feminism may view the Indigenous

spiritual belief in a male-female balance, with each 'spirit' being given certain roles by the

Creator to maintain that harmony, as 'essentialist', 'anti-intellectual' and 'culturally inferior'. This

would include the gender divisions that are often noticed through Indigenous art and ceremony

(Anderson, 2000: 176). As Kanien'kehaka scholar Patricia Monture-Angus notes, for Native

women in Canada, "feminism as an ideology remains colonial" (as cited in Lawrence, 2003). On

a similar note, Annette Jaimes and Teresa Halsey (as cited in Smith, 2007) argue that "those who

have most openly identified themselves [as feminists] have tended to be among the more

assimilated of Indian women activists". Cree/Metis/Assiniboine Ouellette (2002:25) echoes a

similar idea when she states that "the feminist deconstruction of the concept 'woman' is

confusing, if not paradoxical. Why is it necessary to eliminate gender roles, yet at the same time

use gender as a unifying force?".

The main division, of course, is the idea of essentialism. The term 'essentialism' has been

an overly, reductionist simplified notion, particularly amongst postmodern academics for whom


there is no underlying common foundation to reality but only an interplay of discourses and

symbols. As a result, some academics are made uneasy by those who situate their discourses in

material experiences and the conceptual, intuitive understanding of everyday language, such as

with the use of the words 'woman' and 'nature'(Godfrey, 2005). Furthermore, the mainstream,

Western feminism discourses use two core arguments against essentialism, namely that 1) the

individual has a social origin or a social definition, and 2) essentialism is exclusionary since it

doesn't apply to all individuals who may be deemed as members of 'a kind'. This outlook has

gained solid ground, permeating through Western academic institutions. Charlotte Witt (2011)

casts doubt on these core arguments by rightly stating that both arguments fail to establish their

conclusions. The fact that an individual or a kind has a social origin does not in and of itself rule

out essentialism or some kind of teleological purpose about the individual. The exclusion

argument, on the other hand, needs to develop some other form of theoretical notion like

intersectionality in order to argue against kind essentialism in a gender.

Moreover, 'the essentialist charge' fails to clarify whether it refers to biological, social,

spiritual or metaphysical essentialism. The postmodernist view that claims 'the woman' to be a

myth or the prevalent Western idea of feminism that aims to treat 'a woman' as a mere social and

historical construction is rejected by many Indigenous women, who are especially rooted in their

spirituality. It is not my aim to resolve the 'spiritual essentialist' debate, which, although often

insidiously unmentioned, is in fact rooted in whether or not one believes in a Higher Power that

creates beings with a teleological purpose, or with certain roles to maintain a balance in

accordance to natural law. However, I will argue for the necessity of having an open mind and

once again, not dogmatically deeming one set of Western cultural beliefs entrenched in

mainstream feminism as 'intellectually superior' to other sets of beliefs, with no sound evidence.

If one feels connected to a spiritual essence, whether it be masculine or feminine, the denial of

such an essence from mainstream feminism may paradoxically leave one feeling disembodied

and objectified.

The balance of feminine and masculine qualities, of male and female spirits, is often

emphasized in Indigenous communities. Many Native origin stories speak to the balance of male

and female, and the importance of harmony between opposites as a way of wellness and

wholeness (Walters et al., 2006). There is, for instance, brother sun-grandmother moon, father

sky-mother earth, fire-water, men-women. The two become one, for one cannot live without the

other in the same way that we need both heat and water in our bodies to survive. Spiritual

essentialism doesn't mean that the roles of women are inferior or less valued in any way.

Through equally valuable responsibilities by virtue of gender, it is believed that the balance of

the Universe is maintained. Moreover, this spiritual essentialism doesn't necessarily have to

coincide with the biological sex. For instance, there are two-spirited people in many Indigenous

cultures who were not only included and highly respected in their communities, but who also

openly express their belief in a spiritual essentialism and in the way the Creator made them 'from

birth' (e.g., see Walters et al, 2006). In addition, better understandings of Indigenous teachings

and gender divisions in ceremonies or art may even be empowering for women.

For example, for the Anishinaabeg, at pow wows or other gatherings, women and men

don't generally sing together. The most common arrangement for women and men singing

together is when the men are playing the 'big drum' and the women stand singing in a separate


circle around the men. In fact, women don't need to sit around the big drum because the big drum

was originally given to men to learn about their relationships with women. The drum is seen as

the essence of women's spirit linked to the heartbeat of Mother Earth. Thus, when men beat the

drum in motion, he is calling on that 'woman spirit' to come and teach him how to be a man (as

cited in Anderson, 2000: 177). Water is also seen to represent the female element, both of whom

have the power of the force of life. Myra Laramee explains in Anderson's book (2000), that when

women pass the water in a circle during a ceremony, for instance, it is as though she is creating a

spiritual umbilical cord, where she passes that water from soul to soul. Moreover, women are

seen to have the subtle power of water; water goes against something every day, which

ultimately changes the entire shape of the thing.

The long skirts that are worn by women during ceremonies, including the Water Walks,

are also not to be viewed as Leanne Simpson (2011: 61) notes, as the colonial "rigid boundaries

in a two-gendered system". The choices are left up to the individual. However, the skirt is a

symbol related to the woman's ability to produce and nurture life, which many Indigenous

cultures believe it to represent the hoop of life (Anderson, 2000:168). Certainly, this doesn't

mean that the woman has to be a biological mother to fulfill her responsibilities to Creation,

because producing and nurturing life can also take the form of giving to the community. A good

example would be the women who uphold their roles as the carriers of water in the community.

Ecofeminism, although a useful conceptual framework, is also characterised by the

essentialism debate, which divides ecofeminism into two branches: cultural and social

ecofeminism. Cultural ecofeminism believes that women have a superior relationship with

nature, and argue that women should be re-empowered by celebrating their feminine aspects

which patriarchy has devalued, and by creating an alternative culture that leads to a more caring

society. On the contrary, social ecofeminists believe this connection with women and nature to

be essentialist, and that it represents a patriarchal decoy that only reinforces oppression. They

focus on social and political issues, such as neoliberalism, capitalism, colonialism, etc. which

they believe stem from a system that views men as the superior rational beings and women as the

inferior emotional ones that belong to the realm of nature (Nhanenge, 2011: 102-103). Many

ecofeminists have built their academic careers on this battle. However, both branches fall in the

traps of the dualisms that they are seeking to dismantle. Cultural ecofeminism emphasizes a

dichotomy between men and women by arguing that women have a superior rather than an

equally different spiritual relationship with nature. Social ecofeminism reasserts its 'Western'

superiority framework, by dogmatically denying any form of spiritual essentialism prevalent in

many cultures around the world.

Both branches should be reconciled to better understand the perspectives of many

Indigenous cultures, for which spirituality is central. Very few authors have argued for the

reconciliation of both these branches. One of those authors, however, has been Kathi Wilson

(2005), a professor at the University of Toronto, who interviewed 35 Anishinabeg peoples in

Ontario, Canada. She found that 1) the Anishinabeg believe that their identity is intricately tied

to the land, 2) Anishinaabe-kwewag (women) have a strong connection to the land, while

Anishinaabe men strive to maintain their own strong connections to Mother Earth which differ,

but are equally valued, and 3) women and Mother Earth are not to be perceived as passive, but


rather as active and reactive beings. Certainly, these findings for 'the land' also apply to the land's

blood veins, which nourish the land with life--namely, water.

If both branches are reconciled, ecofeminism greatly contributes to the analysis of the

politicization of nature, through discourses on the direct link between the domination of nature

and women, in relation to societal structures of power. As with all feminist theory, ecofeminism

is not only connected to policy and politics but also to a theoretical foundation for analysis

connected to science or even, 'politics of science' (Eikjok, 2007). There is value in the literature

of quite gifted ecofeminist scholars like Vandana Shiva and Maria Mies to help better understand

many Indigenous women's perspectives. The subjugation of the feminine is directly connected to

the Earth's destruction, Darwinian corporate science, loss of biodiversity and subsequently,

'water stories' that disregard human integrity. Furthermore, the hierarchical, patriarchal

worldview which pushes monocultures, homogeneity and linearity treats both the Earth and the

woman as not being intrinsically valuable in itself. Rather, their values are conferred only

through economic exploitation (Shiva, 1998: 185).

Despite the merits of ecofeminism, I openly acknowledge that I do not identify as a

feminist or as an ecologist. My ancestors' teachings and being in harmony with natural law

engrained in my human conscience were my primary conceptual framework to relate to

Indigenous women, as a non-Indigenous of this land [Turtle Island]. Ecofeminism has only

served as a subservient tool, to have a more 'polished' comprehension of the shared perspectives

and stories of my Indigenous teachers.

2.3 Methodology

Every researcher is a storyteller. Ideally, if one conducts quantitative research, the subject

narrates by describing the process of data gathering, his or her underlying philosophical

assumptions, the given analysis, etc. In qualitative research, the storyteller also responsibly

describes his or her learning journey to an audience, which is founded on creating trusting

relationships and engaging with other storytellers. This trust and responsibility are especially

important since the researcher's role goes beyond being only 'a storyteller', in the sense that he or

she plays an active role in the organizing of the gathered voices.

Trusting relationships require at least a level of understanding and respect between the

two parties. During our interview, when speaking about the importance of education and raising

awareness about water, Chief Williams wisely remarked:

Education and understanding. Sometimes, like I say, you can educate over and over

again but it has to come to understanding as well.

Understanding comes from a position of empathetic, humble self-reflection, where one

seeks to critically dismantle the privilege conferred to him or her upon birth. Regardless of one's

socioeconomic status, there is no 'perfect stranger' since we are all upholding a racist, colonial

institutional culture collectively. 'Standpoint theory', ranging in various levels of sophistication,


is prevalent throughout all feminist literature and may be used as a tool for dismantling this

position of privilege. Nancy Hartsock, a feminist philosopher, first presented her standpoint

theory in 1983 and noted: "...the concept of a standpoint rests on the fact that there are some

perspectives on society from which, however well intentioned one may be, the real relations of

humans with each other and with the natural world are not visible" (as cited in Hekman, 1997).

She further remarks that reality will be perceived differently, as material situations differ.

It follows, according to Hartsock, that the dominant group in the society will label its

perspective as 'real', and reject other definitions because they are limited to "a partial and

perverse" understanding of social relations due to their material life structures and sets (as cited

in Hekman, 1997). A concrete example of this would be the headline on February 10, 2012 in the

Vancouver Observer: "Government Labels Environmentalists 'Terrorist Threat' in New Report".

(as cited in Altamirano-Jimenez, 2013). It seems as though from a position of privilege, one

centers themselves on an imaginary line. By willingly turning a blind eye to other people's

sufferings, one then solipsistically deems certain positions which threaten their material self-

interests, on the two ends of his/her own imaginary line as : 'extremist', 'terrorist', 'conspiratorial'

or 'radical'. These politically-charged statements may conveniently coincide with other solipsists

who are also sitting from their 'high and mighty chairs'. Stemming from this analysis, one may

understand the concerns that the Assembly of First Nations expressed on the new bill C-51 for

example (Beaulne-Stuebing, 2015). Throughout my research, I learned that Bill C-51 is in fact a

great concern to Indigenous communities. In any case, it is important to note that regardless of

who we are, as non-Indigenous peoples, we should recognize that we have been conferred the

privilege of not being viewed as a threat to potentially halting the current neoliberal, extractivist

chrematistics through treaties.

In other words, one must recognize their conferred privilege within their social group,

which has been given at the expense of another social group. After coming to this realization, I

began to read some of the indigenous research methodology literature, many of which I found

somewhat patronizing. Unfortunately, as a student, I was situated in a long history of mistrust

between non-Indigenous researchers and the Indigenous peoples of this land. Although at times

well-intended, non-Indigenous researchers have perpetuated reductionist stereotypes and

misinterpretations regarding Indigenous communities. Moreover, there has been a history of

'extractivist' knowledge mining, in which 'white privileged' academics have built their careers on

the gifts and generosity of Indigenous teachers, while not giving back to the community.

Understandably, one must keep in mind that there is also a sense of 'colonial policy fatigue'

amongst Indigenous peoples.

I decided to simply immerse myself in the community instead, and learn through

discussion and participatory observation in events like Sacred Water gatherings, Elders and

Traditional Peoples gathering, Indigenous women's symposium at Trent University, etc. I'm

grateful to Amy in particular for being my Anishinaabe-kwe teacher from the outset, and helping

me connect to other community members with her gentle guidance. Through various interactions

and community events, I learned that consultation is in fact a meaningful, ongoing process that

lasts a life-time, rather than a superficial, isolated event. One is not just 'a researcher' or 'a

policymaker', but also a part of the human kinship; a role which comes with love, responsibilities


and obligations to all creation. From an Indigenous and common sense perspective, 'there is no

end to relationships' (Peers & Brown, 2000).

Through exchanged discussions, e-mails and word of mouth, I asked for the support of

the community for this project. Many of my teachers are part of a vibrant community of Water

Walkers who have participated in the annual Water Walks in the Kawarthas. These Water Walks,

in particular, began in 2010 to raise awareness of the collective responsibility to take care of

water for the next seven generations. Some of my teachers were also from Curve Lake, a reserve

of 588 homes, where community members were warned not to drink the water since the 1950s

and have to rely on buying bottled water. While they rely mainly on a well system, there are

about 2-3 water advisories per week, especially after the thaw in the spring. Dorothy, whom I

met at the Sacred Water Circle gathering in Peterborough, helped me reach out to the Water

Walkers whom she knew by e-mail. Dorothy, miigwech for your big heart in encouraging

everyone, especially the youth, to take care of water.

To deepen my understanding of various intersectional issues related to water, a plethora

of secondary research was consulted, as some of them are referenced in this paper. Moreover, by

taking part in even a single water or women's full moon ceremony, one may understand at the

very least, that in many different Indigenous nations, water and its link to women is viewed as

being sacred. In fact, water is central to all ceremonies. For example, even during a sweat lodge

ceremony, Blackstock (2001) explains how it is a purification ritual that is believed to return the

body and spirit to its purest form, as to when it left its mother's womb. This is because, the water,

in combination with the fire element from a sweat lodge is said to be healing.

For the purposes of this project, thirteen women were interviewed, ten of whom are

Anishinaabe-kwewag. The number thirteen represents the thirteen moons of the calendar, which

come with different teachings amongst various Indigenous cultures. For the Anishinaabeg, it is

said that turtle didn't have a shell, so Grandmother moon would come down and kiss the turtle

thirteen times, which became the thirteen plates of the turtle shell (Craft, 2013). Moreover,

Grandmother moon is said to be female energy and to take care of all the waters, including the

waters and the 'moon time' or menstruation cycles of women (see Anderson, 2000:186).

In Western methodology terms, these interviews would be considered as 'expert'

interviews. I refrain from using the term 'expert' due to the acknowledgment of human

limitations. However, these women are not simply 'participants', but teachers who are the carriers

of water. Three of my teachers kindly accommodated me over Skype and telephone

conversations due to geographical distance. Most interviews occurred in informal settings, such

as in homes, over coffee or a shared meal. As a sign of good intention, I offered asemaa

[tobacco] in zagidiwin [love], for only through love can one have an open mind and an open

heart to understand. In a symbolic gesture, the teachers were also given a water bottle and a

small token of appreciation for their time and teachings.

All interviews were usually just under an hour, and they were digitally recorded as well

as transcribed. Written consent was obtained by everyone. Seven of the teachers were in the age

range between 25-45, four of them between the ages of 45-65, while two were over 65 years of

age. This research drew from slightly over 140 pages of interview transcriptions. Throughout the


interviews, the teachers had access to the interview guide so that they could read the questions,

as well as be able to write or draw any of the answers on paper, if they wished to express

themselves in such ways. Storytelling is also a powerful means of expression in many

Indigenous cultures. As Kenny (2006) notes, many Indigenous teachers choose to answer

sensitive, difficult questions in an indirect way through story-telling. Through this, they gift their

cultural and personal knowledge to the community. The questions were open-ended, and

included direct statements from the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act. The interviews

were also flexible in nature. Considering the fact that the questions contained policy language

from law-makers, which is often quite exclusive and elitist for the people whom it impacts, I

made my best efforts to have a more natural flow of conversation during the questions, rather

than just reading from 'the interview script'.

Some examples of the interview questions include:

1. On the Act, the definition for 'drinking water' is: "Drinking water means water intended for

use by humans for drinking, bathing or food preparation". In the context of your life, what does

water mean to you?

2. The Act uses the Indian Act to define 'First Nation' and 'First Nation lands'. As an

Indigenous woman, what do you think about the role of the Indian Act in ensuring safe drinking

water to Indigenous peoples? How would you define 'First Nation' or 'First Nation Lands' in this

Act?

3. It is stated that nothing in this Act impacts any existing Aboriginal or treaty rights, 'except to

the extent necessary to ensure the safety of drinking water on First Nations lands'. How do you

view the role of existing Indigenous or treaty rights in connection to safe, drinking water?

4. In the Act, the Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister of Health,

make regulations involving the monitoring, sampling and testing of drinking water. How would

you propose the monitoring, sampling and testing of drinking water?

5. In the Act, the Governor in Council can give the power to any person to operate drinking

water and waste water treatments. Under this Act's regulations, the Crown cannot be brought to

court, nor be imposed any fine or monetary penalty. In what ways, if any, do you think this may

impact the well-being of Indigenous women, including yourself?

Below are some examples of interview questions related to the Act, but not necessarily

confined to its written statements:

6. In what ways, if any, should Indigenous ecological knowledge be included in this Act?

7. Can Western science and Indigenous science be reconciled in taking care of nibi? If so, how?

8. What do you think the role of the private sector or private corporations is in water governance

for Indigenous peoples?


9. Currently, the Settler government has entered in free trade 'investor state' agreements. This

means that foreign corporations have the right to sue the Settler government large amounts of

money for loss of "imaginary profit", if the government introduces any new conditions for water

regulation. How can Indigenous women and their nations help resolve this issue?

Relevant notes were taken after each interview, which helped understand emerging

patterns. The teachers were given the opportunity to supplement any shared knowledge with

other material, if they wished, at a later date. Due to the lack of time, they were sent their

transcriptions for review only upon request. One of the greatest teachings is that one always

acknowledges the person who shared and passed their knowledge to you (Craft, 2013). Most of

my teachers chose to share their true identities, although they were given the option to choose

their own pseudo-names. The identities of the two teachers who chose not to reveal their names

have remained confidential. Prior to the interviews, all of the teachers were informed that the

shared knowledge that is audio recorded and/or written on the interview guide sheet, would be

made accessible to the public, unless they indicated otherwise.

2.3. 1 Limitations

When I proposed this project, I based my knowledge on the relationship between

Indigenous women in Canada and water on solely two scholarly articles found in Scholar Portal's

academic research database. One of them was Michael Blackstock (2001), who interviewed three

highly respected Elders living in British Columbia about the spiritual meaning of water. The

other article was written by Anderson, Clow and Haworth-Brockman (2013), who also

interviewed eleven First Nations, Inuit and Métis Grandmothers, one of whom was Grandmother

Josephine Mandamin. These two articles were 'the impetus' for this research, after having

stumbled upon and read the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act.

I have no formal schooling in Indigenous studies, with the exception of one graduate

course, "Indigenous Language Policy". Prior to this project, life did not present me with the

opportunity to be involved in any Indigenous community. In this regard, I am considered to be

the lowest common denominator. Indigenous cultures are very diverse, and the worldviews and

languages embedded in their cultures are also heterogeneous and complex. Although I made

efforts to learn a bit about the Anishinaabeg culture in specific, I have yet to scratch the surface.

For any deeper delving in this aspect, I would refer you back to my Indigenous teachers. Since I

am new to the community, it also affected my ability to use more Indigenous secondary sources

than I have used throughout this research.

Furthermore, it would be untruthful to claim to be speaking on behalf of the Indigenous

teachers who have guided me throughout this learning journey. Indigenous communities have

been speaking for water since time immemorial. The women who generously shared their

teachings with me continue to speak for water in their unique ways, through their ceremonies,

stories, songs, prayers, water walks, published books, film documentaries, academic research,

conferences, etc. I hope to not fall in the traps of perpetuating the academic imperial endeavours,

which unsuccessfully pretend to speak for 'the subaltern'. All human beings are vulnerable to

being hurt from committed injustices. However, being vulnerable should not be equated to being

'a victim'. As Saul (2014: 16) remarks, Indigenous peoples have never sought to be categorized


as victims. 'Sympathy' from outsiders is just another new form of racism, in which we obscure

the central importance of rights, while denying our shared reality, obligations of restitution and

responsibility. Nevertheless, as Gayatri Spivak (1988) wisely notes, ‘re-presentation' has not

withered away, even if representation is used in the sense of an art, such as writing. Thus, as in

every qualitative research, the readers are encouraged to consider the fact that this writing

provides knowledge by describing heterogeneous interactions, through this writer's perspective.

Moreover, an intersectionality of multifaceted issues is embedded in this project, as the

topic of water necessitates a holistic approach in this particular case, especially considering that

the Act is also a 'big picture', enabling regulatory framework. I am only presenting the teachings

I have received through my research. Nevertheless, as with most other work, it is a heuristic

droplet of water amid the oceans that need to be further explored by academics, engineers,

scientists, policymakers, and any member of the community in the future to take the necessary

steps in addressing water issues. This would include toxicology, infrastructure, studies in

indigenous ecological knowledge, environment, gender, etc. I was limited in time and resources

to reach out to more community members, who would be important to include in this work.

Geographical distance and conflicting schedules were also a challenge to make further

connections or deepen my existing connections, especially since I do not own a vehicle and

many reserves are in remote areas. Within the limits of this research, I was also not able to

include all the stories that my teachers shared with me, although they helped develop my

understanding of the existing systemic issues and they were very important to me. Nevertheless,

I have made my best efforts to give justice to the words that were shared with me during the

interviews.

2.3.2 Introducing the Teachers

Below are the carriers of water who were interviewed on the Safe Drinking Water for First

Nations Act and whose input should have been meaningfully included in this Act. The brief

introductions may serve as a guide to better understand their shared stories and perspectives

throughout this paper.

To my teachers, miigwech/meegwich/meduh/nia:wen/thank you/merci for sharing your light!

B., Becky: Becky, a mother of two, is of the Anishinabek Nation. She grew up on Georgina

Island in Lake Simcoe--a place where she most enjoyed the water. Becky has participated in the

Waawaase'Aagaming (Lake Simcoe) Water Walk, the Lake Scugog Water Walk, various sacred

water gatherings, etc. When I interviewed her, she had just presented her new water film

documentary at the Sacred Water Project held at the Barrie Native Friendship Centre. This

documentary on Water Walks and on the current issues of water pollution,

Waawaase'Aagaming: The Waters of Lake Simcoe, premiered at the Water Docs Film Festival in

Toronto, on March 26, 2015. Becky is currently living on Georgina Island.

C., Tori: Tori is Anishinaabekwe from the Beausoleil First Nation. She grew up in Mississauga

with her non-Native father and moved quite a bit throughout her life. During her childhood, she

would look forward to visiting her mother on Christian Island, Georgian Bay. Tori participated

for the first time in the Georgian Bay water walk in 2014. She is involved in the Great Lakes


Commons NGO, Scientists for the Right to Know, as well as promotes events in the Idle No

More grassroots newsletter. Tori is a mother of two. She now lives in Wahta Mohawk Territory,

which she describes as beautiful. She also enjoys hunting and fishing.

D., Amy: Amy is Ojibwe/Potowotomi of the Beaver clan, from Wasauksing First Nation

(formerly known as Parry Island First Nation). Wasauksing is loosely translated as 'place of

sparkling/beautiful waters', and growing up, she enjoyed being surrounded by water on the island

and going ice fishing. Amy is a traditional knowledge keeper, writer, hand drummer and singer.

She participated in the Georgian Bay water walk in 2014, although she expressed that she doesn't

identify as 'a Water Walker' because she is unable to go on the walks consistently to "get to know

the water on a more intimate level" . She said that she's more like "a helper" or "someone who is

connecting people by making others aware that there are Water Walkers and the reason why

they're doing what they're doing". She, along with two other friends also released a 'Sacred

Water Journey' EP album in 2015, inspired by a Bolivia 2013 volunteer sanitation trip, where

Amy connected with the Quechua Indigenous people through water. All proceeds from the

album are going to the Mother Earth Water Walk and Water for People Bolivia. Amy has an

education background in policy administration. She now lives in Toronto with her son and

enjoys the multiculturalism of the city.

H., Georgie: Georgie is Saulteaux-Ojibwe, from the Caribou clan, who now lives in

Peterborough. She has an understanding of Anishinaabemowin. Her ancestral roots are from

Manitou Rapids Rainy River First Nation, but she grew up in Peterborough County, Bankroft, in

a Mennonite community. Although Georgie doesn't regret growing up in a non-Native

community, she found her way to her Anishinaabe roots in the recent years. She helps lead the

Water Walks in the Kawarthas that started in 2010, along with Elder Shirley Williams and Liz

Osawamick. Georgie has also worked with the Council of Canadians. When I interviewed

Georgie, she was setting up with her friend for the Photo Spark Festival in Peterborough, held

during the entire month of April, 2015. As a photographer, Georgie wanted to tell the story of

'Anishinabe Mino Bimaadiziwin', which means the Anishinaabe Good Way of Life or the Red

Road, by acknowledging that all creation is interconnected.

M., Sylvia: Sylvia McAdam is of the nehiyaw (Cree) nation and a direct descendant of Treaty

makers. Sylvia was born and raised on Big River First Nation, on Treaty 6 territory. She is one

of the four women who founded the global grassroots movement, the Idle No More. Sylvia holds

a law degree and she is a mother, grandmother and sister. I had the opportunity to only briefly

interview Sylvia McAdam before she had to leave. She referred me to her 2015 newly released

book, "Nationhood Interrupted: Revitalizing nehiyaw Legal systems", which speaks to many of

my questions related to the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act.

O., Liz: Liz is Ojibwe. She speaks Ojibwe and Odawa. Liz, along with her aunt, Elder Shirley,

are the co-organizers of the Water Walks in the Kawarthas that began in 2010.

Liz grew up in Wikwemikong, Manitoulin Island, Ontario. When asked about what she liked the

most about the place where she grew up, she said the fresh water and the fact that it is a sacred

place. Currently, Liz is a teacher and lives in Hastings, Ontario. She is a mother of three sons and

two daughters. When I interviewed Liz, she had just led a water ceremony with Elder Shirley on

World Water Day (March 22).


P., Sylvia: Sylvia is of the Anishinabek Nation, and she speaks Anishinaabemowin. She grew up

on Aamjiwnaang First Nation, located on the shores of the St. Clair River, Ontario. She liked

being near water and growing up where her ancestors have always lived. She is currently a

student at the University of Toronto, conducting community-based research on Indigenous water

governance. Sylvia first started water walking in 2011, with the North American Mother Earth

Water Walk, which took about a month to walk from Washington state to Wisconsin. During the

interview, Sylvia shared that she spent a lot of time with Grandmother Josephine Mandamin,

from whom she learned more about women's roles and responsibilities to water. She was also a

policy-researcher for the Chiefs of Ontario in 2013, where she had the opportunity to assess the

Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act (Bill S-8), attend some of the relevant meetings and

write a speech that was read at the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples regarding

Bill S-8. During our interview, Sylvia expressed that the organizations and the government were

drawing from the same government publications to make contesting arguments. As a student, she

said that she had access to more progressive research through academic portals, which assisted

with the analysis of Bill S-8 (now the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act).

R., Elaina: Elaina is of the Haudenosaunee, Kanien'kehaka nation. Kanien'kehaka means 'people

of the flint'. Non-Indigenous peoples may call her nation 'Mohawk', but this is a colonial word

given by the English, as 'Mohawk' means man-eater. Elaina speaks a little bit of Kanien'kehaka,

though she is more confident in reading and writing. She grew up in a place where she most

enjoyed her culture, living in a tight knit community and the river. She is now studying

Indigenous Environmental studies, with a focus on agriculture. Elaina has learned about

Grandmother Josephine Mandamin since 2014. She has received many water teachings from her

mother, Elders, and spiritual teachers. Elaina has also taken part in sacred water gatherings and

water ceremonies at home.

S., Kookum Alita: Kookum means 'your grandmother' in Cree. Kookum Alita is Cree from her

father's side and Tahltan from her mother's side of the family. She is also from the Haida nation

through traditional adoption. Alita was raised primarily in Whitehorse, Yukon, but also in the

Tahltan Territory of Dease Lake in northern B.C., and Vancouver Island. Growing up, she loved

the liveliness of the land, the mountains, the clean water, the forests, the wild food and the

people. Alita is also a residential school survivor. For the past forty-two years, she has lived in

Toronto, where she likes "sampling around the world". She has participated very briefly in the

Toronto Water Walk, led by Grandmother Pauline Shirt in 2013. She says that she doesn't

identify as a Water Walker, because she hasn't had the opportunity to do so on a fulltime basis,

as some other well-respected community members. However, Alita identifies as "a traditional

woman who understands the sacredness of water and the importance of praying and holding

ceremonies for water". When asked whether she has participated in any other water-related

projects, she smiled and said "my whole life is about water". Alita is a mother of eight, four of

whom are in the spirit world. She has six adopted sons, four adopted daughters, one adopted

grandson, as well as two grandchildren by her biological daughter.

T., Dorothy: Dorothy, a mother of two, is Ojibwe and speaks conversational Mississagua-

Ojibwe. Although she grew up in Oshawa, Ontario, she was very connected to the land. Her

father would take her outdoors, where they would have picnics, as well as fish and trap. She now


lives in Curve Lake, where she enjoys the 'community feeling' of knowing everybody and the

fact that it's a peninsula surrounded by lakes. Dorothy founded the Sacred Water Circle in 2011.

Inspired by traditional Indigenous teachings, this interfaith, multi-cultural group aims to raise

awareness and reach out to policymakers throughout all levels of government. The Sacred Water

Circle supports and closely collaborates with the Water Walks. Dorothy first joined the Water

Walks in 2013, around the Upper Chemong lake, which started on Curve Lake's Henrys

Gaaming. Gaaming means 'bay' in Anishinaabemowin. In addition to other projects, she is also

part of a PhD committee in which she is helping in a project with engineers from two Canadian

universities to incorporate Indigenous traditional knowledge in drinking and waste water

management.

T., Linda: Linda identifies with the Mississaugas and has a little understanding of the Ojibwe

language. She is now a student, studying the history of lakes. Linda has also been very involved

in anti-sexual violence work and indigenous feminism, along with some of her other Indigenous

friends. She has done some background work supporting the missing and murdered Indigenous

women rallies. Linda expressed that because all forms of domination are interconnected, "doing

the anti-sexual violence work is not necessarily separate from doing explicit water activism".

W., Elder Shirley: Elder Shirley is a member of the Bird Clan of the Ojibwe and Odawa

nations. She speaks Ojibwe and Odawa. Elder Shirley grew up in Wikwemikong, Manitoulin

Island. She said what she liked the most about the place where she grew up is that it is 'home' and

'freedom'. She survived St. Joseph's residential school in Spanish, Ontario, after being there for

eight years since the age of ten. Elder Shirley is a mother of three. She co-organizes and leads the

Kawarthas' Water Walks. She currently lives in Peterborough and is a professor emeritus of

Indigenous Studies at Trent University. Amongst many of her other projects, Elder Shirley also

published a book in 2015 in Anishinaabemowin and in English, 'GII-BI-GAACHINYAANH:

When I was a child". The book describes her teachings from her father when he would take her

fishing as a child.

Chief Williams: Chief Williams is Curve Lake Nation's first woman chief since the 1950s, when

Chief Elsie Knott became the first woman chief in all of Canada. In addition to

being a background supporter, Chief Williams also participated in the Lake Scugog Water Walk

in 2014. Growing up in Curve Lake, she describes herself as spending a lot of her childhood

years on the water, amid the teachings of Elders and particularly, the teachings of her great uncle

who would take her fishing and often speak about how life is precious.

2.3.3 Situating the Researcher

Throughout this project, many of my Indigenous teachers have genuinely welcomed me

on their land and encouraged me to situate myself in the world. After all, land, language and

culture permeate through each storyteller's unique worldviews. In the spirit of countering

colonial methodological practices, I will share my story as a way to acknowledge that I am an

embodied, subjective being who is part of the circle.

I have lived in Toronto since I was nine years old. Prior to that, I was born and raised on

my ancestors' land, whose borders were drawn by foreign powers to form the state of Albania in


1913. 'Albania' is a foreign word to the people living on that land, said to have derived perhaps

from only one of the past clans. In my language, we call ourselves Shqipetare, 'the people of the

Eagle', and our Troje [roughly meaning 'land linked to a people'] Shqiperia, which means 'the

land of the Eagles'. Our recognized symbol, however, is a double headed eagle. My mother has

orally carried our ancestors' interpretation of this symbol from centuries ago, as a 'double headed'

creature which prophetically warns us to keep a close watch on both the East and the West.

Traditionally, it was the women who had to give their blessings each time to their warrior sons.

In my deepest realms, however, I do not identify with the created nation-state, because as

in many other states, my home and neighbouring relatives have not truthfully reconciled their

stories of numerous invasions and slavery since the Antiquity period. Different foreign

authorities of 'Abrahamic' religions have also made efforts to forcefully proselytize the people

living on that land. Nevertheless, my people's history has taught me that through the

honour/loyalty of the Word [known as 'besa' in my mother tongue], it is not possible for

assimilation to truly occur, despite the fact that its oppressive tools may lead to the plagues of a

fragmented identity. I continue to identify with my extended kin and ancestral branches, as well

as the oral tradition which they have struggled to carry on for centuries.

Moreover, the blood veins of the land where I was born, the Mediterranean waters, have

embraced me with their life force for as long as I can remember. I also identify as Mediterranean,

because of my spiritual connection to those waters. This includes not just the Ionian and Adriatic

seas, but also the land's northern rivers and mountain springs, which have sustained my

ancestors. Despite the waters' life force, however, I learned at a young age that those waters took

away the lives of many of my people, who were hoping for a better future abroad. As I was born

in late 1990, when the country had just joined the globalized economic market, I also grew up

experiencing water to be both abundant and scarce. I chose to live in a solitary state of

disconnectedness from water and its dualisms for a long time after immigrating to the land that is

now known as Canada. It is only in the recent years that water has presented itself to me as

having the potential to be one of the greatest healers for all relations.


3

A Tipi Relationship: Defining the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act

3.1 Water has Memory: The Indian Act and Indigenous Women

The Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act begins by defining 'drinking water' and

'First Nation'. In the Act, the meaning of 'First Nation' refers to the specifications of the Indian

Act first enacted in 1876, whose lands are subject to that Act or the First Nations Land

Management Act. These interpretations, as defined in the Act, are in fact accompanied with a set

of Western cultural values that aren't necessarily reflective nor respectful of Indigenous

knowledge and worldviews. The dominant assertion of Western values reflected in the Safe

Drinking Water for First Nations Act continues to be legalized and justified through the colonial

Indian Act.

One of my Anishinaabe teachers, Amy, wrote in her book that a relationship is like a tipi

with three legs. One leg is one's self, their partner is another leg, and they are both leaning on

their respective connections to the higher power. This means that each has to be doing their own

part, with one partner not having to continuously bear a disproportionate burden (Desjarlais,

2014: chapter 121). Anderson (2000: 168) describes an Anishinaabe circle gathering, where one

of the women wearing a long, flowing skirt stood up, likened her skirt to a tipi and said: "You

wear this dress because the energy from Mother Earth needs to always be there....that is the

teaching of the tipi. The kindness and caring and understanding and acceptance. All those things.

Love. The tipi and the skirt is me, this body, that is me. How beautiful we are. How loved we are

by the Creator to give us this work that is so beautiful. Bringing life into this world". The poles

of the tipi represent different strengths and values, which make a home when in unity. However,

if one partner disregards the other partner's strengths and values due to narrow self-interest, it

leaves the life-sustaining 'tipi', namely the women, the waters and Mother Earth, as a fragmented,

disrespected home.

This fragmented tipi can be traced back to the outright refusal to consider the Indigenous

view of water as a sacred primary substance, with spirit, characteristics, and memory. Sheridan

and Longboat (2014: 309) describe the Athapaskan and Tlingit nations on Turtle Island who

developed a method of studying glaciers that related temperature variation to intellectual and

spiritual adaptation on the part of the glacier. This 'mystical' method was dismissed by the

Cartesian, ethnocentric colonial scientists of the 18th and 19th century for whom glaciers could

not have memories, but could only be treated as inanimate objects for study and possession. This

kind of 'science', which, to a great extent, is prevalent to this day, is founded upon the Cartesian

dualistic disembodiment, or abstraction of the spirit from the body, and supported by politically-


charged and unenlightened interpretations of Biblical texts. It conveniently creates a matrix in

which 'spiritless' bodies (e.g., the Earth, the waters, people, other creation) may be treated as

objects to be used for chrematistics exploitation. Ironically, it is in the colonialists' 'beloved'

biblical texts where a prophet laments the future of humanity: "Our inheritance [the land which

the Creator gave] has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners. We have become

fatherless, our mothers are widows. We must buy the water we drink; our wood can be had only

at a price." (Lamentations 5:1-4)

The dogmatic refusal to engage in discussion or respect Indigenous knowledge was thus

rooted in a racialized Darwinian politics of scientific reductionism, which had origins in the

Doctrine of Discovery and the Cartesian disembodiment embraced by religious authorities. Shiva

(1998: 39) notes that the reductionist, positivist science outlook is based on the idea that only

those properties which generate profits through exploitation and extraction are taken into

account. Water is seen as a mere 'H2O' resource or commodity, with no sacredness or special

characteristics, except for its market value. This outlook can be extended to include the water

that mainly composes human beings, which would justify the simultaneous colonial subjugation

and objectification of both people and the waters nourishing the land. Hence, in this worldview,

life is neither sacred nor inherently valuable.

However, according to Indigenous knowledge, whose epistemology is embedded in the

wisdom of cultural practice and familiar relationships to Creation, water is viewed as the conduit

of oral tradition and as every being's Ancestor (Sheridan and Longboat, 2014). Water is thus seen

as a sacred commons; a living relative which connects all of humanity and which contains the

memories of peoples' histories, cultures, and languages. Water serves as a 'data transmitter',

somewhat analogous to light waves which transmit and retain information on the internet. It has

just as much right to live as we have, and nobody has the right to interfere with water's duties to

the rest of creation (McGregor, 2009: 38). Moreover, like the lifeblood of Mother Earth carrying

peoples' identities, the water is also linked to having 'blood memory', which is knowledge carried

intergenerationally (Craft, 2013). The women, as the carriers of water in many Indigenous

cultures, are also the ones who transmit this knowledge onto future generations; future

generations whose journey begins in the women's wombs. Since water is viewed to be sentient,

namely with memory and spirit, it follows that interactions with it through speaking, singing,

praying, etc., as during the ceremonies or Water Walks, are very important to honour this Life

and even, to help heal it. After all, as in many other cultures around the world, water is said to

be here before anything else was created.

Moreover, the Anishinaabeg in particular, trace the original clans to a story that says they

came out of the sea. Thus, their social organization with the clan system has origins in water

(Nelson, 2013: 218). While the creation narrative of the Settler nation is one of 'discovery and

conquest', the Anishinabeg's creation story begins after a devastating flood in which only the

spirits, creatures and beings who dwelt in water were spared. Geezhigo-quae (Sky-woman), who

was a manitou (spirit), became pregnant. The creatures in the seas invited her to come down on a

giant turtle's shell and the muskrat helped her recreate an island by bringing her a particle of

mud. On the island she created over the giant turtle's shell, Geezhigo-quae gave birth to twins

who begot the tribe called the Anishinaubaeg (Johnston, 2013). This is a story that not only


reflects the connection between water, women and life-giving, but it is also a story of

harmonious, heterarchical interdependence between all creation.

When asked about the connection between Indigenous women and water, Amy said:

The teachers talk about women being next to God-- second only to God because of our ability to

give life. If women are disrespected and not taken care of, our whole society, our whole human

existence is wiped out. So how can you treat women ill, and expect to survive and thrive as a

community, as a collective human race? It was just common sense for women to be seen in such

an important way, because of their role in carrying the children, raising the children and being

their first teachers. All of those things are things that the women naturally do. It's not like the

father shouldn’t do anything. It was not like that at all. They have very specific roles in the way

that they support, provide, nurture and balance with the feminine. But when you come from that

place and you see where we are now, when Indigenous women are being murdered at an

excruciatingly high rate and nobody is doing anything about it, or saying that's not really high on

our radar....you're like, how can you say that? How can you look at these people, and then treat

your people differently than ours, right? If you have no regard for these people’s lives, then how

can you have any regard for the life and the gifts that water brings to us, and the sacredness of all

life? If you are thankful for your non-Native wives' lives and their roles in the community, then

how can you say that our lives aren’t as valuable? How can you say that this water is better than

that one? It’s all connected...all of those teachings, and the sacredness of life, and the lifecycle.

(Amy)

Amy's perspective can help us better understand the current 'fragmented tipi', in which

Darwinian colonialism, as legalized by the Settler Canada's Indian Act, continues to oppress both

water and Indigenous women. The Indian Act is a racist, 'divide-and-conquer' piece of legislation

that made Indigenous peoples wards of the state; a status they shared with children, felons and

the insane. The Act defines the Indigenous peoples of this land by blood quantum. There is no

such law applying to the English, French or any other nation on this land. As part of the

termination plan, it also imposed the lineage of Indigenous peoples only through male descent,

so that Indigenous women and their children would lose status if they married out, while non-

Native women could gain status by marrying Native men. In fact, the Indigenous women's

movement came to life when the women became aware that they were discriminated against by

Settler Canada's Indian Act on the basis of race, gender, and marital status (Ouellette, 2002: 29).

In relation to the Indian Act, Becky said:

I never really liked the Indian Act. Some of its earliest uses were to disenfranchise women from

their families and First Nations...to have them physically removed from their roles, and removed

from the territory. Generations of kids have been raised away because of that, so the Indian Act

silenced a lot of women’s voices. (Becky)

In an extractivist, reductionist mindset, the Settler government set apart the Indigenous

peoples legally, geographically and economically on a purely genetic basis. Many were

forcefully uprooted and relocated for the sake of white development and resources (DuCharme,

1986). The Act confines Indigenous peoples to only certain territories or 'reserves', as opposed to


allowing them to be stewards of a shared land and waters with Settlers, while preserving

territorial integrity (see Lawrence, 2003; Palmater; 2011). Since the role of Indigenous women

was to protect the land and the waters, in addition to being the knowledge keepers, they were

also the most marginalized (see McAdam, 2015:58). In the same dominant framework, the

Indian Act objectifies women and their nations, as well as artificially partitions the sacred land

and waters for Indigenous peoples.

According to this Act, water is evidently not a commons, nor is it a living entity with

spirit and memory. Instead, the implementation of the Indian Act aimed to annihilate Indigenous

peoples, and especially Indigenous women's ancestral memories, stories, languages, cultures and

identities, which are intimately connected to the land and the waters. Nevertheless, it is water

that transcends the geopolitical boundaries, which were artificially imposed by the Indian Act.

The cycles of water defy the Western, linear perspective of interdependence, since the activities

on one land impact the waters flowing across all other lands.

Regarding the Indian Act's definition of 'First Nation land', as written on the SDWFNA,

Kookum Alita says:

Well, the whole thing is erroneous, because this land is our land. It has always been our land,

regardless of what Act or law they put in place, or where they decide to rule on this land. The

fact of the matter is that this is our land. This is where our Creator put us. So I don’t need an Act

to tell me what my land looks like. I just need to walk outside and go yes, this is where I’m

from... this is my land. (Kookum Alita)

Linda also pointed to the fact that since water is always flowing, it cannot be confined to

a divided territory called "First Nation land".

I struggle with that relationship of 'water on First Nation land'. What does that mean, when

water flows and moves? As a legal definition, it doesn’t make sense to attach it to a particular

property because it’s impossible. Water is very murky legal territory. Water is flowing all around

us actually. I just don’t trust that mentality, because those kinds of legal definitions are all about

deciding where things begin and where things end. Water doesn’t begin and end anywhere

exactly. (Linda)

We’ve been living under the Indian Act for over 100 years. Prior to that, there was Aboriginal

Natural Law that had to apply to our lands. The land was not divided up, but different tribes lived

on different parts of the land based on what the land looked like. For instance, we are the

Woodland people, so we lived in the land of the white pines and the maple trees. And then you

had the Cree people... they lived in the land of the small trees and the rocks, you know. People in

the West lived on the land that was at the plains. In the western province of B.C., those Native

people lived in the lands of the cedar...natural boundaries. Now the land is so carved up by

simple laws in municipality catchment areas, and then provinces and regions...it's pretty difficult

to live in those restricted areas, which makes it hard in terms of water policies and program

implementation, to manage around all those boundaries. We should go by natural law and natural

boundaries. (Dorothy)


Elaina shares a story of 'water diplomacy' or communal, shared responsibility that is

needed amongst different nations in order to take care of water.

In our minds, it’s shared land and shared resources....and that’s the way we see it. They don't

work with us as a nation-to-nation. The Settler government feels as if they can take control of

Indigenous peoples, when our whole perspective is that we are equal, as two nations, and thus

need to be treated as a nation. We have to work together to manage the systems. Prior to

European contact, Indigenous nations had relations with one another.... For example, if I was part

of a community in the middle, it was important to have a good relationship with the community

at the head water and at the end, because everything that they put in at the head water would

affect my community, for instance. Then my community would affect the other community. So,

we were conscious of what we put into the water and how we used it, and how we managed that

system. I feel that Indigenous people knew how to manage ecosystems very well, and co-

manage. Otherwise, the system would have collapsed. Water wouldn't have been as abundant

and clean as it was when Europeans got here. (Elaina)

There was a common consensus amongst the teachers who were interviewed that the

Indian Act does not and should not define them. Many of them reasserted their respective

nations, such as Anishinaabeg, Cree, Tahltan, and Kanien'kehaka. Despite the Indian Act being

an oppressive legal tool, however, it is a shameful stain which reminds the Settler government

that there are indeed Indigenous peoples on this land, and that their colonial, patriarchal policies

claimed a fiduciary duty towards them. This was also mentioned by many of my Indigenous

teachers during the interviews.

When asked about the role of the Indian Act in ensuring safe drinking water for

Indigenous peoples, Elder Shirley responded:

The Indian Act has not fulfilled the duties, in that they’re supposed to be looking after the First

Nations people. We didn’t make the Act. It is them who made the Act and who made all the

policies that are in there without consulting First Nations. That’s in the 1800s. It is still today that

the Government will go ahead and make the decisions on behalf of the First Nations because

they think that we don’t know how to make our own decisions, or policies, or how to look after

the land and water. But First Nations do know how to look after water and land. We have been

telling the Government under the Indian Act what they are doing to the land...don’t cut too many

trees because it will have an impact on the land and on the animals. You know, all of the trees

have different roles, because the Creator put the trees on this land. The animals were put on this

land, so that they’re to do what they’re supposed to do on this land also. And the same thing with

water. The water is to be used to wash ourselves, to cleanse ourselves, to cleanse our bodies, to

drink it, to use it in your cooking. But we were never taught to abuse the water or even to sell it.

There is no concept of selling the water to people. (Elder Shirley)

In response to the same question, Chief Williams said:

We were taught through our ancestors that we were the first people of this land. So water, land

and resources and all that come to be--we were the stewards of this country. Treaties developed

from that. We were of the same understanding that this country would be shared with the


Settlers. We would live in common, and care and nourish for the land. The Indian Act, of course,

had its own stipulations of who we were, and how we should conduct ourselves. To this day, it

still becomes a nightmare to enable us to do our own governance, you know, and how we

steward the lands that are here, in this country. I have my own personal thoughts that the original

agreement and sharing philosophy should have come with a good teaching of the stewardship

and the responsibilities that come with those treaties. But it's unfortunate that we’re at this place.

We now have to think seriously about protecting water, when those teachings and celebration of

that water should have been there all along.(Chief Williams)

Chief Williams also said:

Of course, you know, First Nation comes with the Indian Act. It’s a description, and First Nation

is described as who we are. We may have a different terminology but we always have to go with

the terminology that is in the Indian Act, in order to protect what is ours. There is certainly room

to have a separate dialogue to ensure that we use the proper terms and what those terms mean to

our people. (Chief Williams)

3.2. About the Treaties....

The intent of the treaties, as expressed by my teachers, was that the Settler nation would

share the land and waters with Indigenous peoples, rather than own them and assert their

dominance over sovereign Indigenous nations. The Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act

uses quite ambiguous language, in terms of the treaties, however. It states that nothing in this Act

abrogates or derogates from any existing Aboriginal or treaty rights, "except to the extent

necessary to ensure the safety of drinking water on First Nation lands".

Nevertheless, clean water is central to a nation's survival in every aspect. Clean water

encompasses cultural, economic, social, and spiritual factors, embedded in the treaties, that are

necessary for the continuation of a nation. Grandmother Josephine Mandamin who has been an

inspiration and mentor to every Water Walker has said (as cited in idlenomore.ca/waterwalks,

2015):

“As women, we are carriers of the water. We carry life for the people. So when we carry

that water, we are telling people that we will go any lengths for the water. We’ll probably

even give our lives for the water if we have to. We may at some point have to die for the

water, and we don’t want that.”--Grandmother Josephine Mandamin

The Mother Earth Water Walk that is being led by Nokomis Josephine in 2015 is said to follow

the Anishinaabeg's original migration, which started from the mouth of Saint Lawrence River to

a place "where the food grows on water" (meaning manomin or wild/natural rice). The prophetic

migration story further brings to light the fact that water is inseparable from other treaty rights

needed for the survival of a nation. According to the story, the migration was originally guided

by the vision of a floating miigis shell. The sacred shell resembles a cowrie and it is the symbol

of the spirit power of the midewiwin, the Anishinaabeg's 'Grand Medicine Society' (Vizenor,


1993: 142). This migration happened after the Anishinaabeg received the prophecies of the seven

prophets or the 'seven fires' . One of those prophecies , namely the fourth one, was given by two

prophets. The first prophet said that if the light-skinned race comes wearing the face of

brotherhood, no weapons, but only their knowledge and a handshake, there will be a time of

wonderful change for the generations to come. The other prophet warned that the face of

brotherhood and the face of death look very much alike. If one comes carrying weapons, their

hearts may be filled with greed for the riches of this land. The prophet said that you will know

the face they wear is one of death, if the rivers run with poison and the fish become unfit to eat

(Swan, n.d.).

All of the teachers who were interviewed expressed that the foundation of Indigenous

treaty rights is in fact inseparable from having clean water. From their perspectives, one cannot

separate the land from the waters, the rights to hunt and fish from the waters, etc.

In the treaties, it may not specifically say you’re guaranteed safe drinking water but it would be

implied, for me, that it’s there. How can you separate water from the land? (Georgie)

I think that that goes hand in hand with Aboriginal rights. Because that’s what we signed on... to

have clean drinking water. Even though we are making this treaty with another nation, in our

mindset, in our territory, it would have included different animal nations. It would have included

the fish nations...all of creation, right? For this question, I just feel there’s so much injustice. The

treaties that my people made, they’re essentially made forever. They don’t die just like, you

know, the other treaties that may change or may be worded differently. As long as the rivers flow

and as long as the sun shines and as long as the grasses are green. So, it makes me think that in

my lifetime or in the future, will that be there? Will those rivers be there, or won’t they? And

how much will that treaty mean? (Elaina)

I think about when my great, great, great, great grandpa signed the treaties and was thinking

about me ...and thinking--I want this life for her. He was thinking that I want her to have the

benefits of the newcomer community, but also to have her culture and her teachings and all of

that too, right? So he agreed to make peace with the Settlers[...]It’s all wrapped up in what our

Aboriginal and treaty rights are, like our right to hunt and fish, and eat off the land. And that’s all

to do with water quality, and the health of the water, and our responsibilities as people that live

here. I mean, that’s kind of why we made it so adamant that these rights were included in the

treaties. So, to infringe on any one of those with the excuse of saying that it’s because of

ensuring safe drinking water doesn’t make any sense to me. I mean, they are just saying very

plainly that, at some point, we are going to infringe on your rights and we are just letting you

know. That’s what it says to me. I mean very clearly, that’s what they are saying. (Amy)

When we assert our Indigenous rights or treaty rights to the land, what we say is that we didn’t

cede it. We agreed to share it. Yet, the Indian Act pinned us to one place and put boundaries

around us, and left us to manage that small amount. In reality, it’s our role to be stewards of what

was traditionally our hunting and fishing territories, which extended way, way beyond those

boundaries. In many of our minds, it still does. What happens a lot of times, when resource

development takes place outside around us, it impacts the conditions that we’re living with, but

they don’t ask us how we feel about that. For example, the Anishinaabe people of Grassy


Narrows...they’re demonstrating against the clear cut logging that’s going on all around them. It

seems like the ones who permit that to happen, don’t seem to see the connection between the

health of water and having a healthy forest there. Those two go hand in hand. (Becky)

3.3. Reductionist Meaning of Water

Stemming from the same colonial, reductionist outlook, the Safe Drinking Water for First

Nations Act defines drinking water as "water intended for use by humans for drinking, bathing or

food preparation". However, the commonly held view amongst my teachers for this definition

was that it was too narrow and anthropocentric. According to them, the definition did not include

the spiritual element of water, nor did it include the ethics and necessity of care for other

creation. All of them reasserted that 'water is life'.

Amy also pointed out to the fact that even this narrow definition of providing 'clean

water' in homes is not very sustainable:

Drinking water is lumped in with bathing[...] Just learning about gray water and water filtration...

I see drinking water and bathing water as two different things. In the context of my life, I started

being more conscious about how I use water at home. I’m more aware of gray water...like

dishwater or bathing water, after I'm finished with the bath. Those kinds of things are grey water.

In Bolivia, they would keep grey water and they would use it to water the plants– but here, it’s

all mixed in with all the clean water and flushed right down the pipes, which is wasteful. It’s all

kind of lumped in the same sewage system, the same filtration system, and it goes to the same

route for filtering... and they add all those chemicals now, the chlorine, the fluoride, and

everything. I just wish they'd be more innovative here...I mean, I think I would be fine bathing in

rainwater catchment. (Amy)

I would add the element that water is life...that it is sentient. It should also expand beyond human

use. Whatever we do as humans... we’re the worst ones that affect water in a negative way. It

ultimately affects plant life, the marine life, animals, etc. (Dorothy)

Well, what about the rest of our relatives? What about the trees? What about the plants? What

about the fish? What about the birds? What about all of our four-legged relatives? They have a

right to drinking water too. They are our relatives. We share this world with them. So why did

they say only humans? We’re not above these animals. We’re not above the trees. We’re not

above the plants. We’re here together. It is a life form and a life energy that has the right to

water. I don’t think there should be a definition called 'drinking water'. All water should be

drinkable, except the salt water. I don’t know why they have a definition for drinking water. Do

they want to make some water clean, and dirty some other water? Is that what they’re implying?

If that’s so, then I don’t agree with that definition. (Kookum Alita)

I don’t think that I would be so narrow in who is drinking this water, or using the water for any

purpose. I live with a dog, so she would also be drinking the water. Maybe it doesn’t need to be

differentiated– It doesn’t make sense to me. The intense pollution of the lakes that we live on, it's


mind blowing to me. These boats that are meant to be on oceans are out on these tiny lakes that

are actually very shallow. I just imagine gasoline, just being poured into the water. I don’t

understand –why would you differentiate water that I’m going to be swimming in, from water

that I’m going to be drinking? It doesn’t make sense, because I’m immersing my entire body in

the water and somehow, that doesn’t need to be as safe as the water that I’m going to be

drinking? (Linda)

For us, we look at the water as a sacred element that has a spirit. It’s a life source. Without clean

water, we’re not going to live for very long. We will be sick. A lot of people are becoming sicker

probably from drinking water, from bad water. A lot of people are getting cancer and all kinds of

illnesses. Of course, they don’t believe that. Even the food that we eat.... I don’t know what’s

safe to eat anymore. (Elder Shirley)

Water is life. It’s just not – it’s the blood of Mother Earth, you know the veins, those rivers…It's

very important that we have clean water, to have in the home, to drink, to bathe, to clean....we

need that, as you know. Human beings need that. When we do these ceremonies, when we pray,

we walk with that copper vessel...we pray for that water. We have that water in that vessel, we

carry it, and we pray. It could be through a song, or just in our mind. We give blessing to the

water usually in the four directions of that body of water. We don't only think of the water that’s

in that area. We pray for all the waters in the world. (Liz)

4

The Four Directions: From Commons to Commodity

4.1 Water Commodification

Through her definition of 'drinking water', Liz brought to our attention that the waters of

the world in all four directions need healing. Indeed, all waters, including the waters composing

our human bodies, need healing. Today, over 1.1. billion people do not have regular access to

fresh water. Over 2.5 billion lack access to sanitation services (Robinson, 2013: 21). The UN

estimates that by 2025, as many as 5.5 billion people, the two-thirds of the world's population,

will face water shortage (UNESCO, 2004). This estimate does not consider unpredictable natural

disasters, increased worldwide warfare, and environmental deregulation. Sylvia, who has been a

policy analyst for the Chiefs of Ontario, frames the SDWFNA globally by saying:

I know that this Act actually allows third parties to come in. So the Minister can delegate

responsibilities to – it could be a corporation, it could be some private business, so that they can

come in and deliver our services[...]So, it’s really about decentralization, deregulation. This Act

is very much in line with the economic development plan for Canada, right? Trying to make us

appealing to corporations to invest in our country...for example, like the Navigable Water

Protections Act, that infringes on constitutionally protected water rights. It’s not just a First


Nations issue. The Omnibus Bill is a package, and it’s really geared towards trying to make us

appealing to corporations to try to invest in us[...]The biggest impact is going to be on the

communities, and of course women, who are the caretakers. They’re the ones that will probably

be impacted more than men, just because they are mostly responsible in caring for the

families....we work more with the water on a regular basis, so it’s very important in our life.

(Sylvia P.)

As Sylvia mentioned, deregulation, privatization of public sector institutions, and an

emphasis on individual self-interest over the collective social good are only some of the

characteristics of the global, neoliberal framework in which the SDWFNA is situated (Robinson,

2013: 26). The SDWFNA states that the Governor in Council, may on the recommendation of

the Minister, "confer on any person or body any legislative, administrative, judicial or other

power that the Governor in Council considers necessary to effectively regulate drinking water

systems and waste water systems". Moreover, the Act states that "no civil proceeding may be

brought, no order made be made and no fine or monetary penalty may be imposed against Her

Majesty in right of Canada under the regulations". Paradoxically, as First Nations are responsible

for the administration of water on reserves, the Act punitively allows for the Settler Government

"to establish a system of administrative monetary penalties applicable to contraventions of

specified provisions of the regulations and set the amounts of those penalties".

This Act further contributes to 'the commodification of water' mindset, by legally

exempting the Crown from any communal responsibility to take care of water, while

simultaneously allowing for the possibility of the Governor in Council to delegate to any 'body'

the responsibility to 'regulate' water for First Nations, which may include corporations and non-

Indigenous peoples. The set of values engrained in the water commodification worldview, which

are now enshrined in the global chrematistics agenda, not only undermine Indigenous local

governance, but also the Crown's governance of the shared land and waters. This set of Western

cultural values which has allowed the degradation of water in favour of short-term monetary

gain, exerts its dominance over any other cultural values around the world, in which water is held

as a sacred commons that sustains the livelihood of all creation. Through water degradation,

neoliberalism in fact makes efforts to homogenize cultural values and ways of living, assimilate,

and annihilate diverse biological, group and individual memory.

To better clarify, while the commons view asserts water's unique qualities as a necessary

element to all other life, proponents of the 'commodity' view believe that water should be treated

as an economic good, like food sold in the markets, which is also essential to life (Bakker, 2007).

This perspective of water is specified in the Dublin Principles and in the Hague declaration. With

the rise of economic globalization in the 1970s, as the waters became more polluted through

fossil-fuel dependent or extractivist industries, the colonial commodification of water also

became more prevalent around the world. Private sector water delivery has been endorsed by the

world's neoliberal network of institutions as a way to manage water better than the governments'

collapsing infrastructures. In a Vanity Fair essay called "of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%,

economist and Noble Prize-winner Joseph Stiglitz has argued that this elite club doesn't want

governments to invest in public infrastructure. According to a 2012 report by Corporate

Accountability, a quarter of the World Bank's water funding goes directly to corporations and the

private sectors, bypassing governments (Barlow, 2013: 53). The global bottled-water market now


stands at more than US $126 billion in revenues. Understandably, there was an expressed distrust

amongst all my teachers towards the private sector and corporations in taking care of 'the waters',

within the current legal and institutional framework in which corporations seem to have more

rights than living, breathing persons. Corporations were often described as 'greedy', 'cancerous',

and never truly 'green' by many of them.

Moreover, many powerful forces have come together to prevent water from being

recognized as a human right by the UN General Assembly resolution, such as the World Water

Council and the World Bank. It is noteworthy to mention that this right to water should also

come with responsibilities and obligations, namely equity. However, it's interesting that the

countries that most strongly oppose merely the formal recognition of water as a human right are

Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. These countries

fully embrace the ongoing colonial, extractivist activities, masked as merely promoting an

interconnected network of 'democratic, open global trade'. They, along with their Western allies,

aggressively push to sustain Corporate America's water-polluting, petrodollar system, which also

originated in the early 1970s, after the infamous U.S.-Saudi Arabia deal. In fact, it was the

Canadian government under Harper that led the opposition to any formal recognition of the right

to water at the United Nations (Barlow, 2013: 27-28). To describe the increased pollution and the

commodification of water, Elder Shirley tells a story about when she was a child:

As a little girl, I would look at things that I could see at the bottom of the lake, when going

fishing with my father. I was naming those things, and you know what he [my father] said? You

know, maybe someday the waters will become very cloudy, meaning that the water is getting

dirty. He says maybe in your day, you’ll be buying water because there won’t be any clean water

left, since people are abusing the water. They’re just throwing things in water...even the motor

boats are going by here, the dam, sediments of oil. People just throw things in the water. And the

fish are going to be sick and die. We won’t be able to eat them anymore. That’s what he said

when I talked to him. I was really astonished when I was working in 1984 in St. Catharines. I

didn’t like the taste of the water. They are pouring too much chlorine, it just didn’t taste good. I

went to the grocery store and I thought “Oh, I think I will buy a case of water”. Then my father’s

voice came into my head and he said “See, you are going to be buying water to drink” and I

thought “How did he know this was going to happen someday?” And he knew. (Elder Shirley)

With regards to the strictly legal framework of the statement on the Act, one of my

teachers, Dorothy, said:

I don't really care for the part where the Crown can’t be held responsible, because they have a

fiduciary responsibility for Aboriginal people regardless. So, I don’t think they can just divorce

the responsibility like that. (Dorothy)

However, the interviewed teachers expressed great concerns over this deregulation and

the lack of liability of the Crown, especially considering the Settler Government's past and

current practices:

Oh that's a horrible Act. It does nothing. All it gives is the companies no liability when they

come in the community to deal with the water. Of course it's going to impact the communities


because it doesn't guarantee safe drinking water...right? It has no guarantee for that. And right

now, there are far too many Indigenous communities that don't have safe drinking water. And

you would think that this Bill would address that, but it doesn't. " (Sylvia McAdam)

It’s no secret that corporations have way more rights than any individual person does. We know

that. Like look at the oil sands. We know that the state is going to keep giving corporations free

reign. [...]That is a terrifying prospect. The idea that the Crown can do something, and then not

be held accountable for it....These kinds of legislations are really bad for us. Here’s a historical

example. It happened with the Williams Treaty. At the time that we complained back when our

lands had been settled without being ceded, the federal Crown had already delegated the

management of Crown lands to the province. Our nation kept saying “We haven’t signed our

treaty with you. You have no right to do any of this stuff”. The federal Crown and the provincial

Crown wound up fighting each other for some time over whose responsibility it was to negotiate

with the Indians. It took even longer and longer and longer. So these two tiers of Crowns that we

have to deal with are just another way of abdicating responsibility for any kind of legitimate

engagements with First Nations. (Linda)

The lawmakers and the citizens don’t understand that people are willing to die to make sure that

the water is safe. They don’t understand the sense of duty that we have in relationship to the

water...it’s life or death ,and really, water is life. You can't have anything else without water.

How could you have a society that would knowingly write laws that say that anything to do with

the ill health of the water is not something that they are to be held accountable? The Crown is the

one that’s supposed to be demonstrating how the society is going to be governed and how the

citizens are supposed to hold themselves. If the Crown is already saying “I’m not going to be

held accountable to that”, then why should the citizens be held accountable for their actions, their

behaviors, their wants, their needs and their treatment of water? It just makes me mad. (Amy)

The last couple of decades, I’ve seen the federal government download a lot of the

responsibilities on to either the provinces or the municipalities without any increases in transfers

of money. So each of these jurisdictions has had to learn how to do with less. A lot of times, this

stuff gets dropped off the table[...] That’s pretty much saying that the Feds won’t take any

responsibility. We could say that they don’t really have a lot of care for Indigenous women

already in ignoring numerous international calls to inquire about what’s happening to First

Nations women...that they are going missing and being murdered at such high rates. So I don’t

have any faith--I mean if the Crown can’t be brought to court or anything, then they just simply

don’t want to be responsible. They want the benefits but they don’t want any of the cost[...]They

are busy trying to make sure that we have nothing left to stand on... even the most recent

Contribution agreements ...they started putting conditions, and limiting our Chiefs and Councils'

ability to protest anything that might happen. It’s the same old starve-them-out approach that

they used when they killed all the buffalo. It’s coercion, in my opinion. (Becky)

That is unethical. To me, that is unethical. I don’t care what kind of umbrella you fall under...

government, municipalities, provincial, Joe Blow or Mrs. Jane down the street...we are all

responsible for this land and water. If we don’t start thinking like that, we’re not going to have

this beautiful Earth. We should not abdicate our responsibility to anybody to look after those

things. It’s all of our responsibility, however we choose to manifest that. For me, that’s through


ceremony, teaching, and talking about the sacredness of life, and the sacredness of the woman as

the water carrier....the sacredness of human beings and other relatives that carry those birth

waters. The Water Walkers do it in their own way, the scientists do it in their way, the

environmentalists do it in their way. The key is to have meaningful communication, some truth

telling, and some reconciliation in the process for the benefit of the land, the water, the air..... So

that our children and our great-great-great-great grandchildren will have a real life. Not just

mine, but yours, and the children of the people in Syria, Japan, and wherever they live on Mother

Earth. A real life... not surviving in a harsh environment of pollution, garbage and death...death

and destruction. That’s not what we’re put here for. (Kookum Alita)

I think it’s too narrow minded in the way that it's written. The Act should be inclusive and

consultations should occur with First Nations. Those decisions should again be in a common

way. Certainly, we should be consulted in terms of how business is conducted for drinking water

and waste water treatment. I don’t feel like the penalties should be imposed. I think we should

have our rightful place at the table and discussion ability to talk about things. It seems like the

Governor in Council giving power to any person, to corporations and non-Indigenous

people...it’s sounding very patriotic to certain groups and corporations, and not necessarily

considering our place in this [...] Let's face it. We have mining activities. We have quarrying

activities. We have building of highways and other condo developments happening on the water.

So naturally yes, First Nations should have a voice in all places. Unfortunately when those

developments do occur, big companies tend to have their legal keys, where it disadvantages First

Nations because we don’t necessarily have the resources to hire big corporate lawyers or people

to speak on our behalf. These companies tend to have the millions of dollars to buy off the

government officials, to push legislation, and push their wants and needs. So already, we have a

losing battle, and I think it’s a little unbalanced, in my opinion. You know, the impact of

development that’s going on around us is very serious...not to mention the archaeology finds that

occur, which is a whole other issue, and which is something near and dear to our culture. So, it

becomes compounded with issues. It isn’t just about water. It’s about the natural resources

around logging companies. It’s about mining activities that occur, and impact the water, the plant

life, the animal life.... it impacts our cultures in a huge way. (Chief Williams)

4.2 The Commodification of Women

As Sylvia P. mentioned, however, this kind of deregulation and lack of liability legislated

in the Act will mostly impact women. Women's lives, like water, are not treated as inherently

valuable in Settler Canada's current institutional culture. Their value is rather derived from the

utilitarian, market value; mere numbers that are subjectively determined by the profiting elite.

This kind of market logic aims to suppress or annihilate the intergenerational memories that

women carry within them--the same memories which can be encompassed by water. Seager

argues that woman are often the first to become aware that something is wrong (as cited in

Mellor, 1997: 24):

Women worldwide, are often the first to notice environmental degradation. Women are

the first to notice when the water they cook with and bathe the children in smells


peculiar: they are the first to know when the supply of water starts to dry up. Women are

the first to know when the children come home with stories of mysterious barrels dumped

in the creek: they are the first to know when children develop mysterious ailments.

Around the world, women are most often the collectors, users and managers of water in

households as well as the farmers of irrigated crops, despite the fact that their economic activities

are also the most exploited by the gendered, neoliberal colonialism (UNESCO, 2004;

Hawkesworth, 2006). However, there is no monolithic neoliberalism, as its dynamics manifest in

various, sometimes contradictory forms, in relation to different individuals, nations and non-state

actors. Although neoliberalism exacerbates various forms of violence towards women through

the same dynamics, culturally specific manifestations of such violence must be analysed to

understand its disproportionate impacts on Indigenous women in the world (UNESCO, 2006).

During our interview, Georgie explains the intimate relationship between women and

water:

They [Indigenous women] should be at the forefront during consultations. The regular everyday

woman who’s caring for her family, she’s cooking with the water. She’s washing dishes. She’s

washing clothes. It’s the woman who works with the water. Because our lives are centred around

that so much, we know that water intimately, because it impacts our health. It impacts our

children’s health, and our family’s health. During one of the water ceremonies, someone said

that women carry birth water, which is one of the four waters --she named fresh water, salt water,

birth water and sky or rain water. Because we’re the carriers of that sacred water, that makes us

responsible, because when the water is inside a woman, she’s responsible. She’s caring for that

child within her. And I guess in much the same way, you know, we still are responsible to ensure

the health of that water, and of that child. So, in my opinion, the Indigenous woman is more

intimately knowledgeable and familiar with water in that sense. Non-Indigenous women aren't

that far removed from that responsibility too, because they do much of the same thing as a Native

woman. They just don’t think of it that way, you know? (Georgie)

On Turtle Island, in particular, when First Nations women, as life-givers, speak for the

water, they are at the same time resisting the genocide of their people (McGregor, 2009:37). As

previously discussed, the health of water goes beyond the private sphere, and it is indispensable

to the survival of Indigenous nations. Water contamination, as further embraced by the

deregulation of the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act, negatively affects whole

ecosystems, leading to the contamination and even to the extinction of many species, including

plants, fish, animals, etc. This is an assault on Indigenous women's traditional roles, as given by

the Creator, to give life, as well as carry their cultural and scientific knowledge onto the next

generations. Indigenous peoples who rely on traditional diets and subsistence lifestyles are at

particular high risks of illnesses and deaths from contaminant exposures. Moreover, the ongoing

racist colonial relations, the loss of spiritual and traditional values associated with activities such

as community hunting and fishing, as well as an imposed market-based Western diet--a diet

exacerbated by various socio-economic factors--contribute to deteriorating physical, emotional

and mental health, which includes high rates of suicide amongst many Indigenous communities

(Droitsch & Simierich, 2010; Chan, 2005).


For example, prior to the further deregulations legalized by the SDWFNA, Indigenous

women and their communities who live by the Great Lakes were already exposed to millions of

kilograms of pesticides every year, including known endocrine disruptors, carcinogens, and

reproductive toxins that leach into the groundwater, often at levels exceeding health risk limit

(Chan, 2005). Prior to this Act's ambiguity on the infringement of Indigenous treaty rights,

Indigenous communities already shared the burden of the majority of Settler Canada's resource

based industry, such as mining, pulp and paper, forestry, hydroelectric projects, and incinerator

facilities. Heavy metals, PCBs, mercury, dioxin, polychlorophenol are only some of the toxins

released from such activities, which poison the waters. Due to the high exposure of contaminants

in the last sixty years, primary health concerns for First Nations include neurological

development, immune function, diabetes, anemia, kidney, bone function and reproduction.

Drastically increasing rates of cancer are also problematic. In fact, cancer is First Nations' current

leading cause of death, after circulatory diseases, injury and poisoning. (Chan, 2005). Due to

physiological differences, there is substantial empirical evidence that these chemical exposures

and hazardous industrial wastes in fact have a greater impact on Indigenous women's health and

their children than Indigenous men (Assembly of First Nations Environmental Stewardship Unit,

2009).

Exposure to some toxic substances, including lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium,

pesticides, flushed down pharmaceutical drugs, etc., can increase the risk of miscarriage, preterm

birth, and other pregnancy complications in women (Ogbuinya, 2013). Increased toxins in the

water may even be caused by activities that may not be immediately intuitive. For example, clear

cut forestry may lead to increased mercury in water due to soil erosion, amongst other dangerous

interruptions to the hydrological cycle that result from tree cutting. These contaminants can also

harm the developing bodies of fetuses and infants, since they are inter-generationally transferred

through the placenta and breast feeding. They may lead to babies' immune dysfunctions,

neurological issues, low birth weights and smaller head circumferences (Kafarowski, 2003).

Moreover, studies have shown that females are more affected than males by environmental

contaminants like high levels of manganese in water and PCBs in terms of IQ or deficits in

specific subjects like reading word comprehension. This is simply due to their physiological

differences, and not 'differing social responsibilities' (Mergler, 2012). A number of studies show

the relationship between toxins such as PCB exposure and breast cancer or uterine cancer,

making these toxins another violation against women's bodies and women's reproductive rights

as well (Chan, 2005).

When speaking about the deregulation and lack of liability legislated in the SDWFNA,

Elaina said:

I feel that it’s very much environmental racism. There is no need for five industrial plants around

Indigenous communities, right? Look at Chemical Valley, the Aamjiwnaang First Nation...they

are being affected by contaminants in their water. Our life source, our life blood was that Saint

Lawrence River....now we have no access to the food that comes out of there, to the water that

comes out of there. But I feel that the Government knows what they are doing. I feel that they

know the effects of taking land, water and food sources away from Indigenous people, knowing

that they depend on that stuff. The mindset needs to change. I have to sacrifice...my people have

to sacrifice our health and our livelihoods, for Canada and for the U.S., and for their societies to


succeed. So we are sacrificing our health, our people, our land, our water, our food and the

natural ecosystems. I think that the Government needs to wake up[...] If there are chemicals in

that water, there are chemicals in my body. What I think is about how that affects my ability to

carry the next generation. So my ability to carry my own children...my own babies... how that’s

going to affect them growing up mentally...in their development stages. As a woman, I

understand that in order for me to honour that sacred gift that I have to bring children into this

world, I have to have a healthy and clean environment inside my womb, right? I have to have a

healthy, clean environment inside my body and it’s not there in my generation. You know, my

grandmother who’s 78 years old and spent her entire life by that river...she was healthy....She

didn’t have any worries for the environment in her generation. But I have to worry about all of

these things. Even to think about whether I can have children or not....that’s disheartening. It

kind of hurts me in a way, because why do I have to sacrifice, or be limited, or give up my right

as a woman to be able to bring children into this world, only because of the contaminants in

water? (Elaina)

Well, it’s going to have a high impact, not just for Indian women, but white women also. All

people that are living on this Earth are going to be affected somehow. I know I come from

Wikwemikong reserve, and there were trucks that were sneaking in when people were not

watching. It is the kids that came and told us that there was a truck early in the morning that was

there pouring some things in the water. So they began to really take care of who’s coming into

the reserve and who’s coming out. Now, there’s a policy that any trucks that are coming in have

to identify themselves. (Elder Shirley)

Elder Shirley also shared a story about a First Nation community that shall remain

unnamed.

Because I’m a translator, I know a lot of things that are going on in First Nations communities.

So, the Elders there were finding fish that were surfacing up on top of the water dead. They

noticed that further up the lake, there were no birds. Anything that was alive there, they weren't

even drinking. The Elders got scared and wanted to find out. So they notified the Indian Affairs

to come and test the water. The Indian government came to check our water four times, and each

time, they said it was safe to drink. The Elders didn’t trust them, so they did this –they put a

young guy through school. They made a deal with him, that if they paid his tuition and get him

through school, that he has to come back for at least three years to work with the First Nation

community. And so they did that. When he came back, he went with the Elders. The Elders took

him where they were seeing things, and he tested the water. What he found out was that the

water was acid water. This Indian man that was speaking in the language, he used the word that

is translated as 'burning water'. Up that river, there was a mine that was there. They just left,

without the Government ever cleaning that mine. This was maybe about three or four years ago.

That’s where the acid was coming from. I don’t know what has happened after, because they

have cut the funds, so we are no longer translating." (Elder Shirley)

All of these legislations were written by corporations. It wasn’t written by a meaningful bunch of

Canadians, but by people who stand to financially benefit. Then those poor people that actually

live in the polluted waters and feed their families from those polluted animals that are drinking

that water, you know...we are the ones who suffer, and then nobody is accountable. Nobody is


held accountable and people will end up sick. I’ve started meeting with a group of activists

called “Scientists for the Right to Know”. They're Canadian scientists who are trying to raise

awareness about the muzzling the Government has done on Canadian scientists...not just while

they are working for Canada, but also after they leave, they can’t talk about the actual truth. I’ve

just connected with somebody through the group, who is doing a body mapping project down at

Walpole Island. That's where chemical valley is in Ontario. She's not getting funding from the

Government, so she can speak the truth. I’m trying to help get her connected with other First

Nations like Grassy Narrows First Nation, whose people have been poisoned by the water

contaminants, and other people at Walpole Island...people that used to paddle on the water for

their livelihood, and they can no longer do so... they’re sick, some – you know, from the fish that

they consume. (Tori)

Because Indigenous peoples all over the world have a lot of knowledge...tremendous

understandings about medicines from plants...There’s tremendous knowledge that is being wiped

out. It's not only the plants that are being wiped out, but also the people who have the knowledge

of it are being wiped out. And this is a crime against nature, not just humanity...against life - this

is a crime against life. Let’s get real straight: this is a crime against the Creator. I truly believe

that. Every time we dirty the water, same thing...it's a crime against the Creator, and it's going

against Creation’s laws. And we’re doomed if we keep doing that. People don’t seem to

understand that we are doomed as a species. The Earth will still be here. The Earth will clean

herself up, but we won’t be here if we keep going in this route. (Kookum Alita)

4.3 Investor State Agreements: 'Dammed' If You Regulate, 'Dammed' If You Don't

Regulate?

All my Indigenous teachers were asked about possible solutions to current investor state

agreements, which may appear to have put the Settler government in a gridlock, in terms of any

kind of water regulation in the future that is needed to address the issues discussed around the

Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act. There are no easy answers. Investor state agreements

first appeared in the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Such investment

treaties give foreign corporations the right to directly sue the government of another country, if

any non-tariff barriers such as environmental laws are thought to be 'excessive', 'hinder trade' and

affect their 'right to profit' in the future. Now, there are almost three thousand bilateral deals

between governments, most of them giving corporations extraordinary rights and access to the

commons (Barlow, 2013: 214).

Linda remarked:

Well, isn’t it interesting that corporations have the right to sue the Crown for loss of profits, but

Indigenous people don’t have the right to sue the Crown for like, loss of life? That’s a scary

world that we live in. (Linda)

As another possible solution, corporations can also be directly sued by people for loss of

life, and the degradation of water, if corporations choose to engage in irresponsible or genocidal

practices. However, if this path is to be taken, the Crown also needs to ensure a fair trial, by


supporting the people whom it claims to serve, through corporate taxes, and distributive means to

address the power imbalances and wealth inequities.

In line with some other Indigenous teachers, Sylvia noted that Indigenous nations have

already been successful in solving 'the investor state agreement' problem with some corporations:

I’m not saying that I don’t support economic development. Everybody has to feed their family...

they have to live a good, normal life, right? But I think the way that they are doing things is just

not a good way. It’s not inclusive, it’s not friendly, it’s not sustainable. There are some

companies who have divested, and they’re hopefully going home and kind of restructuring their

plan...by wanting to kind of meet us halfway to be 'okay', because I think it costs companies

more money to fight us. (Sylvia P.)

Some teachers found investor state agreements plainly nonsensical. Kookum Alita said:

These people are not foreigners, they’re human beings. We all live in this world together. Why

would you want to sue a relative, because they want to protect the water? It doesn’t make any

sense. It is nonsensical. How can you own water? You can’t own water. It’s like saying, you’re

going to own the air. I don’t believe people can own Earth either, you know. It’s an illusion.

What? They’re going to take that with them, when they lay down their body and die? Come on

now[...] There are too many people in the world standing up for it. You just have to look around,

and look for the real news to know that every Indigenous nation in this world stands up for the

land, water, and air. Every single one of them. And they will lay down their lives for it. (Kookum

Alita)

When asked about investor state agreements, Dorothy had a healing message for

everyone to start making changes from within:

All we can do is start at home, as an individual... and work with your own family. The Elders

say that if you want to make changes, don’t think outside of yourself...start at home and with

your own self first. That’s how you make changes a little bit at a time. Don’t be afraid of the

future... always have hope that change can happen and also, give thanks for that water all the

time. (Dorothy)

Some teachers also shared their stories at a global level, as they were referring to the

'Eagle and the Condor' prophecy. The Eagle from the North and the Condor from the South has

varying interpretations to depict unity and a time of transformative change for humanity. In this

case, it was used by my teachers to refer to the Indigenous peoples in 'North America' coming

together in unity with the Indigenous peoples in 'South America'.

Tori spoke of this empowerment through unity, when she talked about the Idle No More

newsletter:

There are so many grassroots, women, men and Elders out in the frontlines, raising awareness,

protecting lands, protecting the waters. They don’t get really good media coverage. We have the

right to mainstream media under article 16 of the UN declaration for Indigenous people. We are


not getting that, so we have to tell people that it’s okay for you to share your stories. We’ve got

to start supporting each other more openly, so we can share each other’s news. From North

America to South America, we are all fighting against the same effects of colonization. We are

all fighting to protect the land. The sooner we get united, we’ll be more empowered. When I see

my brothers from Colombia, and they’re protecting the land, throwing rocks at the militarized

police who have automatic weapons firing on them....and they are dying... you know that’s

coming for us with Bill C-51. It’s going to happen--we are going to be on the front line. We are

not terrorists. We are just people trying to protect the land and waters for the next generations to

come. We’ve got to think in longer terms. We can’t think in that consumerist mind set, and be

under that spell that makes people not realize, you know? The food that’s on their fork, people

don't know where it even comes from...they're very disconnected. (Tori)

I’m very, very much against the privatization of water and access to water by corporations. It’s

the worst possible thing...the poorest people are pretty much water starved under a regime like

that. There’s no control, once it’s given by the government...there’s no control on that. I could

see that it’s happening to a great degree in South America and those people are related to us. We

can see that they’re suffering and it’s so wrong. (Becky)

Amy also described in detail her volunteer sanitation trip in Bolivia, where she did

community-based fundraising to be able to purchase a plane ticket, to accompany her friend. She

had learned about the Cochabamba Water Wars in year 2000, when Bolivians defeated the

World Bank's plan for privatizing Bolivia's drinking water and sewage services. Four days of

massive public uprising erupted, despite the Bolivian government’s implementation of martial

law, numerous injuries, arrests and civilians deaths. In 2003, Bolivian protesters again fought

and rejected the government's plan to export natural gas to Mexico and the U.S. via a Chilean

port. In both cases, the citizens rejected the commodification, the privatization, and control by

foreign entities of what were widely perceived as 'the commons' (Perreault, 2006).

Prior to going to Cochabamba, Amy had medicine water from a full moon ceremony. Full

moon ceremonies are held for women, to honour their connection to Grandmother moon and

water. Amy took the medicine water in a copper vessel, and offered people in Toronto who were

helping with the fundraising to send their prayers in the water. When the water was shared with

the Elders, they said that the water with all the prayers was vibrating and very powerful. Amy

then took the water with the people's blessings in the 100 ml containers which were permitted at

the airport. Amy describes her trip, where she connected with the Quechua people through water:

Coca Cola was a big presence in the city, and even when we travelled out to the community way,

way high in the mountains, they were using Coca Cola as their celebration drink. And my friend

was saying "Yeah, it’s what they buy to drink around here, because water is so expensive. It’s

cheaper to buy Coke than it is to buy water". Because Coke was cheaper, the people's hygiene,

dental health and health were not good – their body in general was suffering too, because of

water scarcity. The people would speak Quechua but their spirituality was around Catholicism...

or Evangelical. It was totally different than a natural law-based spirituality and I was like--Wow,

those nuns were really dedicated in their work to spread the word so far in the mountains. We did

a ceremony there one day, and on the way up, we saw a condor. But we did a water ceremony

down there, and they were so happy. They knew how to do ceremony...they knew what to do


with the smudge and you know, when I sent water around, they would cross themselves with the

water. I said "You do whatever you do to honour the water”, and so at the end, they’re like "Oh,

this is medicine". You could give it to the Earth, but they decided to put in their rain reservoir.

They have a water keeper, so I handed it to the water keeper. It was really powerful because of

this neat exchange, and I sang the water song for them. They graciously accepted the ceremony,

and offered us food...they were trying to give me all kinds of beans to bring back to my family,

so it’s really sweet...very generous, very gentle people. (Amy)

Interestingly, Tori also pointed to the fact that "Bolivia has given rights to Mother Earth".

In fact, the Bolivia case was mentioned by quite a few of my teachers during our discussions.

Bolivia's new constitution in 2009 calls Bolivia a plurinational state, recognizes the rights of

Indigenous peoples, the waters, and the Earth, as well as nationalizes oil companies

(constituteproject.org, 2009). While the constitution's implementation in practice is still unclear

and contingent on political will, it is perceived by many of my Indigenous teachers as being at

least a step towards the right direction, contrary to Settler Canada's current legislations, such as

the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act.

In response to the 'investor state agreement' problem, the common consensus, however,

can be summarized by Sylvia McAdams's reply, when I asked her the same question:

I think I would encourage Settler allies to support Indigenous sovereignty and treaties. Because if

we talk nation-to-nation, this is what we're talking about...it's the treaties. And in the treaties, it's

the power and jurisdiction of Indigenous women. (Sylvia M.)

The general consensus by my teachers was that the recognition and support of Indigenous

sovereignty and treaties can help resolve Settler Canada's gridlock of 'investor state agreement' ;

agreements that weren't initially signed or agreed upon by sovereign, Indigenous nations.

Through the recognition of Indigenous peoples' inherent rights as sovereign nations and

Indigenous women as the water carriers, Settler Canada can thus begin to address in truth the

underlying colonial racism that is currently reflected in the shaky and unstable structure of its

Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act.

5

Defining the Crown's Role in Indigenous Water Governance

5.1 Reconciling Settler Canada's Stories

After the discussions held with all my teachers, it became evident that the Safe Drinking

Water for First Nations Act was far from recognizing Indigenous sovereignty or respecting the

traditional role of Indigenous women as the water carriers. Such recognition is inseparable from

having respect for Indigenous worldviews and cultural identities embedded in the waters'


intergenerational memory. Instead, it is clear that the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act

is a top-down, neoliberal legislation, in which Settler Canada's federal government has the power

to govern water and wastewater for First Nations, and can regulate how much of this power is

granted to third parties. The Darwinian scientific view of 'commodified water' and 'commodified

woman' permeates throughout its colonial regulations. The Act fails to consult or even

acknowledge Indigenous science in taking care of the waters. Moreover, according to the

legislation, the Crown may penalize First Nations communities for not following through their

imposed 'colonial scientific' administrative requirements set by the Governor in Council, such as

the monitoring, sampling and testing drinking water. This is despite the fact that First Nations

have already been set up for failure in various aspects.

All my Indigenous teachers were asked on whether they believed that Indigenous

communities should govern their own water locally. They responded affirmatively, though they

did see various potential challenges with Indigenous local governance due to a long history of

colonial injustices. Some of these challenges would legally and morally require the Crown to

take responsibility. The Settler Government needs to drastically shift away from its current

mindset which deems Indigenous knowledge and policymaking as inferior. In other words, the

Settler Government needs to reconcile its own water stories in truth by producing a Water Act

for First Nations that aims to regulate Settler Canada's current colonial, self-destructive practices,

rather than aiming to 'regulate' self-determining First Nations.

Even if Aboriginal Affairs were to disappear, I think that it’s a matter of restoring balance,

because First Nations were told that they are not good enough. They were broken down to

believe that they’re not as good as their European counterparts. A lot of times, spirits were

broken, so that they disbelieve in their natural ways of being, in their natural ties to tradition, in

the land and in the language. I think the only way to repair that is through some

acknowledgement of that process of breaking them down, and some accountability...taking

responsibility, and making reparations in saying "We were wrong. We were totally wrong, and

can’t even fathom what our approaches did to you.... and if we could help you in any way…".

Because I mean, it’s a long engrained process of belief that you are not worthy. That's what

people are dealing with in the communities...trying to restore that confidence and healing.

Healing is so individual...even First Nations as communities are at different places in terms of

healing. I mean, many people don’t even trust the traditions anymore. People didn’t even trust

these ideals that the water has spirit, because they would just rely on what the neighbours are

doing in the next municipality. There are standards, regulations that they have to adhere to. So

even if they wanted to do stuff like gray water catchment systems and reuse rain water, they

wouldn’t be able to do that, because the Government has put so many regulations on them, that

they have to do what everybody else does[...]Communities know what they need and they’re

creative. They can be creative in how they implement it. But because they are so regulated, and

the Government is so tight with the strings, and with all the reporting...if it doesn’t line up to

their requirements, then First Nations are penalized. The Government is saying "Oh you didn’t

use this money in the same way that it was meant to be when it was allocated. We are not going

to give you more money, or we are going to put you in third party management because you

mismanaged it". So, the flexibility isn’t there for communities to respond organically to their

own problems. (Amy)


Elder Shirley also speaks about the process of decolonization when asked whether

Indigenous peoples should locally govern the water:

We'd do a better job at it. We'd include the spiritual value, and we'd be careful in looking after

the water. We need our own people to be water testers. We need our own people to monitor the

water regulations. We need programs for our First Nations, so that they learn these things. But

we also need the allies, in order to work this out together. We need to educate our own people

too, because we’ve been so colonized, that some will just throw plastic things into the lake when

they go fishing. We have to begin with the children by teaching them how to take care of the

water, how to not waste the water. I know little kids have these water guns. We were always told

not to waste water or make fun of it, because it will come back to you. When it comes back to

you, it will come in ten-fold. I mean yes, if it’s hot and things like that, it’s nice to have a cool

spray of water. There should be places where children can go, if they need water to be sprayed

on themselves. But you don’t have to waste it. (Elder Shirley)

The continuous challenge of the colonial mindset is still upon us. First of all, we still have to

work hard to decolonize ourselves, and to educate the rest of the world about the very essence of

who we are....the beautiful, natural science and healing qualities that we have within our

communities....the governing qualities, educational qualities. The very languages that we hold...

they come from the land, they speak about the land. Everything is about the land, when you look

at the language. I’m not a language speaker, but I know that. I know that because I can

understand Cree. And the way in which they talk, it’s like they’re talking about all of us, and the

land...everything comes from the land. I think that we need to continue doing what we’re doing,

so that there is some level of real understanding about that. We’re not a group of people that

needs to be wards of the state. We are fully functioning, intelligent people at all levels, whether it

be scientific, spiritual, medical, technological, ecological, environmental...you name it. We have

the knowledge. (Kookum Alita)

5.2 A Position of Restitution

The reconciliation of Settler Canada's stories has to be accompanied by meaningful

actions or as Amy said, reparation. In addition to legal duties, all of my teachers believe that it is

the Crown's role to commit itself to adequate funding on a Water Act for First Nations, starting

from a position of restitution. Funding is needed to build the infrastructure that the communities

need to address their immediate health concerns related to water, as well as to help build the

community's capacity that has been eroded over time from Settler Canada's colonial, assimilative

practices towards Indigenous peoples. Moreover, funding is required to clean up the current

contaminated waters that are impacting the health of Indigenous women and their nations.

Although the privatization of waters, as in the case of investor-state-agreements, was

unacceptable to all the teachers, private sector participation was not necessarily out of the

picture, if it would help clean up the contaminated waters and deliver services in a sustainable

way. This private sector involvement would need to be monetarily supported by Settler Canada,

as previously discussed. Nevertheless, such private sector participation would need to be also


governed by Indigenous nations, which would include the participatory involvement of the larger

community.

If you are going to make a mess....if you are going to put contaminants in our land and waters,

that’s our job to clean it up? If you think about the historical context– in Europe, there were no

resources so they came to North America and took all the resources. They left one place, they go

here, they go there, they make these big old messes...they take all the resources and then they

leave. Is it the job of the Indigenous people to clean it up and re-fix it and recreate – try to

recreate an ecosystem that is never going to be the same? But it’s really a tricky question,

because if we leave all the power to corporations or to the private sectors, nothing is going to

change. There’s a very important need for Indigenous people to be incorporated in all decision

making processes within Canada, on a nation-to-nation basis. (Elaina)

When asked about the role of corporations and the private sector that is regulated (or de-

regulated) by the Government, Georgie responds:

If they have polluted the waters, they have the responsibility to also clean it. (Georgie)

Dorothy emphasizes the need for the private sector to be governed and not for it to

govern the waters and subsequently, the people.

Privatization of water would be dangerous. It has to be the government, because the government

in theory represents the people. Corporations are individuals under the law. But when I was

Curve Lake Community Health Representative, I set up a recycling program for our village. So,

we signed a contract with the municipality...we have a contract with the municipality that comes

in and gets our recycling. We can use them as contractors, for sure. (Dorothy)

The number of people without water that they could drink is still too high. The maintenance of

the plants that they do build is often underfunded, and then the people who work in these places

are undertrained. So these systemic problems are still there...I think the Government needs to

commit more to that[...]It’s their responsibility in particular, when they instituted the Indian Act

and the reserve system... and stuck us in one place, which is contrary to how we lived before.

(Becky)

What the Government is doing, is that they just go into the communities. They just impose it and

then, it’s just take it or leave it. But if they actually came in and they’re genuinely consulting

with the communities and really – because a lot of communities have their own environmental

policies...they have their own laws, they have their own declarations, you know? They might not

be fully ready, but at least they are making some sort of progress. So, seeing some sort of

genuine dialogue would help things. Until then, it’s just always going to be the same, like over

and over and over and over again[...]I think that there would be a problem in terms of

communities, if they were to govern themselves and water, since they have a lack of funds for

infrastructure and for training. But we never needed that before, right? We have to clean our

water and we have to regulate it, because of all the industries, because of all the pollution....So

things are different. I would like to see this Bill have more concentration in northern

communities, which are very remote and don’t have access to the services that we do in the


south[...]. Our communities obviously are in more danger than the municipalities but – because

the municipalities are delivering some services for kind of urban reserves, you got to invest in

them too, right? It’s a Canadian problem. You think when the Government wanted to build the

economy, they’re like “Okay, and this is what we need, like shipping, railroads”. Get all these –

everything you need, the core pieces to be able to make this thing function. Why can’t we do that

with water infrastructure? Why is that such a huge challenge? Just pay the money, build it, do it

right.(Sylvia P.)

Liz also pointed to the fact that water infrastructure and delivery has economic costs:

Where I live right now, I have to pay for water in my home . They installed water meters, so now

I have to pay by-monthly, give or take anywhere from $150 to $200 for water. I do my laundry at

a certain time, I’m trying to cut down on the water that I use in my home... and I buy my

drinking water because I'm used to using distilled or spring water. And I know back home, on

Manitoulin Island...I remember as a little girl, that we could just go across the road and we had

well water. I remember getting that water, you know? Not from bottles or anything like that.

But I know it’s not safe anymore to just drink from anywhere. (Liz)

It's understandable that some economic costs are necessary to support infrastructure

maintenance and other capital expenditures for water delivery, while providing 'incentives' for

more efficient uses of water to the general population (see Bakker, 2010). However, the Settler

government should consider once again its position of restitution towards Indigenous peoples,

and the socio-economic factors that have resulted from the ongoing colonial relations. These

'water costs' may be an unfair burden on certain groups more than others. Different forms of

subsidies must be considered in meaningful consultations with First Nations communities,

whether they live on the reserves or not.

5.3. Meaningful Consultation

The general consensus amongst my teachers was that through a genuine position of

restitution , Settler Canada can have an equitable Water Act, which legally and morally requires

participatory, meaningful consultation with Indigenous nations. Through participatory

consultations, an alternative to the current Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act would have

included investments in building culturally-appropriate infrastructure and community capacity

for Indigenous nations. Moreover, the knowledge of Indigenous women, who uphold their

tradition as the carriers of water, would be acknowledged and respected in such an Act.

Because we [women] are the keepers of the water, we have a rightful place in the role of keeping

quality water for our people, and let’s not forget, for the animals and the plant life. We have a

place to be heard, and to say those things that need to be said as reminders of what once was. So

as an Indigenous woman, I think it’s our place to have a voice at the table. [...] But I also think

it’s beyond just a woman's role now, because the quality of water has deteriorated. In Curve

Lake, for example, we are surrounded by water, since it's a peninsula. We are very congested in

houses and business development. We’re very in tune with water, but we’re at a point now where

we have too many water advisory calls, and doing all the work that goes with it. But we are also


in desperate need of a water treatment plan, so that we can have that quality water. This First

Nations' Water Act would centrally have some implications to having that safe drinking

water...the Governor in Council, as an example, has a say in everything alongside with

corporations. It’s problematic for us to have that voice and have that common understanding of

why we do need this clean water[...]I think the Government needs to take a few steps backwards

and start to have some meaningful dialogue and to have a common understanding of where our

First Nations are coming from.... to understand the role of the woman, to understand the

teachings. We can talk about the surrounding lakes around us. They’re veins... as in rivers and

streams. We need to be concerned about those areas as well. We need to take a serious look at

development. We need to make some measures in terms of how much can this country take...

how much destruction is taking place and what are the impacts of that destruction, and that

development...what impacts are they making all around us.(Chief Williams)

We have the right to make these decisions for ourselves. We don’t need Government legislation

and policies that they have decided for us, and in which we have no say. That kind of stuff needs

to stop. We have the right, you know? I was never consulted. I live on a reserve, I’m from a

reserve. I was never consulted. What kind of consultation process are they talking about? There

is no meaningful consultation. People were protesting these bills. If it wasn’t for social media, I

wouldn’t know about these legislative policies that would happen. (Tori)

I think they [the Settler society] could learn quite a bit about not only us, but about the

sacredness of this land, the sacredness of this water, and the sacredness of everything on this

land, including themselves...if they were to stop and to listen to the knowledges that we have for

thousands of years, since the beginning of time. We had environmentally safe ways of doing

things before colonization. (Kookum Alita)

5.4 Community Involvement and Capacity-Building

For equitable water stories, it is important that the responsibilities to monitor, sample and

test the water do not remain confined to the Governor-in-Council and his or her delegated elite.

Some of my teachers described various inclusive ways in how the community can be involved

throughout consultations and capacity-building.

You know, our Elders and ancestors may not have had that certificate of education in the modern

world, but they certainly knew their teachings about the Earth...about the environment. They

passed those teachings on, so it’s something that is instilled in our culture. I would start by

consulting with a group of Elders, who know about the environment and know about all aspects

like agriculture, care of animals and plant life. It would be a better start than the scientific start.

You need to have that inclusion. Just an example...many of our Elders were saying that it was the

wrong thing to have done the Trent Severn waterway system. They knew for various reasons,

because they watched the plant life, because they watched the fish and the turtles and all of the

beings in the water... they know it first-hand. So there again, had they consulted before they went

to such extreme measures...and now we sometimes suffer the consequences of flooded lands and

the kill of the smaller fish and turtles. We lost a lot of land. We have seen that over the years, and

that is the impact that causes the imbalance. (Chief Williams)


This past winter, I went to a water workshop and it was just interested people who came together

to look at what was in our water. A technician came in, she went to a creek and she brought in a

pail of water. Anything that she scooped up in the creek water...we all looked at– none of us

were technicians, just regular people... and we got it under a microscope and we looked at what

was in it. That was really eye opening because things that were in the water determine the health

of the water. If you bring that just to normal people who aren’t trained in that, and make them

part of that knowledge, then people take responsibility once informed. (Georgie)

In Bolivia, they had water keepers who had to monitor and regulate who would be able to access

the water in the rain bins. Their responsibilities were to monitor how much water was being used

and what it was being used for. I think that there are lots of ways that community can take on

those roles, because if they are going to be using it, then they are the ones that are willing to be

able to see where it’s going and what’s happening with it. (Amy)

In regards to how this Act can incorporate the role of Indigenous women in taking care of

the waters, Sylvia says:

There’s the First Nations' technical services that deliver water and waste water services in the

communities. They provide training, but there’s a lack of women that are actually in those roles.

And I remember Josephine Mandamin saying one time that there should be more women in those

roles. It makes sense because they have that understanding...they would probably care for the

water in a better way. (Sylvia P.)

What we are doing in Curve Lake...we are having so much trouble with our pump house. On a

monthly basis, we are going to be doing water ceremonies for the water, giving thanks to that

water, because that changes the molecular value of the water. That will be part of the water

monitoring. We could have Indigenous symbolism, Indigenous songs and Indigenous prayers

regularly included to monitor the waters. (Dorothy)

When asked about how can the traditional role of Indigenous women be incorporated in

this Act, Elder Shirley also said:

It’s like a ceremony...but because of religions, they don’t believe it, and they’re not going to

believe us. In religions, there are prophesies in there to use water for baptizing. They sing about

water also, in hymns and things like that. They just sing it, and it doesn’t have any meaning to

them at all, or else we’d do it. For Anishinaabeg, when they do a ceremony , it’s very sacred.

This is all what the Water Walks are about... they are trying to bring awareness to the people –

how we should look differently at the water. (Elder Shirley).


6

Indigenous Women: Healing the Waters

6.1 Decolonizing Science in the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act

I know from when the Chiefs of Ontario were trying to respond to the Safe Drinking Water for

First Nations Act, we really promoted the inclusion of Indigenous knowledge and Indigenous

science. I think it was just in general, because you realize, we’re still making progress in terms of

trying to even bridge the gap between our misunderstandings of Indigenous and Western science.

We're not really trying to fully promote the way that we do things, but at least an

acknowledgement and a commitment to even just understanding, putting funding towards, and

having meetings and conferences in trying to understand what are the barriers and

misunderstandings between the two sciences. (Sylvia)

Water has memory. It's my conviction that that water can return to its original ways, but we have

to stop putting dirty water into that water. Something has to be changed technologically- wise.

When I go around and do my talks about the Sacred Water Circle, with those engineers, and

those scientists, I always say that. Luckily though, they’re diligently working on technology that

will change that scenario. It’s going to happen eventually. It’s been my observation, where I’ve

been going into institutions like Laurier University, Trent University, Guelph University--even in

the colleges--when I speak to those students in the classes, and I say to them that water has a

spirit, water is alive, and that you know, you have to say thank you to that water and that there

are spirits in that water that we have to acknowledge.... it’s not a foreign concept to them,

because I think they inherently know what’s the truth. The young people who are coming into

the age now, who are going to be in positions of power to influence governments, corporations,

etc. ....they are different people than they were a couple of generations ago. I think they are more

spiritually aware or spiritually sensitive. They are already born with that knowledge and it’s been

my observation that this is going to change in the future– they’ll have higher regard, higher

respect on a spiritual level for that water that they’re working with. I say you don’t have to do a

whole lot... even just the most profound act that you can do for that water, is just say thank you

to that water before you do the work. That changes the relationship of that water. It changes it

from being just an element of study to being like a relative. (Dorothy)

When Josephine Mandamin did the Water Walk around the Great lakes, she was talking about

how heavy water was when she did Lake Ontario. It physically is, because there are so many

heavy metals in it. She felt that heaviness in the water, when she was carrying it around, during

the Water Walk. You can sing to the water so it has a positive energy. It has life. It has life in it.

So, why wouldn’t it respond to us? You have to give thanks to the water every day. You wake

up, and you just do it. You have to conserve it, you don’t waste it. I’m surrounded by it, but it

doesn’t necessarily mean it’s clean, so that prayer of thought or intent is important. (Tori)


Shiva (1998: 301) states that Western contemporary society perceives itself as a science-

based civilization, in which science is assumed to be value-neutral, universal, and above society,

while providing the logic and impulse for social transformation. It can't be judged, questioned or

evaluated in the public domain, and neither God nor tradition is privileged with the same

credibility as 'scientific rationality' (as cited in Shiva, 1998:301). The Safe Drinking Water for

First Nations Act takes on a dual character, in which it offers technological fixes for social and

political problems, but distances itself from the new social and political problems it creates in

deeming other sciences, such as Indigenous science, as inferior. This is mainly due to the

marriage between politics and science, which may turn the beautiful, open-minded and

inquisitive discipline of science, into a dogmatic religion founded on the Vatican's Darwinian,

chrematistics Doctrine of Discovery. The aim of science should not be perpetual ignorance and

political oppression, to serve a corporate elite. Despite Western advances in quantum mechanics

and the uncertainty principle, it is the mechanic, colonial science that is still engrained in the

institutional culture of Western society.

Western science and Indigenous science are interdependent. There are very good aspects of

Western science that are complementing to Indigenous ways of knowing and Indigenous ways of

experimentation. As long as Western science doesn't say to other sciences--"Okay, we validate

you. You are science because we say you’re a science". No, we have our science. As long as they

are able to get over themselves, then it will be good. (Amy)

Nevertheless, while spending time with the community of Indigenous Water Walkers, I

came to discover that there were many discussions related to Western advances in water

research, which were particularly making reference to the science of quantum mechanics. Victor

Schauberger (1885-1958) remarked water's oddities by realizing that at 4 degrees Celsius, water

is at its densest and can float materials that it cannot ordinarily support. Whereas other material

usually contract as they cool, a drop in temperature from 4 degrees causes water to expand and

become a solid that is less dense and capable of breaking metal pipes. During Sacred Water

Gatherings, Japanese researcher and author Masaru Emoto was oftentimes mentioned. He

dedicated his life to studying the unique forms of water crystals and writing books as well as

holding international conferences to explain how the forms of those water crystals are a

reflection of the bodies of water from which they came from, as well as the words of the

observer. By studying water's puzzling microstructure, he also came to the conclusion that water

has memory and a living spirit, which interacts with humans. Through experimentation, Dr.

Emoto found that the most beautiful crystals of water would form after uttering words of

gratitude and love to it, and the worst crystals would be produced by ignoring water (Emoto,

2004).

I also shared with many of my teachers that I had been engaged in the medical science of

homeopathy since my late adolescence, based on the premises that water has memory and spirit,

as well as the idea of quantum entanglement that is prevalent in contemporary Western physics'

discussions. Researchers from the Graz University of Technology in Austria discovered in 2007

that when subjected to a high voltage electric field, water in two glasses climbs the sides of the

glasses and 'remembers' to cross empty space to meet, forming an approximately 2 cm oscillating

water bridge that appears to defy gravity (Zyga, 2007, phys.org/news). Dr. Bernt Kroplin from

the University of Stuttgart, Germany, along with a team of sixteen other scientists published a


book called "The World in a Drop: Memory and Forms of Thought in Water". It is a book which

explains their findings on studying water's microstructure, and it is accompanied with

photographs from their research. They also conclude that water may have a memory or

consciousness, and that it may serve as a medium of data (Kroplin et al, 2005). Amongst other

observations, this team of scientists explains a phenomenal water experiment in which droplets

from the same water placed by a tester on a glass sheet resembled one another, while they

differed in microscopic structure when placed on the glass sheet by a different tester who had no

interactions with the previous tester.

On October, 2014, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

(UNESCO) hosted a meeting in Paris, in order to engage in broad, multidisciplinary discussion

on 'memory of water' research, set up by Luc Montagnier, who has a Nobel Prize in physiology.

He claimed that DNA emits weak electromagnetic waves that cause structural changes in water

that persist even in extremely high dilutions. Amid much fresh evidence regarding the memory

of water, Montagnier considers himself as an intellectual heir to the controversial French

scientist Jacques Benveniste, who claimed in a 1988 Nature paper that water can retain

'memories' of compounds even when diluted at a very high level (Enserink, 2014,

news.sciencemag.org). Most of my teachers expressed that Western science is in fact just

catching up to Indigenous science, and that there is great potential in working together.

There’s blood memory. I remember reading a couple of years ago that science has found that

memories are passed down in DNA. That’s a teaching in our lodge...you can learn about it.

There’s a way where people can work together. (Tori)

As previously noted, there is no need for the positivists to 'convert'. Nevertheless, there

needs to be humbleness and respect for other sciences and epistemologies, in order to have

equitable water stories. There is no need to dogmatically give the politically-charged, subjective

label of 'pseudoscience' to other ways of knowing, because ad hominem fallacies do not render

one set of ideas more credible than others. If one deems Western science and its set of cultural

values as superior, this may impact the ability for non-Indigenous policymakers to at least

acknowledge or respect Indigenous science, from which spirituality cannot be separated. This

also leads to the further marginalization of many Indigenous women who uphold their traditional

role as the water carriers. Ceremonies, prayers, and constant interactions with water as a living

relative is believed to help heal the waters....the bodies of water, the waters we breathe and the

waters that compose us. The ethos of the Water Walks is in fact sacrifice, prayer and ceremony,

founded on the belief that water has spirit and memory.

When asked about the perception of non-Indigenous policymakers towards Indigenous

women Water Walkers, there were varying responses. Most of my teachers expressed a lack of

awareness, engagement or understanding from them, especially at the federal level of Settler

Canada's government. It's important to note that policymaking isn't the monopolized domain of

the people's representatives in Parliament or bureaucratic offices, however. Most teachers

acknowledged and were grateful for all the support they were receiving from non-Indigenous

peoples, and particularly, non-Indigenous women who may not necessarily be in 'offices', but

who nevertheless make and influence policy in their daily lives.


They don’t understand how Water Walks are connected to the water legislation. They say "Okay,

they’re doing these neat walks, good for them, but we are dealing with this right here". They’re

so focused on this kind of on-reserve water legislation, that they don’t see how these Water

Walkers are connected, because they’re so used to taking a little piece of something and then not

seeing anything else. They just see the water on reserve like it’s going to stay there forever, and

not move anywhere. (Amy)

Some of the teachers referred to the labels of 'witch craft', which are remnants of the

European Witch Hunting period, when many women were tortured and burned at the stake for

'political heresies', as well as for having herbal medicinal knowledge and other outstanding gifts.

Interestingly, in Michele Stephen's anthropological review of sorcery, she associates the

sorcerer's powerful individualized personality "to the pathology of the self in Western culture

where selves are so rigorously bounded, or should be, that all must suffer from painful isolation"

(as cited in Leduc, 2010: 129). Stephen redefines this sorcerer as having the intent to promote

unjust economic benefits for specific individuals and groups through externalizing environmental

harm onto others.

They’re probably thinking those Indians – they’re doing their witchcraft. I can see that, because I

know we have gotten negative comments from Non-native people as we’re walking. One of the

comments we have when we’re walking is: "What are you Indians protesting about now?" So

they don’t know anything about it, even though we have flyers to tell people what we’re doing. It

doesn’t sink in. (Elder Shirley)

I just think that it depends on the person...depends on their awareness and in how they perceive

knowledge. I think there are a lot of stereotypes like we're just wacky weirdos...like we are

always doing ceremonies that are taboos or superstitions, you know. That may be just a way for

people to laugh or ridicule or make fun of our ways, and not respect that spiritual connection.

(Elaina)

Non-Indigenous people are very non-ceremonial, as opposed to how Indigenous people are. We

make a formal recognition of spirit, of nature, of the animal kingdom around us, whereas non-

Indigenous people have lost that recognition. (Georgie)

Tori referred to the court injunction given to a highly respected Anishinaabekwe

community member, Judy Da Silva on April 10, 2015. The Grassy Narrows Women's Drum

Group along with Grandmother Josephine Mandamin held a water ceremony intended to protect

the local waterways from tar sands bitumen and other toxic chemicals transported by rail through

their territory. This ceremony was also held to express solidarity with the people impacted by the

oil-by-rail derailment that spilled crude oil into the Makami River near the Mattagami First

Nation on March 7, and the Climate march on April 11 in Quebec City (Patterson, 2015). The

CN Rail refused to accommodate the Water Ceremony, which would have resulted only in a

brief delay on the tracks. They instead threatened a preemptive injunction and arrests. The Water

Ceremony conducted by Grandmother Josephine Mandamin was held, but it was decided to not

be held on the tracks, after speaking to CN Rail. Despite this decision, the CN Rail showed up

during their prayers and served a court injunction to Judy Da Silva.


Just on Friday, Josephine Mandamin and Judy Dasilva, were having a water ceremony on the CN

rail line, where there are oil spills. They weren’t allowed to have it...they were prevented from

having that. They would not accommodate to have that healing ceremony where it needed to be

held. Our culture and our tradition are prayers, you know? It shouldn’t be a problem for the CN

Police...their policies have nothing to do with our prayers. (Tori)

In line with many other Indigenous teachers, Dorothy also pointed to the fact that

although the federal level of government is not as involved, there has been support from the

municipalities and the provinces. She speaks about the multicultural, interfaith Sacred Water

Circle she founded in 2011:

Our vision is to influence policymakers...led by Indigenous knowledge and leading with hope

and spiritual courage. We want to influence humanity’s relationship with water, and we are

doing that by working with policymakers who are making decisions on water. We are making

presentations at the municipal and provincial level, and trying to reach out to the federal

government. We’ve had more success at the municipal level. They implement the water laws on

a local level, so mostly, the townships surrounding the Peterborough area have been really

supportive. Their response was excellent. So any of the work that they do now, they ask for

Native people, and Native communities to come in and consult on the work they are doing for

the water. At the federal level, just recently Environment Canada came in at Trent University to

do some policy development and program development for the Great Lakes...so they asked for

Indigenous knowledge. (Dorothy)

With regards to the collaboration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous women in

taking care of water, Liz echoes the opinions of many of my teachers:

There are those ones that are starting to learn about water. They do help. But it’s not the whole

world. It’s just some local communities, where non-Indigenous women take part in whatever

they can to do to help us. So they walk with us, and it’s just amazing how we do get that support

from non-Indigenous women and the four races of men, you know? It’s just amazing how we

could come together... but then, there are those ones that care less because they don’t see or

know the importance of water. (Liz)

Some teachers noted the importance of dismantling the sense of entitlement or 'white

privilege' throughout these collaborations:

To me, it's important that we all do what we can....it doesn’t matter what colour we are. We all

have to have water and so we all have to play that part in protecting it in doing something,

creating awareness, trying to have our policymakers understand that. If non-Indigenous women

are joining in our efforts, they always have to try to make sure that they don’t try to take

over...they do have a tendency to do that and it kind of messes with things. I don't know why that

is...I think it may come down to this notion that they have, that they’re right about everything.

(Becky)

Kookum Alita reminded us that water is central to everything by saying:


I can’t handle labels, this one Indigenous, this one non-Indigenous… we are all indigenous of

this Earth. So if you would ask me how are women going to work together to do this, I believe

they’re already doing that in very meaningful ways, around all kinds of issues from education, to

environment, to health, to caring for the children, to standing up for peace. There are lots of

women doing all kinds of amazing things in this world already...but we need to do more. We

need to demand to be heard. Why? Because we are the ones that give life. We are the ones that

carry the life. That’s why. (Kookum Alita)

With regards to policymaking, Sylvia also said:

I think that if there were non-Native women that were supporting us, and being vocal about that--

I think that would really help or encourage other women too, to take that position. I feel maybe

non-Native women in policy have that understanding... it’s just that they would be one of the few

to actually take that position... wanting to see things done differently. Seeing somebody like

Maude Barlow stand up...people are really listening to her, right? I think if there was a

collaboration between women, there would be a change[...]I don’t know about policymakers, but

what I’ve seen over the years, is that there’s a lot of Non-native support from churches, banks,

and different organizations. I was really impressed. I was like “Wow”! They’re just like, white

male executives coming out to do this walk– and it was hilarious for me because it was the worst

day. We had snow, hail, and they just sucked it up and walked through. I was really impressed

because it kind of humbled them. (Sylvia P.)

6.2 Water Walks: Sacrifice, Prayer, Ceremony for Water

My teachers described their connection to water, as Indigenous women and water

carriers. They all expressed that it was very important for policymakers to reach a certain level of

understanding and respect for this relationship to water in produced legislations, like the Safe

Drinking Water for First Nations Act.

The First Nations Act is going to really jeopardize our First Nations water. It is the Government

that decided how water is to be used. But we look at the water very differently from the

Government. Our water was put here by the Great Spirit. It’s for everybody to drink, to use the

way we want to use it, but not to abuse it. We’ve always looked at the water as a spirit water, and

we look after it in a sacred manner. In Catholicism, when you baptize a baby, they pour the water

on the forehead, which is the external side of the body. For us, when we drink it, we internally

take it in as to bless ourselves, to clean ourselves-- that is that when we drink it, we are supposed

to reach our mind...it cleans the mind so that you can make the decisions in everyday living.

Secondly, you clean your body, so that your spirit will walk with you within your body, because

we carry a spirit in our bodies that walks with us. And thirdly, we think about when we drink that

water. We cleanse our hearts so that we can love one another as human beings on this Earth.

Those are the three most important things when we drink the water, only after we bless it. In the

lodge or in ceremonies, it is the women that will bless the water and then pray to the water. So


we sing to the water, we talk to the water, and bless the water to help us clean and do all of these

things in our everyday living. (Elder Shirley)

We’re made up mostly of water. My children grew in water...we were born in water, rivers of

water, birth waters... just like everyone else’s children have been born that way. So, my whole

foundation as a woman is about water. I can’t conceive of doing anything without full

acknowledgement of it, loving it, talking with it, being with it, and working with it...reminding

people that their clarity of mind can be found through it. The healing of their body can be found

through this water. The quieting of their emotions can come through this water. We have to

recycle the waters in our body just as the way the Earth recycles its water. We have to do the

same thing. So it’s always about water. Just like it’s always about all the other elements, you

know...the fire, the wind, the earth. We have to have all those things in order for it all to be in

balance. I give thanks for water every day. Every time I use it ...every time I drink it. I make time

for it in the morning and give thanks for it. I talk to it, and I plead with it in a good way, you

know, to be helped… so the world can be helped to keep it clean, so that my great-great-great-

great-great-great grandchildren will have clean water. So there will be life here on this Earth. To

me, that is the single most important thing a woman can do...any woman can do, with their

spiritual practices to pray for this water[...]I’m sure politics and legislation have value, and it’s

important for those that are greatly interested to understand it and to combat certain ways of

doing things, but I think the ceremonies are more powerful than that. In fact, I know they are. I

know that prayer, the power of ceremony, and turning one’s energy towards Creation in gratitude

works. I know it. I know it in my own life, and I’ve seen it reveal itself to me in my own life

experience. I’ve seen one of my adopted sons get better because of water...because many people

prayed over the water that he ended up drinking. (Kookum Alita)

Amy was profoundly inspired by an article called "The Ocean is Broken" by Greg Ray

(2013).

Once I read this article, I’m like--Oh my God I have to do something. It was so powerful that I

was just scrambling to help. I mean, I’ve read stories about the island of junk plastic in the

ocean. I’ve read stories, I’ve read articles, and I’m like that makes me mad. But this one... like

you need to do something, as soon as I read it. I am not necessarily from a Water Walker

perspective, because the Water Walkers are getting to know the water on a very intimate level.

Well, I do ceremony and I do pray. I do talk to the water. But Water Walkers are coming from a

perspective in which you have a different connection to the water and to the land because you

trace those footsteps, and you know the land in a different way. I can’t do that, or I see some

limitations. I had limitations. It was the second best thing to raise awareness and tell people these

are what the women are doing, this is why they are doing it and this is why it’s important to

check yourself, and say “Well maybe I should stop thinking about what I want and start thinking

about how to change my bad habits of just wanting whatever I want". It started to come more in

line with my values, but also how those values translate to creating a more accountable and less

consumer-oriented society. So it’s a betterment for all, but it’s going to be a big shift...people

aren’t going to like being told that they can’t want whatever they want. (Amy)


I thank water every day when I use it. That’s the first thing we must do. I try to talk to people and

raise awareness whenever I can. That’s mainly what I’m doing now. I made a film to try to share

the perspective of Georgina Island and the Water Walks there. (Becky)

Water was also often described as a medicine.

Individually ,we are a sacred water vessel ourselves ,because our blood is water. We have to

maintain the integrity of that water by ingesting water, and help to keep ourselves clean with

water. When the Europeans came, they were filthy dirty. They believed that bathing would

actually kill them. And it probably could, because they were bathing in dirty water, and because

they lived in unsanitary conditions in the cities at that time . But Native people lived near the

water, not on the water but near the waters...we were always in the water, so when the Europeans

came, we were strong and healthy and clean. (Dorothy)

Anything that brings us into balance and keeps us in balance is considered medicine. Medicine

isn’t something you take because you’re sick, like Western mindset says... Our food is medicine,

this conversation I’m having with you is medicine between the two of us. And that becomes

medicine...communication is medicine, good communication, about meaningful things, things

that are real and that matter is a medicine, right? The reason why I call water medicine is because

it brings life. It is life. If we don’t have this, we have nothing. We have no food, no opportunity

to grow crops...there would be nothing here without this water. Without this water, we wouldn’t

have the opportunity to grow the medicines that we use in the ceremonies, like the ones they use

in this part of the world: the sage, the tobacco, the sweet grass, the cider. Then, there are all the

other Indigenous peoples around the world who have their own medicines, and those medicines

need water to grow. So water is the first medicine. It’s the one that brings life and balance here

on this Earth. It recycles itself, it cleans the Earth. There’s a whole biological, chemical, physical

system that goes on around this water that makes life function here. It’s so incredible the way the

planet works with the other planets, and with the atmosphere to pull the water off the ground and

into the air, and back to the ground, and cycle it through, and clean it. That’s why I call water

medicine. (Kookum Alita)

The Water Walks embody the powerful and intimate relationship with water that my

teachers shared. Many of them described blisters and sore feet, while walking through hard

conditions and all kinds of weather to show their love and dedication for water through this form

of prayer.

After realizing that her father was right in predicting that water would someday need to

be bought, Elder Shirley said:

I began to really watch how I was treating the water and how I was looking after the water. I was

using less water, and changing the soap that was polluting the water...all of these things. It came

so much later that there was a conference that was called “Water Matters” and I was on the

panel. They wanted me to talk about how we see or look after the water from the Native

perspective. I did that, and it really made me think about the water issues. Then, I was looking at

my niece. We had been talking about doing the Water Walk and to do something in this area

because prior to that, there was a flash flood here in Peterborough. Because of the construction


of the water facilities here, it didn’t have the capacity to hold the water, so they overflowed,

contaminating all of the lakes that are on that way. Many of the First Nations that were living in

Hiawatha and the cottagers were on the alert for boiling water after that. (Elder Shirley)

I do it for my children, my future grandchildren, and so forth. When I did the Hiawatha walk

over the weekend, we started at sunrise and we walked through rain, sunshine, sleet, snow. When

it was getting dark, it was dangerous, so we had police officers as well that helped us throughout

this journey. We continued....a lot of people thought we were protesting...they did not know

about the Water Walk. Prior to that, there was a fasting camp in Hiawatha and my nephew had

fasted for two nights and two days without food or water. I gave him tobacco and I said: "Can

you make a water staff for me?" So he took that cedar tree, you know, he kept the roots at the

bottom, and he made a staff for me. It’s like a loop ,and then he put a dream catcher in it. So we

kind of dressed it up. I put ribbons on it to represent the male and female. I put two eagle feathers

to represent the men and the women. Those colours that I added were the Midewiwin colours,

which were red and green for the women and the blue and the black for the men. The red

represents the water which is the blood of Mother Earth, the green for the plant life, and then the

blue for the sky world and the black for the unknown. We didn’t quite finish that Sunday, and so

we had to take it to a third day because it was getting too late and too dangerous. I had to call in

and tell my principal I can’t make it in. We were limited on Walkers... it was just myself, my

sons, cousins, and my nephew. I would phone my close immediate friends and say “Please, come

and help me. I’m getting tired”...just to help with the water, because it was heavy and it gets

heavier as you go. Sometimes you have water that’s very ill, and you know it could be damaged

or could be polluted. Water Walkers that have been walking for the water feel those emotions.

It’s heavy energy. [...] But I finished the walk, and then I felt complete. I felt complete and a

sense of relief. I felt honoured to do that because my daughter– her great, great grandmother was

from that community... so her ancestors from her father's side are from there. (Liz)

Watching the work Grandmother Josephine Mandamin does with Elder Shirley and Liz...It just

gave me more teachings about how we can elevate on a spiritual level...in the spirit of the water

and how that’s so connected. I don’t walk, so I use a scooter. So I was scooting along on one of

the roads that was beside Liz, and the group was getting quite separated. So Liz says “Go up to

the head of the Water Walk-so to the one that holds the staff-and then tell them to stop up the hill

to wait for everybody". So I went with my scooter because I can scoot faster than people walk. I

said "Can you stop at this one spot here, and wait for the rest of the group?" So, they just

stopped. And then, Josephine Mandamin comes in and she says "Why did you stop the water?"

Like that, she says to me. She goes "You can’t stop the water like that, you have to touch down.

Now it’s going to rain really hard on us". So that’s a spiritual connection, between how you treat

the water as a spiritual entity and how it affects the environment. Sure enough, I started praying

that it wouldn’t rain on us, but it did rain hard. You’re supposed to request to have it stopped

with touchdown, as we call it. It's when you have to put tobacco down, and then you put the staff

down, and you put the water down... but you have to ask the water if you can stop, because

nothing stops the flow of the water, Josephine Mandamin says. So, when you’re working with

water spiritually, you have to remember these things. (Dorothy)

I got to spend a lot of time with Josephine Mandamin, so it was an opportunity for me to learn

from her...learn about the women’s roles and responsibilities around water. It allowed me to see


other territories, and actually engage with the people in those territories to learn about their

Creation stories, their teachings, their relationship to the water, and also to see what was

happening. Sometimes there were dams or pollution, and so it kind of opened up my eyes to

realize that communities are heavily polluted. It's something that's pretty common among First

Nations communities in North America. By walking on the land, we walk 12 hours every day so

you get to learn about the personalities and characteristics of the different waterways. They

change throughout the day. I learned a lot about how the land governs us, how it gives us our

identity, as well as our roles and responsibilities. Through those land symbols...they provide us

with our relationship to each other but they also provide us with our identity, in terms of what are

our lands' boundaries and territories. (Sylvia)

My people, the Ojibwe, the Northern Ojibwe, they fished a lot more than they hunted. They ate

wild rice, so their food grew on water. Their communities... they lived beside the water. If they

had to go anywhere, they got from point A to point B with canoes through the rivers. Firstly, the

Water Walk is a tribute to my ancestors. My ancestors walked too. Today we don’t. Walking is a

forgotten art. A second reason is that when you’re walking, especially when we did the Chemong

Lake Water Walk, I was reminded of my place in Creation. As you’re walking, you see the deer,

the birds....they all know their role. As we’re walking, you’re just one of them. As humans, we

have our own role and we forget it most of the time. When we’re out there, we can remember it.

Also, water is part of the traditional Anishinaabe ceremonies. I know that the spirit of the water

is in me and that same spirit is also in you. That connects us all. Because of that water, and the

water that we carry, to me, that water is like family. If I had a child, I’d be careful of the water

that I give to him. I’d make sure that it’s clean and pure. Corporations... they dump all that stuff

in water without that understanding. That water is me, that water is you, that water is our child,

you know? (Georgie)

It was a profoundly spiritual walk for me. A lot of things in my life changed after that in a

positive way. I met some very spiritual people that can still continue to give me a lot of guidance

that I needed. It brought a lot of direction to my life, where my culture is. I grew up in a Non-

native family and I had no culture in my life. I was surrounded by Non-native people growing

up, except for visiting my mom. And I had a fractured relationship with my mother. I hadn’t

spoken to her for over 12 years. My kids didn’t know their grandmother. But that Christmas, I

just started speaking to my mom again. Since then, all of us have been on a healing journey. We

still struggle, you know, we still all live with the effects of intergenerational trauma. But we are

all healing now, and we’re tighter than we’ve ever been before. (Tori)


7

TEK-nology

7.1 The Need for Reconciling TEK-nology

All the interviewed teachers expressed their belief that Indigenous Traditional Ecological

Knowledge (TEK) and technology can be reconciled in governing and taking care of water. In

fact, all of them saw great potential in technology. The Safe Drinking Water for First Nations

Act could have recognized that reconciliation, and legislated for technological innovation based

on further dialogue with Indigenous women and their nations. Technology could be another form

of private sector involvement in taking care of water, as long as it is equitable, inclusive, and

democratic.

I don’t believe that the private sector and the state are as separate as people want them to be. It

just seems like one evil over another. At the same time, I recognize that there are a lot of people

that live here, and this technology is available. We live in the modern world and in some ways,

those kinds of technologies can be helpful. (Linda)

Once again, a Water Act for First Nations should recognize and fully support the fact that

First Nations need to be the ones governing these private sectors, so that they are able to

implement culturally-appropriate technology to meet their standards. Amy points to the fact that

the failure to engage in meaningful consultation with the communities most often results in

wasted money and efforts:

We need clean water. The way the Government responds is either giving it to them in a way that

is not useful or for example... they might provide individual funds for people to go and get the

water containers, the little – you know, push- the -little- spout jugs....so they would provide

those, but it’s not in a sustainable way, right? And a lot of times, what was actually given to

people was either not how they asked for it, or in a way that ended up costing more. So it

responded to them, but not in a way that made sense to the community, right? So because the

community didn’t have a chance to have solid input in how legislation was going to play out, it

ended up making either more work or not applicable at all. That’s usually how policy is from

Government to communities. For instance, one of the communities in the north...it was really

rainy season and because of the mud, people were having trouble transporting. The roads were

really messy and so the Government paid for the reserves to build boardwalks, right? So they

went in, hired these people and made all these boardwalks. Well, the people ended up taking

these freshly made boardwalks and harvesting the wood to use for something else. So you’d

spend all that money to make all these boardwalks that are really not doing anything, and I’m

sure you worked for a little while but they really don’t need board walks. What they need is I

don’t know...fire wood or they need fences, or something else. (Amy)


Nevertheless, Settler Canada can also greatly benefit from the collaboration with First

Nations, especially considering its current lagging water standards. After all, Settler Canada

shares the same waters and lands with the different Indigenous nations, and that requires cultural

exchange and cooperation. When asked how traditional ecological knowledge can be

incorporated in the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act, Elder Shirley responded:

To work together, to cooperate with one another, to understand each other. If they work together

in order to understand each other, they can help one another. It’s slowly coming, but not fast

enough. Not fast enough. They’re very slow in believing[...]It has to be technology that helps not

to waste water or helps to clean the water without harming it and without harming the land. Look

at how much water is being used in order to clean the oil or the oilfields. There has to be some

kind of technology that we need to clean whatever has to be cleaned, without harming the water

or without harming the land. (Elder Shirley)

I get chills just thinking about the kinds of things that we would be able to do, with our teachings

and taking the best of what the Settlers had to offer...if we were left to adapt at our own pace.

With the teachings, we never built and "developed" the land because of our strong adherence to

our values. So teachings like, you are never to dig into the Earth because you are hurting your

Mother....You are never to dig farther than it is to plant a stalk of corn, because she’s your

Mother. You need to ask permission to do anything. You need to do go and do ceremony to find

direction to where you are going to plant, or where you are going to have a village, or where you

are going to travel or where you’re going to hunt. It was always in relation to the Earth and the

Spirit. People thought that we were stupid and that we were too backward to build cities and to

build towns. But it wasn’t because of that. It was because our responsibilities to the Earth

superseded any convenience that we would have had at that time. Our lives were hard, but it was

because of the adherence to those values that the land was still pristine when they got here. I just

cringe thinking of that now, and how backward they were. So, that’s how I see the role of

technology...it is to support the sustaining of life. Anything that gets created has to go through

Spirit. What resources are we going to use to make that filter? What is the impact going to be on

the Earth, if we do make this, and what is the long term impact? How are we going to break it

down, if we need to take it apart? Is it going to be recyclable? Is it going to be landfill? What are

we going to do when it’s time to replace parts? So it's not only creating technology, but also

thinking about how the end cycle is going to be. (Amy)

Technology has tremendous potential, if they would turn their paradigm to the evolution and the

preservation of the Life Force of this world...if they would turn new technology towards

contributing to that Life Force, instead of depleting it. Anything that addresses alternative energy

processes is an essential way of utilizing technology. If we stop using fossil fuels, we’ve already

saved water...not completely, but we’ve preserved fresh water and clean water at tremendous

amounts. Because of fossil fuels, they use water even for just drilling it. That water could be used

for drinking...it could be used for the preservation of fish down the stream...it could be used to

water the crops, it could be left alone to be naturally utilized by Mother Earth. Our Mother Earth

or this universal system that we’re in, knows what to do with these elements. It’s when we get in

there, and interfere with things that everything goes out of balance. So, anything that’s going to

help us find alternative energy other than fossil fuels...that’s how technology should be used.

And anything that will help us recycle the resources we have in the garbage dumps, throughout


the world, and in the oceans. Anything that can be utilized technologically to transform that

waste back into usable, reusable, useful things, rather than us going back into the Earth and

taking more things out to make more things to put into garbage. That’s the use of technology, as

far as I’m concerned. And fast communication is always helpful, around the world. I am a little

perturbed in the way that the internet technology is misused. It should be utilized to educate the

entire world on such issues, instead of putting them to sleep. (Kookum Alita)

7.2 Further Incorporation of Traditional Ecological Knowledge in the Act

Traditional Ecological Knowledge has been discussed throughout this entire project, in

terms of the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act acknowledging Indigenous women as the

carriers of water, as they lead the ceremonies, prayers, Water Walks, etc. However, many of my

Indigenous teachers had more ideas on how Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge can be

incorporated in this Act.

Our traditional knowledge has been diminished over the years, so we’ve lost our language in

some areas. As a result, we’ve lost the original names of the land in the areas... because that

would help. If we knew the original Indigenous names of the areas that we live in, they’re

usually named after what grows there or what lives there. That is a representation of what was

originally there, at the beginning of creation. So in those laws, or in this Act, we could say that

wherever possible, to return to the original teachings or the original names of the lands and water

ways. (Dorothy)

Regulations sound too authoritarian, right? I mean we don’t have regulations. We have guiding

principles, we have values. We have teachings or understandings about the way that the fish are

– and the different roles that the different fish have. There's the sucker fish...and we have a

sucker moon. The suckers are the ones that clear the waters, so we honour them because of the

work that they do. We have to do ceremony for them. When they’re sick, then the water isn’t as

clean as it’s supposed to be. There is all of those teachings that are very common sense, based on

very practical observations and understandings of the interplay between cloud and animal and

land and water...so they are all interconnected, and you know all the signs, and you know how to

interpret those. (Amy)

Georgie joked and said:

Back then, they didn’t have pollution, so they didn’t have to stop and think about how are we

going to clean this water, you know? But I do know that a buffalo will not urinate in the water it

drinks. Even an animal knows! That’s a lesson that can be learned from you know, a corporation

who’s dumping junk in the water. (Georgie)

Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge will tell you not to dam rivers and block waterways

–these are all parts of a healthy water ecosystem. Water can clean itself if it’s given the right

conditions... but it’s being forced into all sorts of unnatural things... even plumbing and pipe

work is hard on water. It makes it hard for it to be what it’s supposed to be. (Becky)


Dorothy also speaks about the 'development' that often happens on water, or very close to

water.

The Elders believed that the water has spirit...the oldest spirits in all of creation live in the water

first. When the worst thunders come, you put tobacco in the water. If they want to cross the lake,

they put tobacco in the water. They believed in a water serpent in the lake, called "Opeongo", but

it hasn’t been seen for a couple of generations now. My dad actually saw it. My great-

grandmother used to see it. So, they never used to live at the shorelines up the lake. In Curve

Lake, we live on a peninsula between two lakes. When we settled there, the first option was to

put our houses on the shoreline, and you could see the sunset or the sunrise. But we chose to

establish our houses in land and that’s because of that belief in the spirits of the water being so

strong, that they could influence your everyday life. You don’t want to mess with them too

much, especially that Opeongo. Another reason why they didn’t build their homes on the

shoreline is because constant wind and constant damp affects your health. So they know that.

(Dorothy)

7.3 Funding in Innovative Water Technology

As aforementioned, the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act needs to make a

commitment to funding research and better water technology, by consulting with First Nations.

This is contrary to what the Settler government has been doing thus far, in terms of cutting funds

to water research and muzzling scientists who study water. Moreover, there was a common

consensus of great distrust in the lack of innovation and in the way that technology and science is

being currently used in Canada. Technology, after all, has limits and we cannot expect it to

resolve all our problems through 'ecological modernization' and 'green neoliberalism', while we

keep polluting and disrespecting water.

When I was researching the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act, there were some reports

that offered alternatives to situations of boiled water advisory. So instead of boiling your water,

it was “Oh, you can throw this tablet or this kind of chemical in it”. And I was just like “that’s

too weird". I would not trust that tablet regardless of how "safe" it is...it’s just so unnatural,

because even though it might be healthy for our bodies, it just distorts the actual water and its

form, right? A friend of mine- she’s a scientist -and she studied how the angles of the pipes

actually distort water memory. So, if it was more in an open place, and it was able to move

naturally, it’s in a healthier state. But when it is actually confined in these pipes, it affects it.

Water – well, it has a spirit, it has a personality. And it would be like any person putting them in

a confined place... that would change their characteristics. (Sylvia P.)

We still have the mentality that the waste water that we produce from our homes and industries

can be dumped back into the lakes and rivers. So we don’t have the technology yet...it does exist

but we are not implementing it in Canada, in particular. It's technology that will clean that water

and return the water to its original state, but not eject it back into the waterway sources. That was

one of the main teachings of my dad, because I was born and raised on the lake. He said to me


once that nothing should go into that water that wasn’t originally there. So when you think about

it, okay, you got sewage, maybe slightly treated water from our discharges... you got discharges

from the industries and hospitals...it’s treated somehow, but where does it go? They go right

back into the waterways. So what do you think is going to happen to that water? The dirty water,

where does it go? It doesn’t magically disappear. It still exists as dirty, contaminated water

which ultimately contaminates everything. (Dorothy)

I read about Japanese bathing methods. So what they do, instead of a big tub, they have a

ceramic area, where they would sit on a chair with a little bucket...a ladle. That’s what I would

see as making more sense, than the way that we have a bathroom now. So, there are all kinds of

different innovations that we really should be using. I mean, when I think about water and our

relationship to it...there’s another teaching that I heard somewhere that says that water should

never flow backwards, you know? There’s a way that water flows naturally and it never flows

backwards in that natural system. Nowadays, we do all kinds of things... up, down, back,

forward, sideways... you know, we make it colourful and we shoot it through the air and all kinds

of weird stuff, right? When I think about water, it’s not meant to do that. It’s not meant to be

recreation for us. They have these little fountains, where we could hear relaxing sounds of water,

right? We could just go to the spring and have the same effect, but we’ve just been so

conditioned to have water at our convenience. Water has become a thing. It’s not the spirit and

the life that it normally would be. A lot of the Elders try to use spring water or water that’s from

a stream in the ceremonies rather than tap water, because it’s like, more dead they say...it’s

different. (Amy)

8

Renewal: On the Way Forward

8.1 Concluding Messages

Throughout this research, I was overwhelmed by the guidance and mentorship that my

teachers gifted me, so that I could share it with the community.

It’s not because we want people to misappropriate our culture, but be respectful of it. That’s why

we are sharing it with you...so you too can be respectful and learn how to care for the water,

learn how to praise water, learn how to love the water the way we were taught, and find that

connection. That’s what we are doing...that’s why we are sharing it because, we are all born of

water. We really are. We've all got our trauma and baggage. Forgiveness is really important for

us to work together. (Tori )

In today's society, it seems as though we find it easy to believe that the Government, who

represents the people, can negatively change the future of humanity and impact past and future

generations by only a change in words or 'a stroke of a pen'. However, why is it so difficult for us

to believe that an alternative can be offered through the power and honour of the word...which


can even begin from 'a stroke of a pen'? The spirit of this project is to demonstrate that there is a

healing alternative to the current treatment of water; namely, an alternative that can sustain life

and does not result in dead ends. It only requires true leadership from the elected representatives,

political will and a societal re-evaluation of the values engrained in the current racist, colonial

institutional culture, that is reflected from the water stories of Settler Canada.

When asked about re-writing an alternative to the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations

Act, Kookum Alita responded as follows.

Every time I get up in the morning and give thanks to this water, I’m making a commitment to

the protection of the water. That’s my Water Act. It's to get up and pray for the water every day.

To utilize it in ceremony in a good way…to remind everybody that this is our life. That is my

Water Act. I don’t need to write anything down. I wouldn’t want to write anything down, that

way. It becomes a piece of paper, something to write down, and forget. If you’re going to honour

the water, it has to be a living, breathing action, every single day. Why not look at what’s

causing the dirty water first? Why not look at the causes of the pollution of our waters, rather

than try to govern whatever water is left over from the continuous pollution of it? You want a

Water Act? Take action and clean it up. End of story. That’s an Act. Don’t write down about

how you’re going to utilize what’s left, and call it drinking water. Clean it up! (Kookum Alita)

My perspective is that the best that I can do is just be here, and keep being here, and not stop

talking about it, and not stop doing the things that we are supposed to do. So you know, like not

stop paddling, and not stop ricing, and not stop sugaring. That’s really the best thing that I can do

from an individual perspective. (Linda)

This is the first time in my life that I’ve seen Native youth embrace their culture in a way that’s

so beautiful. That’s going to be their strength because they’re going to bring that pride. I see

strength coming for the future, so then I see strength in helping our people. We are not doing it

for just our children. Our children have to live with Settlers' children seven generations from

now. It’s not for just us. What we are doing is for everybody. They should be concerned, because

all of the water is connected. It’s going to affect your generations to come as well. We still have

to share land, we still have to work together...that was the initial idea of the treaties, you know?

(Tori)

Some concluding messages to the Government were given by my Indigenous teachers in

relation to this Act.

The Government has to understand what they are doing to the health of the public. Not just First

Nations, but to the public and the children that are coming behind. So they need to look at not

only the now, but what is going to happen later in the next generations. What are we leaving our

children with? Destruction, or leaving them with land and good water, so that they can live in a

good, healthy way? (Elder Shirley)

Have some self-regulation ....some self-restraint... it’s tied right to the values and consumerism.

(Amy)


It was really stupid and short-sighted to take away what protections did exist for water in

Canada. (Becky)

We are the only species in all of Creation that is completely dependent on water, on land...it does

not matter how much money is out there. We need those things. They are vital to our survival. If

they are not in healthy states, then we are not in a healthy state, and we are damn sure not going

to make it, if they don’t make it. (Elaina)

8.2 A Summary of an Alternative to the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act

The Anishinaabeg have seven Grandfather teachings that constitute of 'bimaadiziwin' or

'the good way of life'. It is a set of teachings of human conduct towards others. Although other

cultures may not call them 'Grandfather teachings', they do honour (at least in speech) similar

values. These values are: 1) Wisdom, 2) Love, 3) Respect, 4) Bravery, 5) Honesty, 6) Humility,

and 7) Truth. These values aren't mutually exclusive but rather interrelated.

If the Settler Government seeks to make a serious commitment to address the grave water

issues amongst First Nations, then the Government must first reconcile and regulate its own

water stories in truth and in love. This means that the intergenerational memory embedded in the

waters must be acknowledged, respected, and revived amongst Indigenous nations. A step

towards the right direction for the Settler Government would be a genuine apology in humility

and in honesty, that encompasses all of the colonial injustices committed against Indigenous

peoples, and which goes beyond an apology for the assimilative policy of residential schools. It

means acknowledging the broken promises, the fact that Settler Canada is found on a

plurinational land, and that Settler Canada must adopt a mindset in which they share the land, the

waters, and all the resources with inherently sovereign, Indigenous nations who have their own

dynamic languages, cultures, and worldviews. This recognition of sovereignty can also help in

addressing 'investor state agreement' problems that may impeach the shift to sustainable water

stories.

Instead of the perpetuated 'legal theft' founded on racist, religious doctrines, this sharing

must be accompanied with meaningful consultation on every economic development that

impacts the land and waters, as well as an equitable sharing of profit with Indigenous nations.

Settler Canada should admit that water, in fact, remains central to all territorial policies and must

recognize water equity as a human right. Non-human life forms must also be included, when

considering water equity. A recognition that water is held as a sacred, sentient element with

memory by many nations living on this land, is also important. As many of my Indigenous

teachers mentioned, the new Constitution of plurinational Bolivia can serve as an example in

recognizing rights for water, the Earth and Indigenous nations. Indigenous traditional ecological

knowledge should be supported in various ways, such as through education and funding. This

would include Indigenous language revitalization, which was discussed as being intricately tied

to the land and waters. Moreover, the Water Walks and ceremonies, led by Indigenous women,

play a vital role in this recognition.


This project demonstrates that the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act, which is

situated in Canada's 'neoliberal package', clearly needs an overhaul in order to serve the purpose

of guaranteeing safe water for Indigenous peoples. Discussions on 'water diplomacy' must be

held in ways to protect Indigenous rights, but at the same time, end the oppressive, racist Indian

Act, which is the basis of all legislations towards Indigenous peoples at the moment. It's

noteworthy to mention that legislations and Acts can be repealed or amended. Settler Canada

must, at minimum, immediately reinstate the protection for water prior to the onerous 2012

Omnibus budget bills.

In wisdom, the Settler Government should adopt a position of restitution towards

Indigenous peoples, due to the colonial injustices. In an Act, Settler Canada must commit to

appropriate funding that is determined through consultations with First Nations, in order to

ensure a fair, participatory process during consultations, as well as to build infrastructure and

capacity. It is recommended that discussions must be held around equitable subsidies for water

fees for Indigenous peoples living anywhere on Turtle Island [Canada]. Private sector

involvement for infrastructure and sustainable technology is favourable, only if Indigenous

nations make their own contracts and govern this sector. Water governance should be

participatory, community-based, and with Indigenous women having their rightful places as the

carriers of water.

Immediate investments in clean-up, drinking and waste water infrastructure in First

Nations communities are necessary to end the ongoing illnesses and deaths from the current

water contamination. This should be done, in respect, by having close collaboration and

consultation with individual nations, in order to determine their specific needs. Lastly, in

bravery, Settler Canada must commit to prioritize funding in water research and technological

innovation in the long term, based on continuous dialogue and collaboration with Indigenous

peoples. This would help address the collapsing infrastructure and water contamination that is

currently affecting the non-Indigenous population sharing this land and water, as well. By

legislating a serious commitment to shift to renewable, life-sustaining technology now, through

funding and research, we can also put an end to the primary culprit of water degradation in the

longer term; namely, Settler Canada's current suicidal addiction to fossil fuels.

9

Reconciling the Settler Story

Prior to the Anishinabeg's migration, it was previously discussed that the Anishinaabeg

received prophecies from seven prophets. The seventh prophet that came was said to be different

from the other prophets, as he was young and had a strange light in his eyes. He said that in the

time of the seventh fire, new people will emerge who will retrace their steps to find what was left

by the trail. Their steps will take them to the Elders who they will ask to guide them on their

journey. Despite the many difficulties and challenges of this time, if the new people remain

strong in their quest, the Water Drum of the Midewiwin lodge will again sound its voice. It will

be time that the light-skinned race will be given a choice between two roads. If they choose the


right road, then the Seventh Fire will light the Eighth and final fire, which is an eternal fire of

peace, love, brotherhood and sisterhood. If the light skinned race makes the wrong choice of

roads, the destruction which they brought with them will come back at them and cause much

suffering and death to all the Earth's people (The Red Path, chi-manidoo.com, n.d.). This is

similar to many of the prophecies from other Indigenous nations, like the Hopi and the Lakota

peoples.

Becky spoke about the importance of having a spiritual foundation in transformative

changes.

You know, what I’ve come to believe and know is that you can do all the talking and policy

making, but nothing is really going to make a difference if it doesn’t have a solid spiritual

foundation. To me, water is all about spirit and we have to acknowledge that. It’s just like the

Earth that is being very forgiving in the things that we are doing...but there’s going to be a point

when enough is enough. Water has the ability to really, really fight back if it wants to. If we

don’t do things right in what we actually do, and in our spiritual work with the water, it will be

reckoning at some point. Sing that song, say those prayers and acknowledge that gift. (Becky)

When speaking about prophecies, Dorothy, however, said:

I’ve heard from the Elders that they say that the choice has already been made. It’s a positive

choice. The work that we are doing now is that we are changing our attitudes...changing the way

we are doing things that affect the environment. What we are doing now is cleaning up the mess

so that things are going to be okay in the future. (Dorothy)

We cannot pollute the land anymore, because we are destroying Mother Earth. We need to let the

people know, because we need that clean water for future generations. Without clean water, we

will not survive. For us, we teach our young ones that our bodies are mainly made of water.

When we give birth, you know– they’re submersed in water in the womb, and so we have to

teach our young ones about the sacredness of that water and where they come from. We pray for

the water because water has a spirit. Water is life. I truly believe that if people were aware of

that, that water has a spirit...then I think that we as people of this land would come together...the

water would hear that we love the water. (Liz)

When asked about the future, Kookum Alita concluded:

I’m very hopeful, despite all of my truth sayings about what’s going on. I’m optimistic to the

very core of my being because I know the Creator will not let us down. We will be here. We will

be here. We will remain. We have remained through holocaust after holocaust – we’re still here.

We’re still speaking the truth. So I can’t see it stopping. I can’t see anything but positive

movement forward to a full acknowledgement of the sacredness of this water. (Kookum Alita)


10

Flowing Back to Unity

In 1993, the United Nations General Assembly marked March 22 of every year as World

Water Day. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's message for World Water Day in 2015 was that

'we must work in a spirit of urgent cooperation, open to new ideas and innovation, and prepared

to share the solutions that we all need for a sustainable future' (UN.org, 2015).

On the same day, Elder Shirley and Liz were leading a water ceremony at Trent

University, Peterborough. It was the first water ceremony I had attended. Words of gratitude and

respect were expressed for water in Anishinaabemowin. Thirteen women then offered their

hearts' prayers to the water in the bowl, while pouring each time a bit of the water into a copper

pail. Everyone took a turn to drink some of the water containing the women's prayers and

blessings. We all sang the international Nibi Song in Anishinaabemowin, which Dorene Day has

given permission to everyone to sing (nibiwalk.org, n.d.). Anishinaabekwe Dorene Day was

inspired by Dr. Masaru Emoto, who said that the very least we should do is speak to the water

every day: "Water, we love you. We thank you. We respect you". In Anishinaabemowin, the

Water Song is pronounced as follows:

Ne-be Gee Zah-gay-e-goo (Water, we love you)

Gee Me-gwetch-wayn ne-me-goo (We thank you)

Gee Zah Wayn ne-me-goo. (We respect you)

Liz carried the copper pail with the water and she was accompanied by Georgie. Georgie

warmly invited me to walk with them to the bridge to watch the water being poured into the

Otonaabe ziibi [river] that runs through Michi Saagiig Anishinaabe territory. Otonaabe is an

anglicized version of Odenabe in Anishinabemowin, which is translated as 'the river that beats

like a heart' (Simpson, 2011: 93). 'Ode' means heart. 'Odemgat' means boiling water, because

when water boils, it looks like the bubbling or beating of the heart. This river would be the vein

through which we would communicate with all the waters in the world.

On that day, I also met Liz in person for the first time. While the three of us were

walking, I hesitantly asked Liz whether I could say something to the water as well. I told her that

I'm Mediterranean and that water is close to my heart. In kindness, Liz let me carry the copper

pail on our way to the bridge. While carrying the pail, my hands could feel the energies of our

prayers reverberating in the water. During our walk to the Odenabe river, I allowed myself to be

vulnerable enough to reach a more profound level of understanding. I had once asked one of my

Anishinaabe teachers whether 'ode' could be related in any way to 'heart chambers', since 'ode'

interestingly means 'chamber' in my mother tongue. She wasn't certain. Perhaps, we do have 'ode'

in common. Thus, during the walk, I let ode speak the truth. I reminisced about the time when I

was six years old, and my grandmother and I would wait for hours outside a shop to fill a bucket

of water. My grandmother would then boil the water for us to be able to drink it. I thought about

the millions of people in the world who die annually from lack of clean water.


I also remembered my kin's teachings about turtles. Through their language expressions,

they carried with them the oral tradition that turtles are sacred animals that should never be

harmed. On our way to the bridge, I opened my eyes to admire the beauty of Turtle Island. In a

heightened awareness, the love for Turtle Island's waters and all its creation was stirred in me.

Next, I thought about the wombs' waters that are presently helping to nourish life. The women's

prayers during the ceremony resonated with me. As I became more deeply awakened to the fact

that we, as humans, are mainly composed of water, many questions overwhelmed my mind. Why

are my relatives on this land being harmed, as many of us continue our lives in the veil of

blindness? Why are some human lives more easily disregarded than others? Is there an end to

this global racist apartheid? If the waters in the women's wombs are ill, then who shall help heal

humanity? I became aware of the reason I had neglected water for many years. At the time, I did

not think that I was worthy of clean water.

When we were standing on the bridge, I was weeping. Liz gave us asemaa [tobacco] in

our left hand, so that we could offer it along with our silent prayers to the Odenabe river. I

passed the pail to Georgie. As Georgie poured the water, we watched it become one with the

river. The three of us expressed a joyful spirit of awe through our voices in unison. All of a

sudden, I felt a breath of life strengthen my limbs. I knew what we were doing. Watching the

water flowing back to unity...


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A Gendered Perspective on the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act

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