TEXT:

SLATE:
CIER, the Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources, helps Canadian First Nations manage their environmental issues, including access to safe drinking water.

SLATE:
Merrell-Ann Phare, the Executive Director of CIER, visited the Shoal Lake 40 First Nation reserve to better understand their issues.

SLATE:
Her goal is to see how CIER might be able to help.

BRANDED SLATE:
Project 2 | Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources (CIER)

SUPER:
Shoal Lake | Manitoba

MERRELL-ANN v/o:
One of the things that CIER has determined in its research is that 1 in 5 First Nations has a drinking water advisory. But when we actually look at the number of reserves, it's actually 1 in 3. I think it's something that we should all be ashamed of.

SUPER:
MERRELL-ANN PHARE
Executive Director | CIER

M-A:
Most of us have access to all of what we'd call modern conveniences, and yet we have a whole section of our society, a whole group of people, that do not have access to even just what is considered a basic necessity of life.

SUPER:
Shoal Lake 40 First Nation Reserve

TOM ANDERSON:
We finally get to meet you. I'm Tom Anderson. How are you? This is Chief Erwin Redsky.

M-A:
Hello. Really nice to meet you.

ERWIN REDSKY:
I'm Erwin Red Sky.

T-A:
This is Councillor Vernon Red Sky.

M-A:
Hello.

VERNON REDSKY:
Hi.

M-A:
Now you guys have a boil water advisory, right?

TA:
We've had one here for 18 years, and we supply the water to Winnipeg. It's quite ironic.

M-A:
It's hard to believe, really.

SUPER:
COUNCILLOR TOM ANDERSON
Shoal Lake 40 First Nation

TA:
So this is one of our typical pump houses here. The water comes from the lake. And it goes from the, there's a meter here, and then there's a chlorine injector.

M-A:
You have a boil water advisory, so what is this for then?

TA:
It's just for domestic use. Just for your washing and your laundry and bathing and showering.

M-A:
So you have to treat the water even for that.

TA:
Yeah. So we have bottled water delivery here, the 5 gallon jug.

M-A:
How long has that been?

TA:
18 years.

M-A:
So for some of the kids they wouldn't have known anything different.

TA:
No, it would have been all their life.

SUPER:
TOM ROSS
Elder | Shoal Lake 40 First Nation

TOM ROSS:
Sometimes when they change the chlorine on it we can smell it really strong.

M-A:
Really? So you can't drink this at all?

TR:
No. Unless you boil it. These are the jugs they deliver.

M-A:
So they deliver it to your house for you.

TR:
Yes, every house. Sometimes they get pretty heavy to lift up. You gotta have a good back for this job.

M-A:
So do you worry about the state of Shoal Lake at all?

TR:
Yeah, we've got lots of water, we can't use it. That's a shame because when I was a kid we could drink water anywhere.

M-A v/o:
The biggest water issue facing First Nations right now, is their ability to control and protect the source of their drinking water. What we do, is our organization, we go upstream, we say to ourselves, how did that problem get created?

SUPER:
DARYL RED SKY
Consultation Officer | Shoal Lake 40 First Nation

DARYL RED SKY:
We've suffered a lot because of a lack of consultation. One of the issues is water. What I understand from the elders is that Shoal Lake was a lake all by itself at one time and it had a natural source, it was a natural spring, so it was always clear. We have Lake of the Woods water coming into Shoal Lake, that's been blasted. I think that process was authorized by the International Joint Commission way back in the day, and there was no consultation at that time.

VERNON REDSKY:
I think over the years there's been a lot of population growth in terms of cottagers within a couple of kilometers of the community.

SUPER:
COUNCILLOR VERNON REDSKY
Shoal Lake 40 First Nation

VR:
Their sewage is kind of more or less dripping down through Falcon Creek into our lake.

DR:
Lake of the Woods is all polluted so it's coming into Shoal Lake. And it goes right by here, right through here into the intake.

M-A:
One of the things that CIER is trying to do is creating a First Nations watershed planning model. We're really trying to get First Nations at the table in how water decisions are made by governments.

TA:
It's still good to get in the game anyway and have a voice. You know, have some say in trying to control the damage that's been done.

M-A:
We're also trying to look at it from a watershed level, and so we're trying to say, we need to look really broadly at water, and have everybody who might be impacted or who might create a problem sitting at the table, having a voice in making the decision. And we see First Nations as being critical to that.

SUPER:
Unama'ki (Cape Breton) | Nova Scotia

M-A:
All of the water within a certain area all flows into one general direction. That's basically the definition of a watershed. So our method of learning from First Nations is to do a case study analysis essentially. What's an acceptable level of water quality and how did they make that determination? What are the things that they're taking into account? Is it just human use, or is it the use of other species?

SLATE:
The Unama'ki Institute of Natural Resources (UINR) represents Eskasoni's
Mi'kmaq voice on environmental concerns.

SLATE:
The Eskasoni First Nation have access to a clean water source; CIER is using UINR as a case study on exemplary watershed management.

SUPER:
SHELLEY DENNY
Biologist & Research Coordinator
Unama'ki Insititute of Natural Resources (UINR)

SHELLEY DENNY:
When CIER approached us to examine how we develop watershed management, we first asked them, well what kind of water are you talking about? UINR is involved in both drinking watershed management and also for the protection of aquatic species. And we sort of saw them as two distinct things, but really, they are related, because what you do for watershed planning applies to all sources, whether it's drinking water or whether it's for the protection of aquatic species.

I've always been interested in biology in particular and I really enjoyed playing in the brooks and the lakes and the ocean and discovering what I could find.

Oh, we do have some cool things. So this is a, I believe is a grubby. What do you call it in Mi'kmaq, Tyson, kloq? It's a little one. I used to do this as a child, playing with fish.

M-A:
The work that Shelley Denny is doing with the Unama'ki Institute of Natural Resources is an example of both using traditional knowledge and her scientific training. That's the really important thing that we're learning from them, is how they actually combine these knowledge systems to create solutions to protect this habitat, which is water.

SD:
Dissolved oxygen: 9.9, and the salinity is 17.44. I really wanted to do something that made a difference in the world. It's not just about research to me. It's about action and helping your people. And at the time I was the only Mi'kmaq student enrolled in a science at my university, and I believe probably in Atlantic Canada.

M-A:
It's a case study and it's a demonstration of the interconnectedness and how their research activities and their ultimate solutions are demonstrating that. We believe that the longterm sustainability of a community has to start from the First Nation defining its vision for the future. 100 years from now, what do they want their First Nation to look like? What would be the world they're trying to create?

DR:
Our community is dying, our people are dying because of the water. Finally people are starting to become aware of our message that us as being custodians, as caretakers of the land, they should have listened to us a long time ago. Now they're starting to look at our methods, our teachings, our ways.

TA:
We always think about the next generation. We always think about what we're doing today affects what happens tomorrow. Especially the elders, they always talk about, whatever you do today impacts your grandchildren. The land and everything is very resilient. The only negative impact is man or humankind and what they do to it. Our belief is that Mother Earth is a living thing, and everything is connected.