Water is life: Indigenous women, sacred waters and our shared responsibility
For many Indigenous Peoples, reflection on World Water Day does not begin and end on a single day. Protecting water is a daily responsibility, grounded in culture, spirituality and relationship to the land.
Water is not simply a resource. It is life itself.
Across Turtle Island, Indigenous Nations hold water as sacred. It carries memory, spirit and the power to sustain all living beings. Teachings remind us that we come from water. That before our first breath, we live within the waters of our mother’s womb. This is not only symbolic. Our bodies are made mostly of water, binding us to the rivers, lakes and oceans that sustain life.
Indigenous women have long carried special responsibilities as water protectors. In many Nations, women are understood to hold a unique connection to water as life givers. The sacred womb mirrors Mother Earth’s sacred waters. Just as water nourishes the land and all living beings, women nourish and bring forward new life.
This teaching underscores many Indigenous women’s roles at the forefront of water protection movements worldwide. In defending rivers and lakes from contamination, challenging extractive industries, and advocating for safe, clean drinking water in their communities, they protect not only their Nations, but the conditions for life itself.
The 2026 World Water Day theme—Water and Gender—reminds us of this connection. Water justice and gender justice are deeply linked. Supporting Indigenous women’s leadership and addressing the systemic barriers they face strengthens efforts to protect water and sustain communities now and into the future.
Water connects us. The water flowing through a river in Canada eventually reaches the ocean, circulating across the globe and linking ecosystems and communities. What happens to water here shapes life far beyond it. Yet even with this interconnection, water systems face growing pressures—from pollution and climate disruption to industrial extraction and underinvestment in infrastructure.
At the same time, many First Nations still do not have consistent access to safe drinking water. As of early 2026, 39 long-term drinking water advisories remain in 37 communities, affecting thousands of homes and community buildings. Short-term advisories continue to arise, and many water systems are considered at medium or high risk.
This reality points to an ongoing gap between the caretaking Indigenous Peoples have long upheld in relation to water and the systems meant to protect it and it highlights the need for sustained long-term commitments to ensure safe, reliable water for all communities. The responsibility to care for water belongs to all of us.
Protecting water means more than managing a natural resource. It means honouring our relationships with the Earth and with one another. It means listening to Indigenous knowledge systems that have safeguarded water for generations. It means recognizing that when water is harmed, life itself is placed at risk. On this World Water Day, we are reminded that water binds all life. The waters within us are the same waters that move through rivers, lakes and oceans. To protect water is to protect life itself. Let us recognize the leadership of women who continue to defend and care for water. Let us carry forward the Indigenous teachings that hold water as sacred. And let us act, together, to ensure future generations inherit waters that are clean, living and able to sustain all life.
An invitation to honour the waters that sustain life this World Water Day
Beth Lorimer, Ecological Justice Program Coordinator
KAIROS is a member of the Our Living Waters Network, a network that is driving collaboration and uniting voices towards achieving the ambitious goal of all waters in good health by 2030 in Canada. In 2018, I attended the Our Living Waters Rally, where I had an aha! moment that I still carry with me today as a daughter, mother, woman and advocate for water.
I attended a panel presentation where one of the speakers introduced herself in a way that stayed with me. She not only told us of the watershed where she currently lives and its Indigenous territories but spoke about the waters from where she comes from. She said, “I was born through the waters of…” and “my mother was born through the waters of….” It was a profound way to acknowledge the waters that have sustained her life and to share a part of her ancestry with us. This small act has had a lasting impact on how I acknowledge Indigenous territory and position myself as a settler on Turtle Island.
This World Water Day, as we mark the theme of women and gender, we invite you to consider the waters where you were born through. Maybe those bodies of water are far from where you live now or maybe you can look out your window and see them today. Wherever they are, find a moment of contemplation to offer a prayer of gratitude to the waters and all those that have protected the waters for millennia.
More ways to mark this World Water Day
Read the World Water Day 2026 Fact Sheet
Donate. On this World Water Day, we honour the Indigenous water protectors and women peacebuilders who protect water as a source of life, dignity and peace in their communities. From safeguarding rivers to resolving conflicts over scarce resources, their leadership helps ensure that water sustains both people and the planet. Your gift today supports these courageous women working for peace and justice where water – and life itself – are most at risk.
Support Water Watchers’ Mobile Drinking Water Unit fundraiser. Water Watchers is a women-led organization supporting people and communities to work in solidarity towards social justice through the unifying lens of water. Learn more about how they plan to use the drinking water unit – showing the transformative power of community-led solutions.
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Join KAIROS Canada in our faithful action for ecological justice and human rights. Your contribution helps make a difference.
