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When Autumn was 8 years old, she attended a water ceremony in an indigenous community with her mother. There, she went to the loo and noticed ‘Don’t drink the water,’ ‘Not for consumption,’ and ‘Boil water advisory’ signs all over the walls. Autumn had never seen these before and was curious what they meant. Her mother explained that the community they were in had been on a boiled water advisory for over 20 years. This means that for all that time the water in the taps was contaminated and unsafe to drink without boiling it first!
Autumn decided to speak out about her discontent related to the fact that people in power had done nothing to change this over the last 20 years. She attended the annual winter meeting of the Assembly of First Nations and bravely addressed the Prime Minister, saying, ‘I am very unhappy with the choices you’ve made.’ Viewers were blown away by her talent for public speaking and admired her courage and passion for protecting water.
Autumn was then invited to talk at the UN General Assembly for the launch of the International Decade for Action on Water for Sustainable Development in 2018 and 2019. Autumn’s campaigning to date has been very successful. The government has made changes so that 88 of the long-term drinking water advisories have been removed and water is now safe to drink. But Autumn continues to push for the last 61 drinking water advisories to be eliminated and won’t stop until she has reached that goal. This is reflected in her advice to others where she says, ‘Keep going, don’t look back, and if you have an idea, just do it.’
