Autumn Peltier is Anishinaabe-kwe and a member of the Wikwemikong First Nation. Autumn is a 15-year-old cliamte activist, an advocate for clean drinking water in First Nations communities and chief water commissioner for the Anishinabek First Nation.
“I will be 23-years old in 2028. In my mind I have taken a photo of where we are today, where we are at with various issues surrounding our water. My snapshot doesn’t feel good in terms of pollution, climate change, pipelines breaking, recycling, sanitation, poverty, hunger and illnesses related to these issues.”
Our water should not be for sale, we all have a right to this water as we need it. Not just rich people, all people. No one should have to worry if the water is clean or if they will run out of water. No child should grow up not knowing what clean water is or never knowing what running water is.
Now is the time to warrior up and empower each other to take a stand for our planet. We need to sustain the little we have and develop ways not to pollute the environment and sustain relationships with mother earth and save what we have left.
Let’s not let water and mother earth down.”
Excerpt from Autumn's speech at the UN General Assembly - March 22, 2018.
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