‘You have to listen to what the community says’

E.coli. Chemical contaminants. Years of stratified industrial waste. Invasive species. Exploitation.

For many Indigenous communities in Canada living without access to clean running water, life grinds to halt when the water they haul in runs out.

Not only does water insecurity take a horrific toll on residents’ health and well-being, but damage to source waters strikes at the hearts of many Indigenous Canadians, whose identities and culture are closely intertwined with the land they live on and the waters that nourish it.

Dawn Martin-Hill leads an ambitious — and successful — research project that is helping Indigenous communities access to clean, safe water. The secret, she says, is to listen to the true experts — the people in the community.