Skä•noñh. Sekoh.

I'm honoured to be asked here today.

I'm going to talk about the Ohneganos research team, which intentionally centres indigenous knowledge in women in addressing climate change and the water crisis we're currently experiencing, which is an increasingly recognized step by international organizations and bodies to build effective mitigation approaches to these crises.

A UN economic and social affairs policy brief from 2021 states:

Indigenous people are stewards of the world's biodiversity and cultural diversity. Although they account for only around 5 percent of the world's population, they effectively manage an estimated 20-25 per cent of the Earth's land surface [including water]. This land coincides with areas that hold 80 per cent of the planet's biodiversity and about 40 per cent of all terrestrial protected areas and ecologically intact landscapes. Indigenous peoples therefore play a key role in efforts to protect the planet and biodiversity.

Focusing on the role of traditional knowledge and indigenous women in mitigating climate change, the report notes “the importance of upholding the rights of indigenous peoples as enshrined in international law and full respect for the right of indigenous peoples decision”.

My community of Six Nations has led a project, Ohneganos, which means “water” in our language. It's a research project with the Six Nations of the Grand River of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, in the largest populated indigenous reserve in Canada. The Six Nations community has been engaged in efforts to achieve sustainable ecosystems, health and well-being directly tied to the state of water. As a Kanienkehaka—Mohawk—woman and a scientist living in my community, it is important to acknowledge the laws that our people upheld long before colonial laws of the Crown.

The research undertaken centres on the Haudenosaunee Great Law and responsibility to care for the water. This is embedded in our creation stories and the thanksgiving—or Ohenton kariwatehkwen—address. The constitution of the Haudenausonee states that whenever the confederacy leaders “shall assemble for the purpose of holding a council, the [leaders] shall open it by expressing their gratitude to...and offer thanks to the earth where men dwell, to the streams of water, the pools and the lakes”.

Secretary to the Haudenausonee Confederacy and sub-chief Leroy Hill tells us how the Great Lakes were formed, and the fresh water that the Creator gave us to live on earth. The landscape of this region is literally tied to our creation story.

The Great Lakes are collectively the third-largest body of drinking water globally. When Europeans arrived, they marvelled at the abundance of pure, sweet drinking water. In less than 200 years, the sweet water of the Great Lakes has been contaminated and, in some cases, is highly toxic. These numbers are expected to increase and are exacerbated by climate change and population growth.

Our study found that, in my community, only 10% to 12% of Six Nations residents have access to treated water piped into their homes. Nearly 30% of home and tap water sampled had unsafe levels of heavy metals and E. coli bacteria. The majority of residents are required to purchase their water, both trucked and bottled, and must pay for waste removal, causing undue economic, physical and social hardships. Our health surveys found that over half of the residents were found to have daily levels of water insecurity anxiety, impacting mental health significantly, especially for the new mothers and our elders.

Only less than 0.5% of the water on this earth is usable and available fresh water, and climate change is dangerously affecting this. Only 2.6% of the world's freshwater supply is available to southern Canada, where most of the population lives, in contrast to the continental U.S., which has a 3.7% freshwater supply available for its use. Canada has a relatively high amount of fresh water available per capita; however, this availability of fresh water varies dramatically by region.

One in four Canadian municipalities experienced water shortages between 1994 and 1999. Shortages were attributed to increases in consumption, drought or infrastructure constraints. Consequently, changes in river flows, climate or land use can have significant impacts on the water available to individual households.

Climate change, population growth and increasing water scarcity will put pressure on our food supply, as most of the fresh water used—about 70% on average—is used for agriculture. It takes between 2,000 to 5,000 litres of water to produce a person's daily food. As part of our project Ohneganos, we identified numerous threats to the ongoing illegal extraction of groundwater by Nestlé, and now by BlueTriton, on our traditional lands as outlined indigenous lands, leading to advocacy for indigenous water governance.

Our study documents that the water insecurity of Six Nations is further exacerbated by the selling of our sacred aquifer to corporations, which will eventually devastate our ecosystem.

In response to Bill C-61, there is a positive duty on states to observe UN agreements, treaties, declarations and norms, including indigenous rights under UNDRIP and rights to territorial integrity and resources therein.

Canada has an obligation to uphold UNDRIP articles 21 and 26. I won't go over them, but article 26, paragraph three, states:

States shall give legal recognition and protection to these lands, territories and resources. Such recognition shall be conducted with due respect to the customs, traditions and land tenure systems of the indigenous peoples concerned.