For Sandra Pronteau, the story of Grassy Narrows is not distant or abstract. It is deeply personal.

Sandra is Cree–Métis, originally from northern Manitoba, and a survivor of the Sixties Scoop. She was born with disabilities linked to environmental contamination caused by mining near her home community. She is a long-time advocate for disability justice, accessibility, and inclusive faith communities. When Sandra learned about Grassy Narrows, it deeply resonated with her lived experience.

At a recent  Canadian Indigenous Ministry Committee meeting, Sandra and other committee members heard from a man named Dan, who shared the history of the community’s struggle. He spoke about the mercury contamination of the English-Wabigoon River system, the long-standing health impacts on the people of Grassy Narrows, and the ongoing efforts to seek accountability and justice. For Sandra, Grassy Narrows echoed stories she had been living with her entire life.

She was struck by the familiar pattern: land contamination, poisoned water, and the slow, generational harm that follows. Growing up, Sandra recalls her mother hauling water from the river in buckets and melting snow in winter because clean drinking water was not reliably available. At the time, Sandra didn’t fully understand why. Later, she learned that mercury had entered her own body through the land and food systems her family depended on. Moose, fish, and other animals hunted and gathered for survival were all affected by industrial contamination.

“No one ever talks about disabilities being connected to the land,” Sandra said. Environmental harm is often described vaguely, as if it exists only in the air, disconnected from people’s bodies. But for Indigenous communities, the land, water, and body are inseparable. When the land is poisoned, people are poisoned too.

Sandra said Elders are witnesses. They remember when the water was safe, when people could swim, fish, and live according to teachings passed down for generations. They also witness what happens when those ways of life are disrupted. Loss of livelihood, declining health, and rising mental health struggles do not appear in isolation. They ripple outward from environmental destruction.

Sandra sees these ripple effects everywhere. She recalls seeing a social media post from northern Manitoba during the holidays: a mother pleading for water so she could bathe her baby while under a long-term water advisory. This is not an isolated incident. Sandra’s home community has lived under water advisories for decades. There has been no meaningful improvement, only prolonged neglect.

“Nobody talks about us living in third-world conditions,” she said. “People don’t believe it.” Yet many Indigenous communities across Canada still lack consistent access to clean water, while nearby industries extract resources and generate profit. Sandra believes this imbalance is at the heart of the injustice Grassy Narrows exposes.

The impacts extend far beyond physical illness. When land and water are no longer safe, entire social systems unravel. Families struggle to care for children. Mental health crises increase. Substance use, violence, and suicide rise. Child welfare agencies intervene. Employment opportunities disappear. All of this, Sandra emphasizes, is connected to environmental harm.

Sandra sees hope in how people have refused to remain silent about Grassy Narrows. The community has spent years challenging governments and industries, asserting treaty rights, and demanding accountability. They’re fighting for cleanup, and about setting legal precedents that acknowledge the catastrophic impacts of environmental negligence. They are passionate about forcing systems to recognize that economic gain cannot come at the cost of human life.

For Sandra, justice means safe water, restored land, and dignified living conditions. It means acknowledging wrongdoing, compensating communities that have been harmed, and ensuring that future generations are protected. It also means collective responsibility.

“This affects all of us,” she said. While some people can afford bottled water or filtration systems, many cannot. Even those who feel insulated contribute to environmental harm through plastic waste and overconsumption. Justice requires awareness, action, and solidarity.

Sandra calls on churches, settler communities, and allies to walk alongside Indigenous peoples rather than looking away. She challenges faith communities to see environmental justice as a spiritual responsibility and to listen to Indigenous voices, especially Elders and people living with disabilities caused by environmental disruption.

“Water is sacred,” Sandra said. “It’s what keeps our planet sustainable.” The question Grassy Narrows poses  are about the past, and also the future. What kind of world will be left four or five generations from now if these harms continue unchecked?

Justice begins with listening, and acting, before it is too late.