Our 2019 Water Warrior Award Recipients

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Water Warrior Award 9

“The destruction of aquatic ecosystem health, and the increasing water scarcity, are in my opinion the most pressing environmental problems facing human kind.”

Maude Barlow, recipient of the inaugural 2018 Water Warrior Award

The 2019 Water Warrior Award is being presented to two special water warriors whose powerful message about water has rippled through communities around the world: Grandmother Josephine Mandamin and her niece, Autumn Peltier.

GRANDMOTHER JOSEPHINE MANDAMIN (1942-2019)

AUTUMN PELTIER

Wikwemikong Unceded Nation, Great Lakes Mother Earth Water Walker.

When challenged by one of her traditional teachers to not accept that she was powerless, Josephine suddenly came up with the idea of walking around Lake Superior to draw attention to the fact that water is the life blood of Mother Earth.

And it was her great love for the water that Josephine not only spoke about but also demonstrated by walking around and blessing waterways across Turtle Island.

In her lifetime, it is estimated that she walked 23,000 kilometers, a distance equivalent to half the circumference of the Earth, and pledged her life to the environment, always emphasizing the importance of the protection of the water.

It was the original challenge that not only motivated her, but also conditioned her to become the inspiration she was and will remain for so many and that has helped provide a legacy that will continue on for generations to come, and for that, we will be forever grateful.

Chi Miigwetch Nokomis.

Autumn is a 14-year-old from the Wiikwemkoong Unceded Anishinawbe Territory located on Manitoulin Island. She is also known as Mskwaa-Geezo Kwe (Red Moon Woman) of the eagle clan. She is currently in grade 9 and attends the Manitoulin Secondary School.

Autumn is known as one of Canada’s youngest Water Activists and has become internationally known for her advocacy work and teachings to women. She began her work in 2015 when she first attended the Children’s Climate Summit in Sweden where she shared her story about the sacredness of water and the importance of clean drinking water for Indigenous people in Canada and especially in Ontario. Since then, Autumn has been creating awareness, sharing water ceremonies with young women and girls, participating in sacred water walks that she learned from her great auntie Josephine Mandamin.

Her biggest engagement to date was speaking before world leaders on World Water Day in March 2018 at United Nations Headquarters in New York City where she told world leaders to “Warrior Up”. Autumn was awarded a Sovereign Medal of Exceptional Volunteerism and for being an exceptional environmentalist by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and the Governor General of Canada.

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