AFN Manitoba Regional Chief Cindy Woodhouse spoke at the United Nations Water Conference recently in New York to highlight the rights of First Nations when it comes to safe drinking water. Woodhouse talked about water governance and the need for intensified action to realize the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation for all indigenous peoples. Some 10,000 participants gathered at UN Headquarters and online from March 22-24 to address the water crisis and “ensure equitable access to water for all.”

Manitoba Regional Chief Cindy Woodhouse of the Assembly of First Nations spoke at the United Nations Water Conference in New York, advocating for the rights of First Nations in any action related to water governance. She emphasized the need for intensified action to achieve safe drinking water and sanitation for all Indigenous peoples, which is a fundamental human right.

The Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte – Kenhtè:ke Kanyen’kehá:ka will soon have more reliable safe drinking water at 320 more residences thanks to 21 kilometres of new water main infrastructure. Chief Donald Maracle and the Council of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte (MBQ) hosted a sod-turning ceremony on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022, at the corner of Beach Road and Young Street in Shannonville, marking the beginning of the third phase of the project, which has the long-term goal of contributing to the lifting of five long-term drinking water advisories in the community.

Water is life. Don’t mess with it. That’s the message from one Indigenous cultural anthropologist and water researcher: nothing can live without water, yet we’re destroying it at a rapid pace. In 2015, the federal government campaigned to end all long-term drinking water advisories in First Nations communities by 2020. Two years after that promised date, water advisories are still present in 94 First Nations communities, with Neskantaga First Nation, an Ojibwe community more than 430 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, Ont., surpassing 10,000 days under a boil water advisory this week.

Cheekbone Beauty is using lipgloss to call out lip service paid by federal governments when it comes to providing safe drinking water to Indigenous communities. The fact that reserves, First Nations and Indigenous communities have struggled for access to clean drinking water has been known for years, and fixing the issue has been a focal point of major party platforms in the last three federal elections.