Importance of Safe Water for Aboriginal Children’s Education

drinking water

Access to potable water is a fundamental human right and essential to ongoing  human health. Good health is also essential for students to obtain an education. For over 20 years, conditions of water safety and quality on reserve lands continue to be an ongoing concern in Canada. “Despite a substantial amount of funding allocated toward improving water infrastructure on reserve, an alarming proportion of communities face boil and drinking water advisories” (White, Murphy, & Spence, 2012, p. 1). As reserve land is under the Government of Canada’s jurisdiction, bureaucracy via regulatory frameworks, legacy of colonization, funding formulas, governance and policy issues remain as roadblocks to ensuring access to safe water on lands where Aboriginal students attend school.

Limited access to safe water impacts health creating discrepancies and disproportionate levels of disease and early death among Aboriginal people. Further, health discrepancies between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people are also directly and indirectly related to social, economic, cultural, and political inequities (Adelson, 2005).

Even though, in 1989, Canada played a prominent role in drafting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), a United Nations Child Find (UNICEF) report cited the plight of Aboriginal children due to lack of adequate housing, education, and clean water (UNICEF 2007).  In 1997, the Government of Canada documented promises to improve living condition for Aboriginal children (Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development 1997). The 2007 Senate report (Canada, Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights 2007) recommended a legal framework and an independent national children’s commissioner to monitor implementation of children’s rights federally and to coordinate federal, provincial and territorial policies that affect children. But with no legal framework or commission to monitor change, very little continued to be done to improve living conditions.

Poor living conditions impact children’s lives as Aboriginal children have a 1.5 times greater probability of dying before their first birthday, higher rates of hospitalization for acute lung infections and accidental injury (Canadian Institute for Health Information 2004), higher rates of apprehension by child welfare services, and a greater chance of having to live in a series of foster homes outside their community (Trocmé, Fallon et al. 2005). Further, living in poverty means that a large proportion of Aboriginal children lack the basic necessities. “Aboriginal homes are often poorly constructed and ventilated; their plumbing systems are often inadequate for the number of residents; and their clean water supply is often unreliable. Six percent of these homes are without sewage services, and four percent lack running water and flush toilets” (Assembly of First Nations 2006).

One in three Aboriginal people consider their main drinking water unsafe to drink with 12 percent of communities have to boil their drinking water (Chan et al. 1997). Contaminants in the water and food supply create concerns for the health and wellness of young Aboriginal children. For example, one study found that more than 50 percent of Inuit in a Baffin Island community had “dietary exposure levels of mercury, toxaphene and chlordane exceeding the provisional tolerable daily intake levels” (Chan et al. 1997).

In 2019, the Canadian Government continues to address healthy living conditions only when emergencies and outbreaks start hitting the media. The big challenge is for the Government of Canada to increase a sustainable level of investment to produce long-term improvement of living conditions for the Aboriginal children. Aboriginal children are being denied clean water in Canada (Klasing, 2018).

In Canada, Aboriginal children living in rural and northern Canada are the least-supported children in the basic aspects to support qualify of life. Persistent inequities in health care, housing, access to safe water, protection from family violence, early childhood education and protection of cultural and linguistic heritage all impact these children’s lives and their ability to attain a quality education.

What will it take for Canada to ensure equity and dignity for Aboriginal children?

Collaboratively Yours,

Dr. Deb Weston, PhD

Classroom Resources to Support Inquiry

Grade 3 – Water the Gift of Life: Investigating Environmental Impacts

 In our own words: Bringing authentic first peoples content to the K-3 classroom

Deepening Knowledge: Resources for and about aboriginal education – Kindergarten/ Primary/ Junior/ Intermediate/Senior/ French/ Aboriginal Language

Our word, our ways: Teaching First Nations, Métis, and Inuit learners

Aboriginal Children Canada Must Do Better: Today and Tomorrow

References

Adelson, N. (2005). The embodiment of inequity: Health disparities in Aboriginal Canada. Canadian Journal of Public Health/Revue Canadienne de Sante’e Publique, S45-S61.

Assembly of First Nations. 2006. Royal Commission on Aboriginal People at 10 Years: A Report Card. Ottawa: Assembly of First Nations.

Ball, J. (2008). Promoting equity and dignity for Aboriginal children in Canada. Institute for Research on Public Policy.

Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) and Canadian Population Health Initiative. 2004. “Aboriginal Peoples’ Health.” In Improving the Health of Canadians. Ottawa: CIHI. http://secure.cihi.ca/cihiweb/products/ IHC2004rev_e.pd

Chan, H.M., P.R. Berti, O. Receveur, and H.V. Kuhnlein. 1997. “Evaluation of the Population Distribution of Dietary Contaminant Exposure in an Arctic Population Using Monte Carlo Statistics.” Environmental Health Perspectives 105 (3): 316-21.

Klasing, A. (November 20, 2018). Why is Canada denying Indigenous peoples clean water? Globe and Mail. Assessed February 1, 2019. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/why-is-canada-denying-its-indigenous-peoples-clean-water/article31599791/

Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. 1997. Gathering Strength: Canada’s Aboriginal Action Plan. Ottawa: Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada. Assessed February 1, 2019.  http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection/R32-192- 2000E.pdf

Trocmé, N., B. Fallon, B. MacLaurin, J. Daciuk, C. Felstiner, T. Black. 2005. Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect. Ottawa: Public Health Agency of Canada. Assessed February 1, 2019.  http://www.phacaspc.gc.ca/cm-vee/csca-ecve/index-eng.php

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). 2007. Child Poverty in Perspective: An Overview of Child Well-Being in Rich Countries. Innocenti Report Card 7. Florence: UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre. Assessed February 1, 2019.  http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/rc7_eng.pdf

White, J. P., Murphy, L., & Spence, N. (2012). Water and Indigenous peoples: Canada’s paradox. The International Indigenous Policy Journal3(3), 3. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/iipj/vol3/iss3/3/

Photo of Samantha Perrin

Becoming an Ally in the Classroom

At a recent staff meeting, I was asked to present and discuss the contents of an Indigenous Resource Bundle issued from our school board. The ‘bundle’ consists of about 20 beautiful books written by Indigenous authors and educators. Topics vary from learning about your ABCs and colours in English, French, Inuktitut, Cree and Algonquin, as well as, the residential schools legacy, legends, famous First Nations, Métis and Inuit history makers, and treaties.  I was given 10 minutes to present the books and to offer suggestions on how they may be used in the classroom.  For the amount of material to be discussed and the volume of information contained therein, the time was far too short, especially considering that so many teachers are new to this reality. Because the fact is, although the reality has always been there, it was never taught to Canadian school children until very recently.

Will these resources, beautiful and rich as they are, be used in our school? I am not so sure. Like the substantial LGBTQ book collection the school board presented to us last year, these books will likely be signed out by only a few teachers who remember they are there or who are motivated to include them in their lesson plans because they attended the in-service or because they have a genuine interest and personal connection with the material. This does not mean that teachers don’t care. It does mean that they may not know how to find the time to include this perspective in their lesson plans.

Our lives as teachers are already quite weighed down by new literacy and math initiatives, new curriculum documents, new strategies to increase levels of engagement of our students, etc., and when someone comes along and expects us to teach, on top of all we are doing already, something we have never learned, we feel overwhelmed.  No wonder so many of us ask, ‘If we don’t understand it, how can we help our students to understand it?’

My only suggestion is that you begin by taking a book with an Aboriginal perspective and reading it to your class. Your journey will begin with the students’. You will not be expected to know all the answers to their questions. But you will have empathy and show, by learning and discussing, that you are willing to bridge the enormous gap that was the status quo for so very long. By reading one book with your students and asking what they thought while you were reading it – in my case, 8 year old urban students in 2014 learning about 8 year old Aboriginal students being removed by the government from their families and communities to go to school – you will never look back. Your perspective will change.  It will mean that you will have to bring up the c-word – colonization.  It is OK to tell them that because of colonization, you never learned about treaties or the Seven Grandfathers or residential schools when you were young. It may be a challenge to start such a dialogue, but this is our collective history as Canadians, and as educators, we are beholden to transmit history as accurately as possible, with the help of new curriculum, new resources, and new understanding. As the title of the book so clearly says, ‘We are all Treaty People’, we just may not realize how.

Reading one book may then make it easier to consider contacting the Métis Nation of Ontario, or a local Inuit Centre or First Nations’ Friendship Centre to invite a Métis Senator, or an Inuit or First Nations’ Elder to your class to talk to your students about something you would like to learn more about. Reach out. Ask questions. Read books to your class. Once you do, you become an ally. Becoming an ally, means you become part of a community for a mutually beneficial reason. Indigenous history is intrinsically part of Canadian history. Learning about it will enrich everyone’s lives.

Some titles to consider:

For Primary Students – When I was Eight and Not My Girl by Jordan-Fenton, Christy and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton

For Junior Students – Fatty Legs and Stranger at Home by Jordan-Fenton, Christy and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton

Arctic Stories by Kusugak, Michael Arvaarluk

Shin-Chi’s Canoe by Campbell, Nicola I., with illustrations by Kim LeFave

Shi Shi Ekto by Campbell, Nicola I., with illustrations by Kim LeFave

Rabbit and Bear Paws Series

As Long As The Rivers Flow by Larry Loyie

My Name is Seepeetza by Shirley Sterling

On-line resources:

-Metis Nation of Ontario Education Kit

http://www.metisnation.org/programs/education–training/education/metis-education-kit

-Residential School Legacy Exhibit resource for junior/intermediate students

http://wherearethechildren.ca/en/exhibition/

-Ontario Book Company offering Indigenous educational resources

http://www.goodminds.com/home