![]() ![]() There are currently 50 indigenous communities with long-term boil water advisories, which means an estimated 63,000 people haven’t had drinkable water for at least a year – and some for decades. The Six Nations are not the only First Nations community in Canada with a water crisis. Others have water in their taps, but it is too polluted to drink. Some, like the Thomas home, have no water at all. Ninety-one percent of the homes in this community aren’t connected to the water treatment plant, says Michael Montour, director of public works for Six Nations. “It made me feel like a bad mother to know that he had all these skin issues from washing with water.” That’s just the reality of living on reserve. She would have continued had it not been for her son’s rashes, later diagnosed as impetigo, which she believes came from bacteria on the roof’s shingles. You grow up being treated unfairly.”Įach container of the store-bought bottled water weighs more than 40lb, so a little over a year ago, Thomas, a slight, willowy woman, began supplementing them with rainwater collected from her rooftop gutters. But that’s just the reality of living on reserve. “Because our people don’t have running water. “When I start to compare my life to someone who isn’t living on reserve, I start feeling angry at the government,” she said. “When my husband isn’t here, it makes it difficult to do the dishes or anything because I don’t have the strength to carry all the jugs of water,” Thomas said. Photograph: Jennifer Roberts/The Guardian Ken Greene boils water in his home at the Six Nations reserve in Ontario. The water isn’t drinkable, however, so once a week they also drive 10km to the nearest town, Caledonia, to buy bottled water to drink. Twice a week, Thomas and her husband grab jugs, pails and whatever else they have in the house, and drive 8km to a public tap to fill up. ![]() Meanwhile, while Thomas and her family do without water, the beverage company Nestlé extracts millions of litres of water daily from Six Nations treaty land. Moreover, this Native community is located in prosperous southern Ontario, 90 minutes from Canada’s largest and richest city, Toronto. It is Canada, which regularly ranks as one of the United Nations’ top places in the world to live. It is a challenging existence, full of frustration, exhaustion and health problems, and reminiscent of life in some developing countries. For washing and toilet usage, they use a bucket. Her children lack access to things commonplace elsewhere, like toilets, showers and baths. Thomas, a university student and mother of five, has lived without running tap water since the age of 16. Thomas came to suspect the culprit behind the rash: water – or, rather, the lack of it. For almost a year, his mother, Iokarenhtha Thomas, who lives in the Six Nations of the Grand River indigenous reserve in Ontario, went to the local doctor for lotions for the boy. ![]() His story is part of the indigenous resurgence that is happening across Canada and worldwide: after years of oppression, he and others are healing themselves by rediscovering their culture and sharing their knowledge.Ĭoming full circle, Metatawabin’s haunting and brave narrative offers profound lessons on the importance of bearing witness, and the ability to become whole once again.The mysterious rash on the arm of six-year-old Theron wouldn’t heal. Now Metatawabin’s mission is to help the next generation of residential school survivors. Anne’s, culminating in a recent court case demanding that the school records be released to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Metatawabin has since worked tirelessly to expose the wrongdoings of St. There he learned from elders, participated in native cultural training workshops that emphasize the holistic approach to personhood at the heart of Cree culture, and finally faced his alcoholism and PTSD. In seeking healing, Metatawabin travelled to southern Alberta. Fuelled by alcohol, the trauma from his past caught up with him, and his family and work lives imploded. Even as Metatawabin built the trappings of a successful life-wife, kids, career-he was tormented by horrific memories. Anne’s, in northern Ontario, is an institution now notorious for the range of punishments that staff and teachers inflicted on students. ![]() In the 1950s, 7-year-old Edmund Metatawabin was separated from his family and placed in one of Canada’s worst residential schools. A powerful, raw yet eloquent memoir from a residential school survivor and former First Nations Chief, Up Ghost River is a necessary step toward our collective healing. ![]()
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