Every other day, Derek Moonias drives 15 minutes to the airport in Neskantaga First Nation and fills his pickup truck with cases of bottled water flown in on the dime of the federal government.

The community some 450 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ont. 91裸聊视频� accessible only by air and a winter ice road 91裸聊视频� has the longest boil-water advisory in the country at 29 years and growing. Many in the community have never lived at a time when the water coming out of the taps was declared suitable to drink.

On this morning, Moonias, the water distribution co-ordinator, is tired. A young mother called him overnight looking for clean water to make a bottle for her baby. He dug some up from his secret cache kept just for such occasions and rushed it over.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 very sad, man,91裸聊视频� he says. 91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 depressing.91裸聊视频�

Moonias picks up about 95 cases a flight and serves 84 homes. In addition to that, half a planeload of clean water is needed for the community centre, the police and nursing stations, the band office and the school.

It91裸聊视频檚 nowhere near enough, he says.

After the airport, Moonias puts out a call to residents91裸聊视频� walkie-talkies that bottled water is available at the community centre. Residents soon converge to grab the cases as he keeps track of his clients.

91裸聊视频淲ater is my entire life right now,91裸聊视频� he says as he wipes his brow and lets out a deep sigh. 91裸聊视频淭he kids are my priority along with the Elders and medical clients.91裸聊视频�

Moonias has plenty of first-hand experience with the effects of the local water supply. If he drinks from the tap, which he rarely does unless there91裸聊视频檚 no more bottled water, he gets nauseous. Headaches and diarrhea soon follow. Showers leave him itchy and scabs eventually break out. His diabetes leaves him slow to heal.

91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 nothing like a good shower in Thunder Bay,91裸聊视频� he says with a big grin. 91裸聊视频淣othing worse than a bad shower here.91裸聊视频�

The Canadian Press spoke to dozens of Neskantaga residents during a visit to the community in the summer of 2023. Water is, by far, their biggest worry and dominates every aspect of their lives.

91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檙e supposed to be in one of the best countries in the world, but here we are living in poverty, living with a 29-year boil water advisory,91裸聊视频� Chief Chris Moonias says in the community where many share the same last name.

91裸聊视频淐anada isn91裸聊视频檛 what you believe it is.91裸聊视频�

Life in Neskantaga comes with many challenges.

There91裸聊视频檚 a housing crisis 91裸聊视频� the First Nation has about 100 homes but needs at least double that to give its approximately 350 residents enough space to live comfortably. Currently, two-bedroom homes housing 10 or more people are common.

There91裸聊视频檚 no local high school, meaning children have to leave at 13 or 14 years old for further education. There is no doctor in the community and its nursing station faces constant staffing shortages. A state of emergency declared in 2013 over a rash of suicides remains in place. Opioids are an emerging worry, while alcohol still finds its way inside the dry reserve.

On top of all that, there is the water crisis.

PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH

Skin problems such as scabs, sores and eczema are common in Neskantaga, says Sharon Sakanee, the First Nation91裸聊视频檚 health director. Gastrointestinal issues are also common. Many residents refuse showers, or limit them.

91裸聊视频淚 shower less because the itchiness hangs around,91裸聊视频� she says, explaining that her skin breaks out in patches of eczema.

91裸聊视频淲henever I leave and go to (Thunder Bay), I shower every day.91裸聊视频�

Very few residents bother with boiling water because no one drinks from the tap. Instead, the community relies on bottled water and more and more people are relying on two reverse osmosis machines that clean the water coming from the problem-plagued treatment plant. But those machines can break down.

One machine in Neskantaga91裸聊视频檚 lone store broke down last summer and parts weren91裸聊视频檛 expected for weeks.

The water problem has also left many with mental health issues, including anxiety and a loss of trust.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 stressful to families having to pick up water all the time,91裸聊视频� Sakanee says. 91裸聊视频淲ater is life, but when our water is always bad, life is hard.91裸聊视频�

Maggie Sakanee had no running water for three years when she lived in a temporary spot while her own house was being fixed up. She trekked down to the osmosis machine on the shore every day for water.

She lives with her seven-year-old grandson, who is the priority for bottled water. But it takes about 15 jugs of the 1.5-litre water bottles to give him a bath.

91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檓 always thinking about water, how to get it, when to get it, will it be enough, is it really safe,91裸聊视频� she says. 91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 tiring.91裸聊视频�

Her daughter, who now lives in Thunder Bay, refuses to drink the water from the taps even in that city.

Sakanee says she has lost trust in Neskantaga91裸聊视频檚 water.

91裸聊视频淚 don91裸聊视频檛 think I would ever drink water that came from a tap in Neskantaga,91裸聊视频� she says. 91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 our way of life now.91裸聊视频�

PARENTS UNDER STRESS

Twenty years ago, Ryan Moonias and his partner became parents. Bathing his baby boy was a challenge 91裸聊视频� they needed a water heater to warm up the small tub, which took hours, and his boy91裸聊视频檚 body consistently broke out in rashes.

91裸聊视频淚t was nasty,91裸聊视频� he says. 91裸聊视频淵ou could tell the water was disgusting, it was yellow.91裸聊视频�

The water problems, combined with a mouldy, crowded house forced his hand and the trio moved to Thunder Bay.

Two years ago, Moonias and his new partner, their seven-year-old son and their newborn, moved back to Neskantaga to be with family and friends. They wanted to return to the First Nation91裸聊视频檚 way of life, reconnect with the land and even the water. They knew the boil-water advisory remained, but felt they could handle it.

But the stress from the water problems became too much.

91裸聊视频淵ou91裸聊视频檙e always thinking, 91裸聊视频榳ill the baby drink the water, what will happen if they do?91裸聊视频� he says. 91裸聊视频淎nd when the kids get rashes, it91裸聊视频檚 awful.91裸聊视频�

After 18 months, the family moved back to Thunder Bay, but it came at a cost.

91裸聊视频淚 miss my family, I miss my friends and I miss hunting and I miss Neskantaga,91裸聊视频� Moonias says. 91裸聊视频淏ut this isn91裸聊视频檛 our home anymore.91裸聊视频�

THE WATER TREATMENT PLANT

In the late 1980s, the entire community packed up from its original home on a low-lying peninsula named Landsdowne House with the promise of a better life on higher ground 15 kilometres west. Building a new water treatment plant, distribution system and homes with proper plumbing sprang hope for a better way of life.

Neskantaga91裸聊视频檚 water treatment plant became operational in 1993. But its sand filtration system was never able to produce water clean enough to drink. On Feb. 1, 1995, the community declared a boil-water advisory. That advisory remains in effect today.

In 2015, newly elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to end boil-water advisories in First Nations by 2021. The federal government says 145 boil-water advisories have been lifted since that pledge.

But those advisories still exist in 30 First Nations 91裸聊视频� 20 of them in Ontario and none as long as Neskantaga91裸聊视频檚.

In 2017, the community, with financial support from the federal government, built a new filtration system for the water treatment plant, attaching a new building to the old one.

But problems persisted.

Just months after the new filtration system opened, Wilford Moonias noticed something strange. The former water plant operator saw an oily sheen in the holding tanks. Unsure what it was, the community declared a state of emergency and evacuated residents. Some 250 people lived in a Thunder Bay hotel for two months.

An investigation revealed a pump failure had caused mineral oil to seep into the water supply. Testing revealed high levels of hydrocarbons, says Moonias, who remains the community91裸聊视频檚 water distribution and sewage operator.

The Ontario Clean Water Agency now operates the plant on behalf of the First Nation. The company declined to comment.

On a warm summer day, Moonias details the water91裸聊视频檚 journey from Attawapiskat Lake through the treatment plant to the distribution pipes that run out of the building.

The water91裸聊视频檚 flow can be slow sometimes and other times is fine, he says. In basic terms, the lake water is cleaned as it wends through the plant. On this day, it pours clear into the plant91裸聊视频檚 reservoir. On other days, it is cloudy, Moonias says, because of high turbidity, which is a measure of particles in the water.

91裸聊视频淭he water is clean going into the reservoir,91裸聊视频� Moonias says. 91裸聊视频淏ut here91裸聊视频檚 where trouble starts.91裸聊视频�

He dips his hand into a massive tank, and when he slides it along the wall and pulls out, it91裸聊视频檚 covered in a green slime.

91裸聊视频淭his is a problem,91裸聊视频� he says.

He next hops in his truck to show his 91裸聊视频渞eal concerns91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频� the water distribution system, the pipes that snake underground.

In some homes the water smells of chlorine, in others it comes out brown, and others have little pressure. In some homes the water is clear.

At one point, he points out a few fire hydrants near the plant.

91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 very little pressure here, the hose won91裸聊视频檛 work,91裸聊视频� he says. 91裸聊视频淟et91裸聊视频檚 hope there91裸聊视频檚 no fire down here.91裸聊视频�

ELDERS AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Neskantaga sits on the shores of Attawapiskat Lake and River in the James Bay lowlands. The vast untouched area around the First Nation is flush with lakes and rivers. Water is everywhere.

The community91裸聊视频檚 dump lies a short drive away. Black bears, including several cubs, comb through the garbage as ravens chatter nearby. Empty plastic water bottles dot virtually every part of the site. Recycling is a challenge here.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 difficult to look at,91裸聊视频� Elder Alex Moonias says of the piles of empty bottles. 91裸聊视频淲e are not meant to live like this.91裸聊视频�

It91裸聊视频檚 hard for Elder Leo Moonias to look at the river as well.

91裸聊视频淚 look out onto the river, knowing I am supposed to drink to live, but I91裸聊视频檓 not allowed to drink that water or the water from the taps,91裸聊视频� he says in Anishininiimowin, also called Oji-Cree.

Elders would like to be able to drink water from the lakes and rivers around them, but community testing shows it is often not safe to consume without treatment.

Moonias shakes his head as he looks at three boxes of water bottles delivered that day.

91裸聊视频淵ou would not like it if you lived like this for close to 30 years,91裸聊视频� he says.

THE FUTURE

On Feb. 1 this year 91裸聊视频� the 29th anniversary of the initial boil-water advisory 91裸聊视频� Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu announced the federal government had agreed the community needed a brand new water treatment plant. Ottawa committed to help design the new plant and improve the current one.

91裸聊视频淓veryone in Canada should have access to safe and clean drinking water,91裸聊视频� Jennifer Kozelj, Hajdu91裸聊视频檚 spokeswoman wrote in a statement.

91裸聊视频淲e are committed to getting to a place where the community can feel comfortable in deciding to lift the boil water advisory.91裸聊视频�

The federal government recently introduced legislation called the First Nations Clean Water Act. If passed, it will establish minimum nationwide water standards and set principles for decision-making in an effort to ensure boil-water advisories become a relic of the past.

In Neskantaga, Chief Chris Moonias sighs at the always slow pace of progress when it comes to the water supply.

Residents have decided on a different location for the new water treatment plant. But there91裸聊视频檚 still no commitment to replacing the community91裸聊视频檚 pipes, a sore spot for the chief.

91裸聊视频淚 really don91裸聊视频檛 remember what it was like to have clean water,91裸聊视频� the 54-year-old says. Then he bursts into a big belly laugh.

91裸聊视频淢aybe I91裸聊视频檒l be dead by the time we have clean water here. But I hope to live to see that day. We deserve clean water.91裸聊视频�