Abstract
The Haudenosaunee or Six Nations (SN) is a matrilineal society sustained through reciprocal relationships with nature and all creation. Haudenosaunee hold a special relationship and responsibility with water, as it is the first environment of humans. Colonialism attacked Haudenosaunee land, women, children, and traditional ways of life. The Haudenosaunee were displaced from their land and were forced to migrate to a reserve. Colonial and capitalist agendas contaminated water leaving the Six Nations, Canada's most populated reserve, without clean running water and making SN women and children more vulnerable to water insecurity. The Ohneganos, an SN community project, is intersectional, and the intersectionality of health, culture and water identified maternal health as understudied in water insecurity research. Research on Indigenous mental health mainly focused on suicide and substance abuse and ignored the root causes of violent colonial structures and policies such as the Indian Act and residential schools. Our research suggests that gender, migration and water for Indigenous communities must be contextualized with larger violent colonial structures such as environmental racism and epistemic violence. Ohneganos research examines impacts of water insecurity on maternal health and co-developed design and implementation with Six Nations Birthing Center (SNBC). The SNBC's traditional Haudenosaunee health care practices shaped the research, revealing the critical importance of community-led research's efficacy. Haudenosaunee and anthropological research methods are employed to assess the impact of water insecurity on maternal mental health. The co-designed semi-structured interviews highlight the voices of 54 participants consisting of mothers (n= 41), grandparents (n= 10), and midwives (n= 3) of SN. Most participants expressed that the lack of clean water had profound impacts on mental health and had recurring thoughts about the lack of clean water in the SN community. Mental health issues, including depression and anxiety, were reported due to a lack of running water. Despite experiencing water insecurity, Haudenosaunee women demonstrate resiliency through culturally innovative adaptations to their changing environment.
Highlights
Two-thirds of the world’s population faces water scarcity, and more than two billion people live without adequate clean drinking water (WHO, 2017; Young and Miller, 2018; Tallman, 2019)
Ethnographic data on water insecurity and maternal mental health revealed three major points: (1), maternal mental health is holistic which is understood in relation to family, community, land, and water. (2) maternal mental health and water insecurity were contextualized in ongoing violent colonial structures; and (3) despite ongoing colonialism and severe water insecurity, Haudenosaunee mothers demonstrated resiliency by adopting various cultural strategies inspired by their traditional teachings
Most research on Indigenous mental health focused on suicide and substance use despite highlighting social determinants such as poverty, the Indian Act, colonialism, and residential school trauma (Nelson and Wilson, 2017)
Summary
Two-thirds of the world’s population faces water scarcity, and more than two billion people live without adequate clean drinking water (WHO, 2017; Young and Miller, 2018; Tallman, 2019). In Canada, the reservoir of the world’s largest freshwater bodies, Indigenous communities have been experiencing water insecurity for decades. There are several long-term advisories where an entire generation grew up without access to clean water (Human Rights Watch, 2016). There was a total of 160 long-term drinking water advisories on public water systems in First Nations communities, and by the fall of 2020, 60 (37.5%) remained in effect in 41 First Nations communities (Reports of the Auditor General of Canada, 2021). As of December 2021, there were still 42 long-term drinking water advisories on public water systems in 30 First Nations communities (Indigenous Service Canada, 2021). Six Nations (SN) of the Grand River community, the most populous reserve in Canada, do not have access to clean running water for decades. Recent research at SN reported E. coli and high levels of mercury in the water (Dupont et al, 2014; Baird et al, 2015; Duignan et al, in press)
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