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Water First

Event

Keep up to date with our programming activities.

Take the Clean Water Challenge

Water First is calling on you to take part in the Clean Water Challenge! Help us show support for essential workers by thanking your local water treatment operators who provide clean drinking water straight to your tap. 

Here’s the challenge:

  • Post this image or share your own social post in support of essential workers by thanking your local water treatment operators!
  • Tag two friends and challenge them to show their support by using the hashtag #WaterIsEssential 
  • Make sure to follow @waterfirstngo

Artifishal Screening

On July 25th, Water First took part in a public screening of Patagonia’s newest documentary, Artifishal, at the Station on the Green in Creemore. The event was well attended by both the general public and local water stewards, including the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority (NVCA) and the Nottawasaga Steelheaders. Patagonia and the NVCA are currently working together to protect native trout habitat at the headwaters of the Nottawasaga River. 

Artifishal is a film about the demise of wild salmon around the world, and “the high cost—environmental, financial and cultural—of hatcheries and fish farms, and our mistaken reliance on human-engineered solutions.” The film explores the importance of keeping wild spaces wild, and the consequences hatcheries and fish farms have had on human and natural communities that have always relied on the salmon. The film showed both the strength and fragility of nature and the human-nature relationship through salmon over time. It also illustrated that unless something changes very soon, the current practice of industrialized fish farming will cause the complete collapse of wild salmon worldwide. 

Salmon and steelhead are keystone species to indicate the health of watersheds because they require cool, clean water to live. The Great Lakes are home to wild populations of West Coast salmon and steelhead, and the Nottawasaga River is an important spawning ground for both species. Our local watershed needs our protection. The NVCA hosts several days each year working with volunteer groups like the Nottawasaga Steelheaders to restore habitat integral to the health of the river. 

Water First is hosting Clayton Samuel King during the Creemore Festival of the Arts 2019

Water First is very excited to be hosting Clayton during the Creemore Festival of the Arts during the weekend of October 5th and 6th from 10am to 4pm.

Born and raised in St. Catharines, Clayton Samuel King is of Potawatomi descent and a member of Beausoleil First Nation. Clayton paints predominantly with acrylics but also works in photography, sculpture, graphite and traditional First Nation crafts. In addition to his artwork, Clayton delivers First Nations painting and cultural interpretive workshops that help bridge an understanding of First Nations art and history to native and non-native students alike. Clayton also performs as a Northern Traditional Pow Wow Dancer.

To learn more about Clayton and see some of his work, visit whitebearart.com.

Painting by Clayton Samuel King
The mermaid/merman clan of the Anishinaabek, or Nibinabe Doodem are protectors of the water, for it is a sacred medicine. This painting depicts a nibinabe kwe shining in the moon light of G’chi Manidoo or the Big Spirit Moon. It is during this moon phase that the power of Nookmis’s light purifies us and helps heal all creation. Just like any healing journey, patience is always required. It is during this time that we find out about the healing powers of the spirit world. It is these powers that help transform our way of life into a positive for our own vision and truth, just like the mermaid and the water. 

Purple Hills Arts & Heritage Society

The Creemore Festival of the Arts is a weekend-long celebration of art — one of the annual events that have made the village of Creemore a destination for creative inspiration and discovery.

This year, they are featuring the artwork of JJ Jasperson, Deborah Farquarson & Jocelyn Hirtes, and Denis Bolohan, along with dozens more artists within the village and the Creemore countryside. 

To learn more about the Purple Hills Arts & Heritage Society, visit phahs.ca.

Today is World Water Day

Today, Friday March 22nd, marks World Water Day. This year’s theme is “Leaving no one behind,” which speaks to the fact that in 2019, there remain billions of people around the world without access to safe, clean water. In Canada, many Indigenous communities remain without such access.

One of the contributing factors to this situation is that Indigenous communities do not receive comparable education, training and employment supports when it comes to water science and management. These supports are critical in ensuring the long-term sustainability of Indigenous water systems.

Water First is addressing these challenges by supporting First Nations communities to solve water challenges through education, training and meaningful collaboration. We do this through:

  • Meaningful collaborations and respectful relationships. With our priority in creating respectful relationships – Water First’s programs are uniquely adaptable to each community’s needs and context.

  • Hiring and training locally. We primarily hire young Indigenous adults to ensure communities retain the skills and knowledge gained where they can have a long-term impact.

  • Blending of western science and traditional knowledge. With our partners, we weave First Nations’ knowledge, values, and customs with western water science education, and interns and youth involved in our programs get out on the land and in the water.

With investments from our supporters, we are part of a solution that is working – one person and one community at a time.

Water First at AWWAO Conference

On January 29-31, 2019, Water First team members attended the 24th Annual Aboriginal Water and Wastewater Association of Ontario (AWWAO) Training Conference and Tradeshow in Thunder Bay, Ontario. 

Two graduates of the Water First Internship program, now Operators-In-Training at their communities’ water treatment plants attended the conference. Water First also had the opportunity to take part in the tradeshow and was a guest speaker at the event’s banquet.

AWWAO acts as a voice for First Nation Plant Operators in Ontario. Among its many objectives, AWWAO promotes the importance of providing safe, potable water to communities, and advocates the importance of maintaining high standards of wastewater operations.

Learn more about AWWAO here.

Reflections on Water: The Artwork of James Simon Mishinibinijima

Water First is excited to be participating in the Creemore Festival of the Arts this year during this coming weekend of September 29th & 30th, 2018! We will be showcasing one of Canada’s foremost Native artists, James Simon Mishibinijima. Mishibinijima is from Wiikwemkoong, Manitoulin Island, where we have just completed the inaugural Water First Internship program with great success. Mishibinijima will be sharing his work that reflects water and the Mishmountain art style. He has created a unique body of work over the past four decades which has attracted a loyal following in North America and overseas. In his work he underscores the wisdom of the Elders’ teachings as a way to foster respect and peace. He also emphasizes the interconnectedness of all life and calls upon nations to preserve our natural surroundings for the benefit of our children. The Creemore Festival of the Arts, presented by the Purple Hills Arts & Heritage Society and part of Clearview Township’s Small Halls Festival, is a weekend-long celebration of art — one of the annual events that have made the village of Creemore a destination for creative inspiration and discovery. Take advantage of this unique opportunity and visit the Water First office on September 29th & 30th between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM.