Ripple Effects: From Shoal Lake's Story to Our Own by Ian Lindal

Purpose

This unit engages students in critical examination of water equity issues through the lens of the Shoal Lake 40 First Nation water crisis and Winnipeg Aqueduct, empowering them to become informed citizens and active agents of change around water justice and Indigenous rights. Students will consider the essential question: How do we value/devalue our water?

About This Project

Participants: Grade 10/11 ELA/Geography/History students in Manitoba

Context: This unit examines the connection between Winnipeg's water supply and Shoal Lake 40 First Nation, using local issues to explore broader themes of water equity, Indigenous rights, and environmental justice through critical literacy and multimodal composition.

Purpose/Goals:

• Students are introduced to the issue with an image of residents of Shoal Lake pulling

  purified water across the frozen lake and use the SHOWeD process for discussing images.

• Students will view and discuss the Freedom Road documentary.

• Students will analyze a CBC news article on Shoal Lake’s Water Treatment Facility

  through the Geographical framework of What is Where, Why There and Why Care.

• Students will build multimodal literacy skills through combining a photo or video they have taken with their own poetry reflecting on the essential question in their Ripple Effects Projects.

• Students will see themselves as informed citizens and active agents of change around

  water equity and Indigenous rights issues.

Project Description

Students progress through three stages: activating prior knowledge through the image analysis, acquiring understanding through documentary viewing and article analysis, and applying learning through the creation of Ripple Effects projects. The culminating project involves students documenting how their community values or devalues water through photography/videography paired with reflective poetry. These multimodal pieces are shared publicly through school displays and digital platforms, positioning students as advocates for water justice and Indigenous rights within their community.