WATER WALKERS
Marchers honour the sanctity of a precious gift,
A group of indigenous men and women walked through Toronto on Thursday, quietly and without much notice from the rest of the city, taking turns to diligently carry a pail of water retrieved from the St. Lawrence River and an eagle staff. The Water Walkers have been marching since June 23, led by Ojibwe elder Josephine Mandamin, to raise awareness about important issues affecting what they see as a sacred, life-sustaining gift — water.
Among their key concerns are pollution and the selling of this important resource.
The size of their group — they started with eight people Thursday morning — fluctuates as locals drift in and out of the rotation. A few have been walking with Mandamin since their journey started in Matane, Que. exactly one month ago.
The walkers are replicating the Ojibwe migration route taken 1,115 years ago, stopping along the way at points where their ancestors made settlements long before the arrival of European colonizers.
“When First Nations people originally travelled inland, they used the water to do that,” explains Sandi Boucher, a planning co-ordinator for the walk. “A great way to honour the water was to replicate that route.”
“It’s literally an Ojibwe ceremony. They’re praying for the water the entire way, the way you’d pray for someone if they were sick,” says Boucher. “Along the way, Josephine talks to people and brings their attention to the sacredness of the water.”
As a group of two or three walked along Lake Shore Blvd. W., holding the water and the eagle staff, others waited in a car up ahead for the precious objects to be handed over to them.
Some of those waiting stood patiently in the sun as the walkers approached to ensure a smooth transition, with as little interruption as possible to the flow of the water.
As the carriers of life, women are the keepers of water, says Boucher. The women, clad in long skirts, carry the pail, careful not to spill a single drop. Traditionally men walk beside the women, carrying the eagle staff that’s supposed to protect them.
Mandamin is known as a grandmother water walker, having led the trips since 2003.
Hundreds have followed the dedicated, media-shy 72-year-old as she walked the shorelines of all five Great Lakes.
“The purpose is to let people understand that water is very precious,” says Mandamin. “It needs to be saved and respected, and not sold off. It needs to be protected from oil spills and nuclear waste.”
For veterans of the walk, navigating heavy traffic in cities has made this one particularly challenging. On Thursday, however, they were grateful to have been able to sleep in until 4:30 a.m. — an hour later than their usual start time.
The walkers stopped in Burlington just before dusk. On Friday, they’ll continue on to Jordan, Ont., one stop closer to their final destination in Wisconsin, where they hope to arrive on Sept. 10.