"For the first time coming to the island since I was a little child, I saw corn growing," Diabo, council chief responsible for the environment portfolio at the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke, said at a news conference Wednesday announcing the completion of the nearly decade-long project to restore water flow in the bay and naturalize its surroundings. 

The First Nation that has been the source of Winnipeg's water for more than a century is suing the city and federal government, saying it's never been compensated for the harms suffered as a result of the city's water diversion system. When it was build in 1915, Winnipeg's aqueduct left Shoal Lake 40 isolated on a man-made island that was only accessible by ice road in the winter or barge in the summer. 

A First Nation, whose lake supplies drinking water to the city of Winnipeg, is suing for a century of alleged damages, according to a statement of claim filed Tuesday. The 13-page “injurious affection claim” seeks unspecified financial damages to compensate for the “devastating impacts of the Winnipeg aqueduct” that isolated the Anishinaabe community for more than 100 years.

Saugeen Ojibway Nation Water Walkers led by women from the Chippewas of Nawash and Saugeen First Nations are travelling nearly 600 kilometres around the boundary of their territory this month. Hundreds of members from the Saugeen Ojibway Nation are expected to participate in the walk and carry a kettle of water and an eagle staff throughout the traditional SON territory.

Eabametoong First Nation remains in a state of emergency as the northwestern Ontario community marks more than a week without access to running water. The remote Ojibway First Nation of about 1,600 people is approximately 360 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ont. It has been in a state of emergency since a fire broke out at the Eabametoong First Nation Water Treatment Plant last Wednesday.

Today, Chief Lynn Indian of Big Grassy First Nation; Chief Jeff Copenace of Ojibways of Onigaming First Nation; the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations; and the Honourable Greg Rickford, Ontario's Minister of Indigenous Affairs, announced that the Big Grassy and Ojibways of Onigaming First Nations, the Government of Canada, and the Government of Ontario have concluded tripartite negotiations and reached a settlement agreement for the First Nations' flooding claims.

There are still 28 boil water advisories left on First Nations in Canada. That's according to Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu. She says the challenge now is making sure there are qualified people to operate the water treatment systems. "A lot of it comes down to water operators," Hajdu said on Wednesday after her visit to Northwest Angle #33.

Today, Northwest Angle No. 33's Angle Inlet community site held celebrations following the completion of a new water treatment plant for Angle Inlet. Chief Darlene Comegan and the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Indigenous Services, announced today that with the water treatment plant complete, the community lifted three long-term drinking water advisories. The new centralized water treatment plant will provide reliable access to safe and clean drinking water for 100 residents. The water treatment plant meets the community's current needs and has the capacity to support future population growth over the next 20 years.

Peltier’s work as an Indigenous rights and clean water activist was highlighted at this year’s Collision tech conference, which took place from June 26 to 29. As a speaker at the conference, Peltier discussed what the next generation of climate activists might look like. The 18-year-old has spent more than half her life speaking about the value of clean water to organizations such as the United Nations and the World Economic Forum. Although various long-term drinking water advisories have been lifted in recent years, nearly 30 warnings remain in place in 26 communities across Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, as of June 19.

A First Nation on Vancouver Island has been legally barred from accessing one of its primary traditional food sources for the past 25 years, one of 154 shellfish harvesting sites closed by federal law in B.C. due to poor water quality. Some of those sites may be safe at times, a recent audit concluded, but they cannot be reopened because the federal agency in charge of testing those waters is understaffed. As a result, it devotes the majority of its limited resources to commercial harvesting areas. Shellfish beds First Nations have relied on for as long as their people have existed haven’t been given such high priority.

Jenifer Redsky and her sisters run Oceah Oceah — a First Nations paddling company with a mission to connect people “with and to water” in Tkaronto (Toronto). “As an Indigenous woman, we’ve always been taught that we have a special connection to the water,” said Redsky. “My sisters and I really believe that by doing the work that we do, by giving people lessons, teaching them the skills, bringing them down to the water, we’re increasing people’s connection to the water, their relationship to the water, how they treat the water and how they protect it alongside us.”

"It concerns us. The water, the land, the medicine on it will be destroyed. The caribou that are roaming in that area and all the mushrooms and wild rice there. All of it would be contaminated," said Elder Eileen Linklater, one of the eight grandmothers who organized the protest. "Mines usually have spills. Yes, they build reservoirs, but they overflow and it would go into water streams. Also, they will release a lot of gasses into the air." Asked to comment on the concerns being expressed by the protesters, Foran said some of the information the concerns are based on is "misleading and untrue."

This year Lawrence Park CI built their capacity as a school to raise greater awareness of essential Indigenous Education by not only opening up an interactive lesson with the Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada Giant Floor Map for their own staff and students to take part in, but also by inviting the students and staff of John Ross Robertson JPS and Glenview SPS to engage in lessons with the map as well.

The Corporation was awarded two First Nations projects in Northern Alberta, Canada. The first contract involves a drinking water rental system to provide water for the community of Garden River while the full-scale drinking water project is being completed. The other project is for an emergency expansion of the John D’Or drinking water plant to accommodate the needs of communities that have been displaced by the recent wildfires. “It is essential that our Indigenous communities have access to reliable drinking water and wastewater treatment equipment. Our service team has prioritized the rapid deployment in support of Indigenous Services Canada and the local communities,” stated Frédéric Dugré, President, Chief Executive Officer and co-Founder of H2O Innovation. This project has already commenced and is expected to be completed in July 2023.

Jocelyn Burzuik, president of Sundance Construction, an Indigenous-led contracting firm in Sandy Hook, Man., opened with a dire prediction that despite millions of dollars in government investments, the problems with water and sewer projects on First Nation and Métis communities haven't gotten any better and will only get worse. She described a "devolving situation" with the life cycle running out on existing systems that eventually will "cascade into one great big huge failure of systems across the entire country, and I don't think people are aware of what's coming."

"We are exercising our inherent rights to raise awareness about the concerns affecting our waters by being visible and conducting ceremony throughout our territory," says Wolske, organizer of Shining Water Paddle. Shining Water Paddle, an initiative by members of the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation, held its third annual ceremonial journey June 5 as they paddled around Lake Simcoe which has a shoreline perimeter of 303 km. Azhoonyang or Shining Waters is the Anishinabe name for Lake Simcoe, which is located in southern Ontario in the Territory of the Chippewa Tri Council, (Georgina Island, Rama and Beausoleil First Nations). Georgina Island is located in the southern shore of Lake Simcoe. The Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation have been living under a long-term boil water advisory for years. A 2017, $2.6-million investment from Indigenous Services Canada was implemented to upgrade the community's water treatment plant, however residents in the eastern and southern part of the community still do not have access to treated drinking water.

Treaty obligations outlined by Standingontheroad included the medicine chest clause or  "universal health care, assured to First Nations free of cost" as well as rights around education, fishing, hunting, minerals and clean drinking water. "We are all treaty people," Standingontheroad said. "We all agreed to share this land and respect treaty between our peoples."

"The Dene people are committed to good relations with our land, water, plants, and animals," N'dilo Yellowknives Dene First Nation Chief Fred Sangris said in a statement. "The participation of Yellowknives Dene businesses in remediating the former Giant Mine site fits within these values. It offers increased opportunities for skills-building to our young people that they can take with them as they build their careers."

The Tsawout First Nation, located 20 kilometres north of Victoria, B.C., has declared an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA) for 155 kilometres of ocean in its traditional waters. The area will be called QEN'T Marine Protected Area. QEN'T — pronounced "qwant" — means "to be looking after," "caring for," or "protecting something or someone" in SENĆOŦEN.

“siwɬkʷ (WATER) IS SACRED AND IS LIFE FOR ALL PEOPLE. We know from our histories and our knowledge that water is one of the most important resources available to humans and animals.” But for Dawn Machin and Sarah Alexis, both from snƛ̓x̌ʷx̌ʷtan (Six-Mile Creek area in the North Arm of Okanagan Lake), there’s a disconnect between what water represents to humanity and how it’s perceived.

It’s about clean water. It’s always been about clean water. Miranda Dick, Secwépemc, repeatedly emphasizes the importance of clean water when she speaks about her actions trying to stop the twinning of the Trans Mountain pipeline. She said for her whole life, stemming from her mom and dad, she’s been protecting the watershed. Her mom passed away from cancer more than 18 years ago. “She always said it was in the food we eat and the water we drink – this cancer would be contaminating our human consumption. So she always said to protect clean water, protect the berries, and protect the salmon and the deer. It’s our food supply, right?” remarked Miranda. “So I always led with that, over the course of time, protection of clean water.”

After a wildfire tore through the forest around Kakisa, N.W.T., in 2014, Lloyd Chicot began noticing changes in the lake: the pickerel grew fatter, and the pelicans moved in. Chicot, the chief of Ka'a'gee Tu First Nation, attributes the change partly to climate change and partly to runoff from the fire, which brought nutrients and debris into the lake. "Right after the fire, there was a lot of burnt driftwood and that kind of stuff," he recalled.

“I think it is time for Indigenous leaders and communities to take a look at how much participation in resource extraction is too much and how to mitigate some of these things and push towards water conservation and other things we know will help to curb forest fires,” said Houle. A hot and dry spring has meant that there has been little precipitation to help firefighters battle the blazes.

A new copper plaque on the boulevard along Broadway at Donald Street aims to educate Winnipeggers about the source of their drinking water and the community surrounding it — Shoal Lake 40 First Nation. "For years Winnipeg members, their citizens, were able to … turn on their tap," said Chief Kevin Redsky of Shoal Lake 40 First Nation at the unveiling of the plaque on Friday.  The plaque pays tribute to Shoal Lake as the source of city water since 1919, when the Winnipeg aqueduct was completed. It explains how the project impacted the First Nation community and its relationship with water. "The 24-year boil water advisory, the sickness created bathing our own children, not being able to drink safe water," Redsky said.

The Ktunaxa, Secwépemc and Syilx Okanagan Nations and their members will benefit from new interim agreements that share revenue generated from the Columbia River Treaty. Through the three separate interim agreements, the Ktunaxa Nation, Secwépemc Nation and Syilx Okanagan Nation will each receive 5% of the revenue generated through the sale of Canada's share of downstream power benefits under the treaty, otherwise known as the Canadian Entitlement. The proposed interim agreements will share this revenue over four years.

The Land Back movement has called for global solidarity to address the oppression and dispossession of Indigenous Peoples’ lands and territories. The alienation of Indigenous Peoples from Water has largely been absent from this call to action. However, there is a growing consensus among Indigenous Water Protectors who assert that there cannot be Land Back without Water Back.

The MP brandished a container of gray and opaque water in front of the journalists, demanding a Parliamentary commission concerning the alleged toxic discharges into a watercourse adjacent to the G&R Recycling site at the northwest end of Kanesatake. “If that’s water that we find on the ground in Kanesatake because of an illegal dump that is contaminated, no one wants to live in an environment like that,” the MP said.

A group that claims to speak on behalf of citizens of Kanesatake is calling for an independent commission of inquiry with the participation of the United Nations on the crisis in the Mohawk community of Kanesatake. NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice participated in a demonstration that brought together about 25 people in front of the office of the Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller Tuesday in Montreal. The MP brandished a container of gray and opaque water in front of the journalists, demanding a parliamentary commission concerning the alleged toxic discharges into a watercourse adjacent to the G&R Recycling site at the northwest end of Kanesatake.

Three main barriers impede access to safe services for many people in high-income countries, according to the new paper. First, systemic racism underlies inequities and limits access to resources, said the article. Historically marginalized people and low-income communities are more likely to lack access to safe water and sanitation. Those groups include minority racial and ethnic populations as well as Indigenous communities, migrants and people of colour, said the co-authors. In the United States, for instance, the authors found Native American households are 19 times more likely, and Black or Latinx households are nearly twice as likely, to be without functional water and wastewater access than households identifying as white. Second, changes to infrastructure financing, including a move to full-cost pricing in HICs, have reduced subsidies to people lacking services.  Third, gaps persist because availability and quality of services are tied to housing and property ownership. Linking property to water and sanitation services is a policy choice that disadvantages groups including migrants, people living in poverty and people experiencing homelessness or in unstable housing, said the paper.   

Line 5 transports crude oil through the heart of the Great Lakes, an invaluable cultural resource for residents and visitors to the region who benefit from the connection with the water and the land. The pipeline has already leaked 29 times, spilling over 4.5 million litres of oil and putting 84 percent of North America’s surface freshwater at risk. And yet, Canada continues to prioritize the ongoing operation of the pipeline over this critical global freshwater system.