Water Carriers Initiative | Indigenous Water Governance at NWAC

To be a Water Carrier is to protect water as life itself—this project uplifts Indigenous women, girls, and gender-diverse people as leaders in self-determined water governance and guardians of future generations.

About the Water Carriers Project

To be a Water Carriers is to carry relational responsibility: to protect, speak for, and care for water as we would our own kin. Indigenous women, in all their diversity, have long held a sacred relationship with water. As life-givers, we carry water within us through pregnancy, birth, and beyond, and it is through this water that is how we enter the world and continue the cycle of life.

The Water Carriers Project honours this sacred role by uplifting Indigenous women and girls, in all their gender diversity, within water governance, and together, we are building tools, resources, and strategies to establish Indigenous-led, self-determined water governance. NWAC continues to address the ongoing impacts of unsafe drinking water, failing infrastructure, and climate- and industry-driven changes to water sources across Turtle Island and Inuit Nunangat.

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Phase 1: Honouring Traditional Knowledge

Phase 1 focuses on understanding the sacred role of Water Carriers by the guidance of Indigenous women, in all their gender diversity, Elders, and Knowledge Keepers. It explores water’s cultural, spiritual, and relational signiﬁcance and laid the foundation for the project’s future direction.

Phase 2: Lived Realities and Water Insecurity

Creating space for Indigenous women and girls, in all their diversity, to share their experiences with water. The primary focus was the impacts of climate change on water, but from these conversations, issues around clean drinking water and water insecurity naturally emerged.

Phase 3: From Knowledge to Action

Building on the insights shared in earlier phases, Phase 3 focuses on action. This phase continues engagement on clean drinking water and water insecurity while also co-developing tools, strategies, and policy proposals that reﬂect the voices and leadership of Indigenous women and girls, in all their gender diversity.

Matriarchs Messages

Matriarchal Messages is a storytelling series created to uplift Indigenous youth by sharing teachings of Water Carriers across generations. Through video and written testimonies, it reminds young people of their power, their place in water protection, and the matriarchs, both present and in spirit, who are walking with them.

Walking in the Footsteps of Indigenous Matriarchs

Water Carriers at the Frontline

Recent Additions

Matriarchal Messages V.III featuring Tasha Beeds

Matriarchal Messages V.II - Featuring Margaret and Misty Ireland

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Water Carrier Project: Matriarchal Messages V.I 2024

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Phase 2: Lived Realities and Water Insecurity

Phase 2 of the Water Carriers Project focuses on how climate change is affecting water in Indigenous communities across Turtle Island and Inuit Nunangat. NWAC engages Indigenous women, in all their gender diversity, to share Traditional Knowledge, lived experience, and community-driven solutions to water insecurity. NWAC is gathering perspectives on water quality, climate impacts, and the responsibilities of Water Carriers. Participants are emphasizing the urgent need for Indigenous leadership in water governance and share how water insecurity affects health, culture, and everyday life – especially for those most connected to water through traditional roles. These insights were compiled into the below recommendations:

Reports

Water Carriers Phase 2 Final Report, May 2024

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Water Carriers Survey Report 2023, Jul 2023

Water carriers phase 2 key findings and recommendations

Phase 3: From Knowledge to Action

This phase moves the project from dialogue to action. It builds on the insights, teachings, and recommendations gathered in Phases 1 and 2 to co-developing tools, strategies, and policy proposals that empower Indigenous communities to lead water governance in a self-determined way. This includes in-person training sessions related to strategic water management, delivered in collaboration with NWAC’s Provincial and Territorial Member Associations (PTMAs), which will support Indigenous women and girls in managing water and responding to water concerns within their communities. Through national engagements, resource development, and direct capacity-building, this phase supports a future where Indigenous-led, self-determined water governance is not just envisioned – but realized.