This Anishinaabe ceremony calls for perseverance in connecting with the water, giving hope for healing the polluted water of Hamilton Harbour
The Hamilton Water Walk is a four-year Anishinaabe ceremony that inspires participants to connect with a body of water, in this case the Hamilton Harbour and Cootes Paradise. Once a year during the cycle, a multi-day walk around the body of water begins at daybreak and concludes when the whole of the body of water have been encircled.
This year, the Hamilton Water Walk completed its second cycle on Oct. 12 and Oct. 13. Throughout the two days, a sacred fire was kept ablaze at Princess Point while participants walked around the perimeter of the harbour. To commemorate the end of the ceremony, a feast was held at Princess Point.
The water walk ceremony was developed by Josephine Mandamin in 2003 for the Great Lakes. Mandamin, an Anishinaabe elder, was a water activist famous for walking around the entirety of the Great Lakes starting from the Wikwemikong First Nation in Ontario.
Danielle Boissoneau, who has had the teachings of Mandamin passed to her, is a McMaster alumna and an organizer of the Hamilton Water Walk. She cites the connection that Indigenous women have with the water as a motivation for the ceremony. "Indigenous women, particularly, have a very close relationship with the land and the water in terms of observation and relationships and experiences," said Boissoneau.
Indigenous women, particularly, have a very close relationship with the land and the water in terms of observation and relationships and experiences.
Danielle Boissoneau, organizer
Hamilton Water Walk
The first cycle of the annual water walk around Hamilton Harbour began in 2017. Boissoneau explained how the walk came to be in Hamilton with her fellow activist Kristen Villebrun. "Kristen was able to determine that something was wrong with the water in the harbor because of the amount of human waste that she was seeing on the shorelines," said Boissoneau.
Boissoneau shared that she and Villebrun wanted a way to draw attention to this issue that would disrupt people's everyday lives. "Historically that would have been through protests, rallies or marches and at that point in time Grandma Josephine Mandamin started to do water walks, she inspired me so greatly because she was so peaceful, so determined, but she was still making such a huge presence," said Boissoneau.
The second cycle was initiated in response to information about the water quality of Hamilton Harbour that was reported by a 2019 article by The Hamilton Spectator. The piece exposed a four-year cover up of 24 billion litres of human waste being leaked into Chedoke Creek and Cootes Paradise over that period of time. This news incited Boissoneau and the other organizers to begin the second water walk, this time around Cootes Paradise in addition to the Hamilton Harbour.
Boissoneau outlined her frustration with the increased development around the harbour and its effect on the ceremony. "There's not much to see and be grateful for because of the amount of destruction and the industry. Around Burlington side, you just see country clubs and golf courses. Both of these things stand in the way of us getting close to the water, and our ability to maintain our focus, a huge part of our ceremony," said Boissoneau.
There's not much to see and be grateful for because of the amount of destruction and the industry. Around Burlington side, you just see country clubs and golf courses. Both of these things stand in the way of us getting close to the water, and our ability to maintain our focus, a huge part of our ceremony.
Danielle Boissoneau, organizer
Hamilton Water Walk
Boissoneau added that the water walks and their work are not complete. "The situation in the harbour is not getting better, there's still sewage being leaked, especially when it rains a lot. I don't believe that the wastewater system that Hamilton has is equipped to deal with the population or the industry that it currently has," said Boissoneau.
Boissoneau encourages anyone to make a connection with the water and give offerings through one's presence. "It doesn't need to be this gigantic ceremony for you to go down and make a relationship with the water and make your own offerings for the water. Just let the water know that you're there," said Boissoneau.
It doesn't need to be this gigantic ceremony for you to go down and make a relationship with the water and make your own offerings for the water. Just let the water know that you're there.
Danielle Boissoneau, organizer
Hamilton Water Walk
The importance of making a personal, individual connection with the water was emphasized by Boissoneau. She emphasized that the work is not finished and that a third cycle of water walks is likely.
While Indigenous communities still lack access to safe drinking water, we continue to pollute and take for granted our most precious, life-sustaining resource
If you are a citizen of a major urban city who is lucky enough to have four walls and a roof to come home to and a livable income, it is likely that without even realizing it, you take water for granted. If you ever feel the slightest bit of thirst, you merely turn on the tap, maybe even run the water through a Brita filter and just like that your thirst is quenched.
People might not think about where that water comes from or what happens to it when it passes through our sewage systems. Nor about the fact that not far from us are Indigenous communities which do have to worry daily about the safety of their drinking water.
Although we all live within the same country, Indigenous communities have faced and continue to face a lack of access to clean drinking water, posing a prominent health concern for decades.
Although we all live within the same country, Indigenous communities have faced and continue to face a lack of access to clean drinking water, posing a prominent health concern for decades.
Since 1995 the Neskantaga First Nation community has been living under a drinking water advisory. For 29 years this community, much like other Indigenous communities, have had to boil their water before consuming. The uncertain health risk has led to some communities only drinking bottled water. Imagine the only trustable source of water you have access to throughout your life was water that came in plastic bottles.
On top of this, Ontario has been and continues to release only partially treated sewage water into Lake Ontario. This has led to our waterfronts being unsafe to drink from or even swim in. In addition, the Great Lakes are now polluted with microplastics.
Recently in Hamilton there has been an increase of sewage flowing into Lake Ontario. Not only has this been an ongoing issue, but it’s becoming worse as the years progress. As wastewater spreads into our waterways, it negatively impacts the biodiversity found within these ecosystems which further feeds into the negative spiral of poor water quality.
Recently in Hamilton there has been an increase of sewage flowing into Lake Ontario. Not only has this been an ongoing issue, but it’s becoming worse as the years progress.
The Hamilton sewage leakage in 2019 was reported to leak approximately 24 billion litres of wastewater into Chedoke Creek over four years. The latest reports on the progress of addressing this issue state that the city is still working on cleaning up the contamination of sewage.
We all share Earth’s water supply because water is fluid. How one region of the globe pollutes its water supply impacts all of us. Just because our pollution is localized to the Great Lakes doesn’t mean that this water hasn’t travelled internationally.
Our communities are all connected. Thus, we need to do better in how we treat our water before we return the water we have used to nature. If you have not yet experienced direct impacts of this issue, we can assure you that consequences are beginning to appear.
For example, there have been frequent E. coli warnings at the Ontario beaches this summer preventing people from enjoying the water. The dangerous levels of E. coli have been attributed to the poor management of rainwater during storms, leading to a backlog of sewage seeping into our beach water.
We hope that we can safely assume our readers believe that access to safe drinking water is a human right. Water being a human right means that we ought to ensure everyone has access to it and that we treat it with great care.
The next time you go to turn on the tap, think about why you and not someone else doesn’t have to fear they won’t be hydrated one day.
The next time you go to turn on the tap, think about why you and not someone else doesn’t have to fear they won’t be hydrated one day. We encourage you reflect on the immense privilege so many of us possess and speak up about what today should no longer be an issue.
During the repairs for the initial break, water was turned off in many campus buildings and forced washrooms, food services and laboratories to close temporarily
On Feb. 27, a water main on campus ruptured, disrupting McMaster University campus life, food services and academic facilities.
Water services were shut off around 2 p.m. on the same day to the Life Sciences Building, McMaster Museum of Art, McMaster University Student Centre, Mills Memorial Library, Psychology Building and many other buildings so that repairs could be completed.
According to Alvin Baldovino, director of engineering operations at facility services, facility services was first informed of the break between MUSC and Mills Library near parking lots B and C around 10 a.m. on Feb. 27. A third-party contractor was then quickly brought in to fix the break.
“We had to hire a third-party contractor because we don’t have the equipment to address a water main break,” said Baldovino.
We had to hire a third-party contractor because we don’t have the equipment to address a water main break.
Alvin Baldovino, director of engineering operations, facility services
As a result of the break and the water being turned off, food services and washrooms were closed in the affected buildings. The university and food services provided an online list of the eateries on campus that were available in unaffected buildings.
The university also stated in an online post that laboratories requiring running water would be temporarily shut down until the repair of the break was complete.
When asked about the suspected cause of the break, Baldovino said it was difficult to say for sure what happened.
“The infrastructure is aging. . . It could have been a pressure fluctuation in the past, [but] you can’t really say exactly what the cause was. When we did uncover the pipe, it was corroded,” said Baldovino.
The infrastructure is aging. . .It could have been a pressure fluctuation in the past, [but] you can’t really say exactly what the cause was. When we did uncover the pipe, it was corroded.
Alvin Baldovino, director of engineering operations, facility services
Essential repairs to the water main were completed overnight and running water was restored in all affected buildings by the morning of Feb. 28. The university also stated that facility services would be cleaning and changing the filters of all water fountains in the affected buildings.
The area where the break occurred was still gated off as of the week of Mar. 4, though all affected services have since returned to normal operations.
When Baldovino was asked about the progress of the work at the site of the break and when it is expected to be fully completed, he stated that though the pipe has been fixed and the hole dug to conduct repairs had been filled in, the concrete pad at the area still needs to be replaced. He stated that it will take some time to complete this final step of replacing the surface concrete and could not provide an estimate as to when this will be done.
This is an ongoing story.
By Wei Yan Wu, Contributor
It is becoming increasingly important to plan and prepare for the future consequences that the climate emergency will bring to our planet. Zoe Li, a civil engineering assistant professor at McMaster University, has set out to tackle this need.
As someone who works with scientific models, Li does not work in an experimental laboratory. Instead, she works with different simulation models to analyze the water cycle. Through her research, Li is attempting to quantify the unpredictable by forecasting the likelihood of droughts and floods in certain regions.
Li conducts a process known as climate impact analysis to assess the impact of climate change on water resources. Recently, her research has involved working with a Master’s student and two undergraduate students on an algorithm that will be able to collect weather and climate data from numerous climate centres around the world. This will help produce climate projections for specific regions and aid in informing preventive measures.
For an area at risk of flooding, for example, there will be structural or non-structural measures; a structural measure would entail diversions to modify flood runoff, while a non-structural one would involve practices like flood proofing in order to decrease the damage susceptibility of certain floodplains.
Through climate impact analysis, Li and her team aim to use advanced machinery and techniques to provide reliable evidence in support of methods of adapting to climate change. To accomplish this, they are working with colleagues in computer science.
While Li and her team are aware that running a physically-based climate model requires a great deal of time and resources, they are able to help meet their need for mass amounts of information by collecting output from various climate centres around the world. These include, among others, the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis, the Danish Meteorological Institute, the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute and the Université du Québec à Montréal.
Moving forward, Li intends to use projections, machinery and algorithms to generate a customized projection specifically for Ontario.
“I’ve always known that there’s a research gap. People have been developing global and regional climate models, but there’s nothing that’s reliable just for Ontario. Since I live in Ontario, I thought we should provide a more reliable climate projection for Ontario because this is a very important issue,” said Li.
Li has been contacted by another professor in the civil engineering department at McMaster, who, alongside one of his students, now uses Li’s results as foundation for their own model. Using information that attempts to measure future environmental phenomena, such as predicted temperatures, this professor and his student have been able to quantify the energy consumption of buildings.
Li states that her model can be applied to anything that is affected by a change in temperature and precipitation. She believes that it is necessary to have a projection of what the environment’s future will entail in order to fully analyze the possible impact of climate change.
“We are trying to provide projections so that people will know what the precipitation is, what the temperature is. For example, for the design of buildings and bridges, they will need to know whether there will be gusts and what the wind speed is, things like that. That’s the input information we can provide,” said Li.
Climate impact analysis is only one part of Li’s research.
“For the other half, we focus on how to quantify the uncertainties in different environmental systems so that we can better manage different kinds of environmental risks,” she added.
Due to the fact that model inputs, parametres and structures come with their own uncertainties, Li currently has students working to address these issues by developing quantification methods that could provide more support for risk assessment and management.
Through her research and by collaborating with different sectors at McMaster, Li demonstrates the potential benefits her work could bring to the community. She also has another project dedicated to analyzing wastewater treatment as she continues to work on environmental solutions for Ontario.
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