“Theory of Water” takes its inspiration from the works of interdisciplinary Anishinaabekwe artist Rebecca Belmore and Canadian poet Dionne Brand. Belmore famously created a giant wooden megaphone (more than 6 feet across at the bell) as an art installation that was displayed in various locations in Canada and the U.S. That work, called “Ayum-ee-aawach Oomama-mowan: Speaking To Their Mother,” allowed speakers’ voices to echo up to nine times as they addressed their native land. A second project called “Wave Sound” flipped the concept, turning a megaphone into a kind of listening horn to amplify the sound of water and shoreline.
Broken Promises: University students release documentary investigating the water crisis on Saskatchewan First Nations
Students at the University of Regina, Concordia University in Montreal, Que. and First Nations University of Canada (FNUniv) are taking a closer look at the First Nations water crisis in Saskatchewan, contributing to a new era of investigative journalism in Canada. The project is led by the Institute for Investigative Journalism (IIJ) at Concordia, producing over 30 articles and broadcast programs including an hour-long documentary investigating the safety of drinking water in Saskatchewan and the rest of Canada.
Water crisis in First Nations communities runs deeper than long-term drinking water advisories
In October, more than 250 members of the Neskantaga First Nation were evacuated to Thunder Bay after an oily sheen was found on their reservoir. The discovery left the community, located in northern Ontario, without access to running water. The evacuation drew attention to the federal government’s 2015 commitment to end all on reserve long-term drinking water advisories (in place for more than one year) by March 31, 2021. Neskantaga has been living under a boil-water advisory for 26 years.