AMC Celebrates World Health Day
April 7, 2022
Treaty One Territory, Manitoba
alexpapineau
Treaty One Territory, Manitoba – The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) takes time today to acknowledge World Health Day and celebrate our First Nations role as stewards of the land.
This year, the United Nations has chosen the theme “Our planet, our health” and encourages us all to imagine a world where clean air, water and food are available for everyone. On this planet, two billion people lack safe drinking water. In Manitoba alone, we have twenty-eight water advisories. The AMC remains firm in continuing to advocate for functioning water treatment systems that will allow our First Nation citizens to access clean water: an essential human right outlined by the United Nations in 2010.
AMC Acting Grand Chief states, “Our ancestors understood the reciprocal relationship of caring for the Land. It is our wish for our children that they will be able to practice our traditional ways after we are gone. As an act of sovereignty, we must seek to reclaim our place as land-protectors and land-defenders to preserve what has always been sacred to us.”
In 2017, the Anishinaabe, Dakota, Dene, Cree and other Indigenous knowledge keepers gathered at Turtle Lodge in Sagkeeng First Nation and transcribed a set of International Climate Calls-to-Action that reflected the values of First Nation land-defenders from across Turtle Island. Today we re-affirm the importance of our reciprocal responsibilities to Mother Earth and as land-defenders we strive to honour the Climate Calls-to-Action. To read the Climate Calls-to-Action, visit http://onjisay-aki.org/onjisay-aki-international-climate-calls-action.
“Since time immemorial, it was Mother Earth who has cared for our health and provided for us. As stewards of the Land, we must do whatever we can do to reciprocate that care so that our future generations can continue to live a long and healthy life well into the future. We encourage all First Nations to take time today to think about the world around us and ways we can be healthier, both for ourselves and the land we live on,” concluded Acting Grand Chief Redhead.