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Sara Hylton
@sarahyltonphoto

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Fort Chipewyan is a community born of the water. On the northwest shore of Lake Athabasca in Alberta’s far north, people have long subsisted off the lake and its tributaries by fishing, hunting, trapping and gathering medicine. But for decades, the tiny community — including the Mikisew Cree First Nation, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Fort Chipewyan Métis and settlers — have found themselves at the forefront of the climate crisis. They’ve watched as warmer winters have eaten away at their ice road, the only road into the com- munity; as increasingly frequent and intense wildfires have engulfed their town in smoke — this year, the town was evacuated for three weeks; as their water has receded and the health of their people and wildlife has declined. The ravages are human caused: climate change, the damming of parts of the watershed and, perhaps most damaging of all, Fort Chip’s location down- stream from the Alberta oilsands. Studies have found high levels of contaminants in the waterways and in the fish and animals people eat. These contaminants have been linked to high rates of rare cancers. In February, Fort Chip residents learned that, nine months before, wastewater containing arse- nic, hydrocarbons, sulfates and sulfides had flowed into the watershed and nearby land from an Imperial Oil tailings pond at its Kearl Lake project out- side of Fort McMurray. By the time the leak came to light, community members had been consuming food harvested from the region for months. In this chapter of a project supported by @insidenatgeo and @rcgs_sgrc Elders and residents tell the story of Fort Chip’s water in their own words in the latest issue of @cangeo Thank you @michela_rosano for the guidance and for being such a thoughtful editor. As always, gratitude mostly goes to the community of Fort Chipewyan for sharing their time, space, and wisdom. #mediumformat #indigenousrights #landback #bigoil #climatechange #canada