Boil Alert | movie | 2023 | Official Trailer
Activist Layla Staats shows the faces and personal stories behind the struggle of First Nations reserves to receive a ba | dG1fRzlLLTU3bk5JUms
Category
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Short filmTranscript
00:00 I was seen as an outsider coming in to the reserve.
00:05 I was an outsider everywhere.
00:08 They call it the red road when you start to learn about your indigenous culture.
00:16 [speaking in Indigenous language]
00:23 I'm Kaniyak-Kahaga. I'm Mohawk. I am Mohawk.
00:26 My papa always said, "Whoever has the clean water at the end, they're the ones that are going to thrive."
00:32 Make sure that you figure out a way to get clean water.
00:40 I'm looking at boil water advisories and I see every single one.
00:45 First Nations, First Nations, First Nations, First Nations.
00:48 And I just hear my papa in my head saying, "Now's the time. Our people need clean water."
00:54 My hope for this journey is to understand why this is happening,
00:58 as well as to discover who I am as an Indigenous woman, finding that voice within myself.
01:06 What are some of the challenges that you're facing?
01:08 We've got bad water. It's not safe to drink right now.
01:10 Checking into the hotel, first thing that I saw was the boil water advisory.
01:14 Don't get it in your eyes. Don't open your mouth in the shower. It's a reality check.
01:18 How many generations has your family been drinking this water?
01:21 I know of seven generations.
01:23 Seven generations.
01:24 Eight double loaders, and we've got two of them running.
01:27 We've got a problem with the flow of water in them.
01:30 These people live with it every single day.
01:33 We're in California, in the U.S., off the 101.
01:37 You can go on either side and you can get clean water up and down, but here on the reserve,
01:42 how is it that those guys don't have clean water?
01:45 It helps, not something. It never has.
01:47 What's your position here?
01:48 I'm the acting water supervisor.
01:50 Who does all the testing?
01:51 I do.
01:52 How many people are working here?
01:53 Currently two. We just got a new guy yesterday.
01:55 This is where they dispose of the uranium?
01:58 A lot of the Navajos that live the long island now, they had different cancer.
02:01 That's why you don't hear about it.
02:03 You don't want to tell us?
02:05 You have to find out on your own.
02:08 Water is not just a resource.
02:11 We are not respecting it. We are not taking care of it.
02:19 Things were told to me by the elders.
02:22 Maybe in your time, you'll see this, you'll see that.
02:26 I've been watching the earth and the vegetation and the birds, the insects.
02:31 All of those things are telling me there are strange things happening.
02:40 It's not like how it used to be.
02:44 The Navajo Nation
02:48 (eerie music)