Emily Unger

7789744

April 17th, 2017

GEOG 1700

The Exhibition of Modern Colonial Powers in Shoal Lake 40

Water is a basic human right, and necessity for human survival, (United Nations 2010).

For Winnipeggers, access to clean drinking water is thought of as a right, not a privilege.

Unfortunately, this is not the reality for the people living in Shoal Lake. Much like any city,

satisfying the need for access to water was vital to ensure Winnipeg’s economic and population

growth in the 1900’s. The colonial settler city prided itself on its successful creation of an

aqueduct to secure this water supply. Resource prosperity most often comes at the expense of

others though. The creation of the aqueduct forced the Anishinaabe people of what is presently

known as Shoal Lake 40 into a colonial induced cycle of poverty. Shoal Lake remains a perfect

example of how colonial powers can inflict poverty among groups of people for social and

economic benefits, and how the conflict of resources quickly cascades into numerous additional

pertinent complications.

The reality of Shoal Lake remains an example of colonialism and resource ownership.

The year 1919 was the first year that drinking water flowed into taps in Winnipeg from Shoal

Lake. The history behind the Shoal Lake 40 aqueduct begins with Winnipeg and its urban growth

in the early 1900’s. The rapid growth of the city demanded more access o drinking water. With

sewage polluting the Assiniboine River, making it unsafe to drink, people began to rely upon

ground and well water. This water was not sufficient for the rapidly increasing population, as
well as it carried illnesses like typhoid, (Ennis 2011). The City of Winnipeg decided to build an

aqueduct to supply for the needs of its citizens and industrial activities. Construction of the

aqueduct began in 1914, and was completed in 1919, (Perry 2016). The aqueduct was and

currently still is vital to the economic prosperity and growth of Winnipeg and its citizens.

The effects of the aqueduct remain a vital resource for Winnipegger’s. Unfortunately,

Shoal Lake 40 has faced the negative consequences of the aqueduct. The construction of the

aqueduct displaced the people of Shoal lake. The City of Winnipeg soon claimed ownership of the

land where the Anishinaabe had once resided. Only a small portion of the land on the peninsula

was left for the people of Shoal Lake 40 to live on, (Failler and Sharma 2015). Residents were cut

off from access to the main land when the murky waters of the Falcon River were diverted away

from the aqueduct. This flooded the area surrounding the peninsula the Anishinaabe were placed

on, leaving their community isolated, on an artificial island. The water that runs into Winnipeg is

regularly tested and treated by a water treatment facility once it leaves Shoal Lake. The water

diverted to surround the Shoal Lake 40 reserve has been contaminated due to the diversion of the

Falcon River’s water away from the Winnipeg supplied aqueduct. The dirty water surrounds the

man-made island, making water unsafe for consumption. The members of Shoal Lake 40 had

received a boil water advisory warning in 1997 when cryptosporidium was detected, (Winnipeg

Water and Waste Department 2017).They have not had access to safe drinking water since, and

the government has failed to provide them with the infrastructure to meet these human needs. This

requires people to either haul in fresh water or to boil water prior to use for everyday activities

such as washing and drinking. It is also recommended infants not be bathed in water. This is not

only expensive but also makes it difficult to ensure good health for the people of Shoal Lake. 103

years later, Shoal Lake 40 remains on an island, with no road and difficult access to the mainland.
They remain culturally isolated from the world, as a decision was made to better the lives of urban

dwellers.

The water crisis in Shoal Lake 40 is a direct result of colonial powers, reminding us that

the effects of colonialism persist well into our present day society. The lack of government

support for Shoal Lake has resulted in a continuous impoverishment of Canadian citizens. A

continual violation of human rights persists in one of the world’s wealthiest countries.

Inaccessibility to clean water has had drastic effects on the residents of Shoal Lake both directly

and indirectly. Not only does it pose a risk to human health and deprive economic wellbeing, it

also isolates access to high school education. The uncertainty in the ability to cross the water to

the mainland, where the high school is located, forces children to either miss or not complete

school. Waste disposal remains another pertinent issue. Citizens are forced to dump the majority

of their household wastes in their own community, as access to waste facilities do not exist, and

solid and liquid waste transportation remains difficult. “The immediate impact on their own

water supply and the inevitable impact that the community’s lack of proper waste disposal will

have for Winnipeg’s water supply, a concern that seems lost upon federal government

officials,”(Failler and Sharma 2015). Water must be purchased and hauled into the community

on a daily basis, however the ferry that gives access to such a luxury has variable operating

hours. During winter, ice begins to form over the canal. This makes access unsafe to the

mainland until such water is frozen. Many deaths as a result of drowning have occurred over the

necessity to cross the canal. The lack of health care on the island pose a threat to the human

wellbeing of residents. The overall effects are not just a water problem. They are a human rights

issue. The survival of residents of Shoal Lake 40 has been greatly affected by the ability to have

access to clean drinking water, as well as their forced isolation.

 The pertinent history of colonialism is very present in the story of Shoal Lake. This is

manifested in the direct displacement of people and resources for the possession of land and

resources for colonial settlers. The benefit of colonial peoples was at the expense of the

Anishinaabe peoples. The production of capital was sustained by land and resources. The

omission of Indigenous people as human beings was advantageous in the construction of the

aqueduct, “…the Aqueduct also shows us how the settler colonial politics of dispossession

depends on erasure and regularly re-enacted forgetting,” (Perry 2016, 96). The prided exclusion

of Indigenous people can be read in a heading from a newspaper from Winnipeg in 1874,

declaring “The largest Indian encampment in the city just now are the cells of the provincial

jail," (Perry 2016, 25). This headline serves as a reminder of the distaste Canadian society has

had for indigenous people. Shoal Lake 40 is undeniably a perfect exemplar of colonial powers

and the dispossession of Indigenous peoples.

Positivity has arisen out of the situation in recent years, despite colonial enforced

hardships. Winnipeg and Shoal Lake developed a tripartite agreement in 1989. Included in the

agreement are the protection of Winnipeg’s water supply, as well as promoting the economic

integrity and developing a comprehensive waste plan for Shoal Lake 40, (City of Winnipeg

Water and Waste 30). This agreement has not resulted in a great deal of action from all parties

until the proposal and beginning of construction of Freedom Road. Freedom Road is estimated to

cost $30 million dollars to construct, (City of Winnipeg 2017). The all-weather road will connect

Shoal Lake 40 to the Trans Canada Highway, and allow for all season access to and from Shoal

Lake. Water must still be hauled in and out of Shoal Lake, however access will be easier.

Residents will finally have access to basic health care as well as educational needs. This

connection provides a vital lifeline to fulfilling economic prosperity to the residents of Shoal
Lake 40. Freedom Road is about more than just access to services. It signifies the reconstruction

of the relationship between colonial settlers and Indigenous peoples. Freedom Road is about

reconciliation and access to economic prosperity. It provides opportunity that once existed, the

opportunity Indigenous had with access to the waters of the Red and Assiniboine crossing in

Winnipeg, and the opportunities continuously taken away from white colonial powers in racial

benefits being accrued.

The creation of an aqueduct in Shoal Lake benefitted thousands of people at the costs of

hundreds of others. It caused displacement and exclusion from vital resources necessary for

economic viability and human survival to the people of Shoal Lake. The struggles in the

construction of Freedom Road reminds us of the still present colonial powers within our society.

Steps being taken in a direction of reconciliation signify what is only the beginning of rebuilding

a relationship that was broken over 100 years prior to. The colonial powers’ denial of basic

human rights to its own citizens was no accident. Through such unfortunate circumstances, the

effects of colonialism persist today in many communities across Canada, through the economic

and lifestyle hardships forced onto them from previous colonial powers.
 Works Cited

City of Winnipeg. 2017. City of Winnipeg Support for Freedom Road. April 10.

City of Winnipeg Water and Waste. 30. "Shoal Lake Tripartite Agreement." Memorandum of

Agreement. Winnipeg, MB, June 1989.

http://www.winnipeg.ca/waterandwaste/pdfs/water/Shoal_Lake_Memorandum_of_Agree

ment.pdf.

Ennis, David. 2011. Developing a Domestic Water Supply for Winnipeg from Shoal Lake and

Lake of the Woods: The Greater Winnipeg Water District Aqueduct, 1905 – 1919. Thesis,

Biosystems Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg: Faculty Graduate Studies of

the University of Manitoba, 132.

Failler, Angela, and Karen Sharma. 2015. Shoal Lake 40's Living Museum: A Photo Essay.

Winnipeg, MB: University of Winnipeg, July 23.

Perry, Adele. 2016. Aqueduct: Colonialism, Resources, and the Histories we Encounter.

Winnipeg, MB: Arp Books.

United Nations. 2010. "The Human Right to Water and Sanitation." United Nations. August 3.

Accessed April 10, 2017.

http://www.un.org/es/comun/docs/?symbol=A/RES/64/292&lang=E.

Winnipeg Water and Waste Department. 2017. Shoal Lake and Winnipeg’s Drinking Water. City

of Winnipeg. Winnipeg, MB, April 11.