Trent University professor emeritus and Elder Shirley Williams expressed why we must protect and preserve water, as one of nine panel speakers at a Sacred Water Circle held at the First Peoples House of Learning on May 9. “The Anishinaabe believe that everything comes from the creator. If someone gives you a gift, don’t you take care of it? We must respect and care for the water because it has been given to us,” she said to the crowd gathered.
Trent University hosted a series of events as part of the 2nd annual Sacred Water Gathering May 8-10, to honour water with ceremony, keynote speakers, and panel discussions, bringing together First Nations teachers and elders, political leaders, students, youth, water researchers, those in the water industry and the broader community to focus on water issues, awareness and solutions.
Fleming College’s dean of Environmental & Natural Resource Sciences, Linda Skilton was in attendance. “At the heart of daily rituals, significant memories and experiences, is water,” she said, describing water as the resource that unites us.
Distinguished members of the panel included Dr. Paul Frost, Trent University’s David Schindler Professor in Aquatic Science, grandmother Josephine Mandamin, Sacred Water Circle member Dorothy Taylor, Sylvia Plain, Youth Voices representatives Beige McIntosh and Caitlin Barratt , and Dr. Lisa Kraemer, who encouraged everyone in attendance to vote for constituents who protect and preserve the environment.
Concerned about the health of the planet, David Green, owner of Rocky Ridge Drinking Water expressed how our disconnect from water is symptomatic of the world we live in. “We’re always rushing around, driving everywhere,” he said. “There’s never any time to reflect because, if there was, we would see how much waste we create in the process. It’s not sustainable.”
Acknowledging cultural divisions and differing systems of thought, Elder Doug Williams said that rather than continuing with the approach that one way is the right way, we must instead come together to protect and preserve the land and the water. “We must acknowledge our creator,” Mr. Williams said, explaining that Indigenous culture does not summarize after a discussion, but gives final words, “and take care of what has been given to us. It’s time.”
First initiated by Curve Lake visionary Dorothy Taylor, the Sacred Water Circle was formed in 2011 in response to a call from Indigenous leaders worldwide to foster exchange and discussion, learn from one another and to build community around this important cause.
Posted on Wednesday, May 15, 2013.