‘There’s a lot of troubling findings’: McMaster professor awarded international water prize for work at Six Nations

An Indigenous associate professor at McMaster University has been recognized with an international award for her work on improving water security on two reserves in Canada.

Dawn Martin-Hill, the first Indigenous cultural anthropologist in Canada, was named the 2022 University of Oklahoma International Water Prize recipient for her work on Six Nations of the Grand River and Lubicon Lake Band of Little Buffalo in Alberta.

While the prize honours an individual who has made significant international contributions" in the field of water supply and sanitation, Martin-Hill said it was a community effort" to land recognition for her work with Ohneganos, an Indigenous water research program she leads.

It's led and shaped by the community, Indigenous science and ways of knowing," she said, and looks at everything from turtle tagging to a mental health app" for youth struggling with climate change and water insecurity.

Six Nations - the most populous reserve in the country - found mercury in their water supply and other contaminants from the Grand River like bacteria, heavy metals, and E. coli that are feeding into the water tables and creeks.

There's a lot of troubling findings," Martin-Hill said.

Only around 10 per cent of homes at Six Nations have access to clean water from the community's state-of-the-art water purification plant. However, neighbouring communities along the Haldimand Tract, like Brantford and Caledonia, have a safe and secure water supply, with wastewater from those communities travelling back to Six Nations.

While the community isn't under a boil water advisory - partly because of their on-site water treatment plant - the infrastructure on individual homes, including wells and pipes, isn't up to standard and can be costly to upgrade and maintain, Martin-Hill recently told The Spectator.

And for Six Nations members who work off-reserve, their tax dollars don't directly benefit their community - including their water.

Martin-Hill said teenagers from Six Nations who go to school in neighbouring Caledonia are aware of the water divide.

The message is deeply ingrained in their psyche, that they're less valuable, less worthy," Martin-Hill said.

Traditional leadership began hosting talks in schools to discuss the resilience of Haudenosaunee peoples, and they wanted to create a project about water that would be meaningful to younger generations and help them get involved.

That's how Sky World - a virtual reality project with Mohawk College - was created to teach youth about traditional knowledge, treaties, history, culture and water treatment.

Sky World will walk Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples through the Haudenosaunee creation story and the state of the Grand River throughout history. The project - which Martin-Hill estimates will cost $250,000 - is being designed in partnership with clan mothers and fluent Cayuga speakers and will be available in both Cayuga and English.

Teachers and students at Six Nations Polytechnic STEAM Academy, a secondary school where students graduate with both an Ontario Secondary School Diploma and a post-secondary qualification, are helping out, too.

Chris Martin, the Ohnegiyo (Good Water) project lead and Kali Anevich, an environmental science teacher at the school, partnered with Ohneganos for an environmental assessment research project they're undertaking.

Over a few weeks, students headed out to Mohawk Park and Mohawk Lake - parts of the Haldimand Tract - to conduct water quality testing, soil sampling, and invasive species assessments that were recorded on a mapping and analysis program.

The sharing of knowledge is an important piece," Anevich said, and the maps students created will provide the baseline data to keep track of the environmental assessment along the Haldimand Tract.

Derris Hill, a Grade 11 student who participated in the program, discussed some of their findings, including the prevalence of E. coli in Mohawk Lake, which makes it not a very safe place to swim in."

The project was an attempt to Indigenize and decolonize the curriculum," Anevich said.

It gave Six Nations youth the opportunity to see themselves reflected in the content and to have education localized," Martin added.

Their work will be presented at an exhibit at McMaster University, and Martin-Hill is working to grant them with at least one" university credit in the sciences for their work.

It would be great to be recognized," Derris Hill said.

Alessia Passafiume is a reporter with The Spectator. Reach her via email: apassafiume@thespec.com