Mar 22, 2023
March 22 is World Water Day
A message from Dr. Kamran Golmohammadi, Medical Officer, Environmental Health, Office of the Chief Medical Officer (OCMO); Sarah Lalonde (Saulteau First Nations), Executive Director, OCMO; and Rob Fleming, Manager, Drinking Water Safety, Public Health Response Team
In the Cree language, water is “nipiy,” which is a combination of two words: “niya pimatisiwin,” meaning, “I am Life.”
First Nations people know that water is life and that water is alive. Where you find water, you will find life. We are all born out of water; in our mothers’ wombs we are surrounded by water. Water is sacred; we use it in our sweat lodges, and some Coastal Nations take spirit baths in the oceans and rivers. Water is imperative for our health, for our very lives, and for the lives of all of our relatives (all other living beings), and for our Mother Earth. We all need water.