Autumn Peltier inspired the George Brown College (GBC) community to act to address the water crisis facing Indigenous communities across Canada and to protect water everywhere when she spoke at an event at Waterfront Campus on April 14 in the lead-up to Earth Day.
The 18-year-old Anishinaabe Indigenous rights advocate and global youth environmental activist is from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory on Manitoulin Island and is the Chief Water Commissioner of the Anishinabek Nation.
As the featured guest at the latest Indigenous Knowledge Keeper Series event hosted by GBC's Indigenous Initiatives team, Peltier shared a screening of her short film, The Water Walker. After the screening, she joined GBC's Chef David Wolfman for a fireside chat. She took questions from the audience of approximately 250 people who attended the hybrid event both in person at the Daphne Cockwell Centre for Health Sciences and online.
Documenting Peltier's journey to the United Nations
The Water Walker is a documentary that follows Peltier, then 15 years old, to the United Nations and explores the roots of her activism. The film is currently available on HBO Canada and Crave.
Peltier's drive to fight the water crisis started when she was eight years old during a visit to a First Nations community 90 minutes from her home. While there, she went to wash her hands and saw signs highlighting a boil water advisory.
"It struck me that these kids are my age or younger and have no idea what it's like to drink water from their tap — they've never experienced that, and we're in a first-world country. That didn't sit right with me," she told the audience.
Peltier said she was also inspired by the work of her late Aunt Josephine, who was also a water activist.
"I've come to realize that youth voices are the most powerful voices. The message is much more powerful and stronger when it's coming from a young person, and that's why I encourage young people to stand up and use their voices. That's when you know something is wrong and something has to be done. Children and young people should not have to be speaking up about world political issues."
In 2016, when she was 12 years old, Peltier voiced her opposition to the expansion and replacement of bitumen pipelines in an exchange with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on stage at the Assembly of First Nations annual winter gathering in Quebec. Then, at the age of 13, she addressed the United Nations General Assembly for the launch of its International Decade for Action on Water for Sustainable Development. Since then, she has delivered her message worldwide, including subsequent appearances at UN events and the World Economic Forum.
Everyone who attended the event with Peltier received a copy of the book that shares a name with the documentary — The Water Walker, written and illustrated by Anishinaabe author, illustrator, and water protection activist Joanne Robertson. Robertson was the featured speaker at the Indigenous Knowledge Keeper Series event in February.
