Batchawana First Nation's Teala Nadjiwon appeals to UN for clean water help

A woman from a First Nation near Sault Ste. Marie hopes that appearing before the United Nations will lead to clean tap water for her community.

Dozens of homes inBatchewanaFirst Nation have been under a boil water advisory for decades, due to unsafe well water and high levels of uranium.

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Teala Nadjiwon told her people's story to a UN committee in Geneva this week.

She said there's a misconception that poor drinking water only plagues remote First Nations not those in the midst of cities like Batchewana.

"So, you would think that these urban-type communities wouldn't have these issues, but in fact they do, which again ties into the disparities and the inequities in federal fiduciary responsibilities," Nadjiwon told CBC News.

"So each community receives bottled water for their water needs and this had affected the community members in many different ways from their health and well-being to daily living, the simplest tasks that Canadians take for granted is simply not possible."

If the new Liberal government is serious about a new relationship with First Nations, then new infrastructure funding would be a good place to start, she noted.