This 13-Year-Old Indigenous Girl Has Been Nominated for a Global Peace Prize

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“Autumn Peltier already has years of advocacy behind her. She’s met the prime minister, she’s attended the Assembly of First Nations Annual General Assembly and she’s marched on the highway in the name of water protection. At just 13 years old, Peltier is now a nominee for the International Children’s Peace Prize.

The 151 nominees for the International Children’s Peace Prize were recently announced and the only Canadian candidate is this Anishinaabe teen from Wikwemikong First Nation.

Peltier has been advocating for clean drinking water since she was about 8 years old and is already considered a water protector — just like her aunt Josephine Mandamin, who received the Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award for Excellence in Conservation in 2016.

Launched in 2005, the International Children’s Peace Prize is awarded to a child who has worked to improve children’s lives around the world.”

Article Source: Globalcitizen

Autumn Peltier is promoting the protection of sacred waters around the world.

Autumn Peltier already has years of activism behind him. He met with the Prime Minister of Canada, attended the Annual General Assembly of the First Nations Assembly and marched on the highway in the name of water protection. With only 13 years, Peltier is now nominated for the International Prize for the Peace of Children and Adolescents.

The 151 nominees for the International Peace Prize for Children and Adolescents were recently announced and the only Canadian candidate is the young woman, Anishinaabe, of the First Wikwemikong Nation.

Peltier has been an advocate for clean drinking water since she was about 8 years old and is already considered a protector of water – as was her aunt Josephine Mandamin, who received the Ontario Heritage Award for Conservation Excellence from the Vice-Governor of Ontario in 2016

Begun in 2005, the International Prize for the Peace of Children and Adolescents is awarded to a child who has worked to improve the lives of children in the world.

Peltier has been recognized internationally for his work. In 2015 she was invited to the Children’s Conference on Climate Change, held in Sweden.

The goal of the conference was to gather children from 32 countries to write their petitions for world leaders. The statement was subsequently delivered to the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference, held in Paris.

“I want to share that water is really sacred. Water is life. Mother Earth does not need us, we need her, ”Peltier told CBC .

Peltier was asked to present the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, at the Annual General Assembly of the First Nations Assembly in 2016. The young woman had prepared a speech for Trudeau, but only gave him a few moments to interact with him.

“I said, ‘I feel very unhappy about the decisions you have made,'” Peltier recalled. “And he said, ‘I understand.’ And then I started crying and after that I could only say ‘The pipelines’, ”the teenager told The Huffington Post Canada last year.

He said Trudeau responded by promising that he would protect the water.

Among his inspiring feats, Autumn launched a call to national action in November last year. He invited everyone to participate in the closure of highways throughout Canada for an hour on December 5, as a way to promote water protection. He was with his mother on a highway in Espanola, Ontario.

“I cry when watching a video of Standing Rock,” said Autumn in his call to action . “We shouldn’t have to fight for our water, we should only be able to have clean drinking water.”

The adolescent works to spread awareness about the protection of water in various communities and youth.

“They gave us only one planet. And we are destroying it, ”he said in a pleading tone . “It is not only in North America where we need clean drinking water, but throughout the world.”

The International Prize for the Peace of Children and Adolescents will be presented on December 4 in the Netherlands.