One-third of the Navajo Nation does not have access to clean, running water in their homes. Despite being less than 100 miles from the Colorado River.
While lawsuits loop in courts over water rights to the upper and lower basin of the river, Keana Kaleikini has taken matters into her own hands.
A graduate of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Kaleikini has made it her mission to bring equitable access to the most basic of needs to her Nation: clean water and healthy food.
Kaleikini served as head of the New Mexico Covid Rapid Response team from 2021 to 2022. During that time, she delivered PPE, water and other essentials to the elder population of the Navajo Nation. She also joined forces with Collective Medicine, a non-profit organization that -among other initiatives- leads the Water Warrior United campaign.
The campaign has delivered more than one million gallons of water to 80 communities in the nation.
Click Here to learn more and see where barrels of water have been delivered.
Kaleikini says that her work is inspired by the Navajo tradition of caring for their elders and helping those in need.
“We were reclaiming some of what our ancestors had taught us, and working together to protect our most vulnerable.”
