What can I do? [editorial]

Grandmother Josephine Mandamin is walking again, despite a knee replacement 18 months ago. She continues her sacred Water Walks with a team of people who, this year, are following the great migration route of the Anishinaabe people. The group will be gathering at all seven stopping places
where they will smoke the pipe and drum and share stories with whomever wishes to be a part of the gatherings; anyone healthy enough, free from the influences of drugs and alcohol, to care about the spirit of our water can take part.

The bucket the women on the journey carry was dipped into the water on the east coast near the Gaspé Peninsula sometime in June. It’s the first time the Water Walkers, who have been undertaking an awareness of the
importance and sacredness of clean and healthy water since 2003, were to carry salt water. They orphaned the water when they collected it, and then after they carried it for a time, they returned it to the body of water and collected a bit more. Mandamin tastes the water from time to time, and she said the water stopped being brackish as they advanced along the St. Lawrence River in early July.

They walk for 10 to 12 hours a day, averaging about 42 km a day, raising awareness about the oil spills on the Great Lakes, the train derailments that have caused harm to the water, fish, vegetation and animals. “We do not want pipelines across our country or our communities,” reads the Website at WaterWalkersUnited.com . The walk will take them to Madeline Island in Wisconsin around Aug. 20.

Mandamin is a very determined woman, and it all started with a vision. The spirit of a great Miigis entered through her dreams and told her she must take action for the water. She is a member of a very old shell society called the Three Fires of the Midewiwin, Gabriel Peltier told Windspeaker. He takes care of Mandamin along the walk and was her speaker during our
discussion.

Her vision started a kitchen table discussion amongst a
group of women trying to answer a simple question: ‘What can I do?’ It was decided that they would set out to acknowledge the water, treating it like the entity it is, rather than a resource. They wanted to stand up for the spirits of the water. Literally walking the talk, said Mandamin, and there is a lot to talk about.

The first Water Walk was in Spring of 2003 when two Anishinaabe grandmothers, and a group of supporters, walked around Lake Superior. This was done “to raise awareness that our clean and clear water is being polluted by chemicals, vehicle emissions, motor boats, sewage disposal, agricultural pollution, leaking landfill sites, and residential usage is taking
a toll on our water quality. Water is precious and sacred…it is one of the basic elements needed for all life to exist.” Mandamin told Windspeaker in July she’s concerned too about the proposal to bury nuclear waste a mile under Lake Huron.

In 2004 they walked the perimeter of Lake Michigan, then Lake Huron in 2005, Lake Ontario in 2006 and Lake Erie in 2007. In 2008 it was Lake Michigan again and then someone said ‘now you’ll have to walk the St. Lawrence’, and Mandamin took it upon herself to do that in 2009. And each year after there has been a walk around a lake or other body of water up to this sacred walk of 2015. It’s an amazing commitment.

And now, others are catching up to the concerns. In June,
recently-elected Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Isadore Day called on Canada and Ontario to work with First Nations to implement the Water Declaration of the Anishinaabek, Mushkegowuk and Onkwehone. The declaration
guides in the restoration of the waters in their ancestral lands, based on traditional knowledge, inherent rights, sacred responsibilities and the wisdom of the Elders, Chief Day said.

It was in October 2008 that the declaration was presented
during the First Nations Water Policy Forum in Garden River.   After a discussion about water quality, water quantity, safe drinking water and a clear path forward, they came up with the declaration that said they had a responsibility for, and direct relationship to, the waters, including rain, waterfalls, rivers, stream, creeks, lakes, mountain springs, swamp springs,
bedrock water veins, snow, oceans, icebergs and the sea.

And it says that as the First Peoples of Turtle Island, through the teachings of the women, had the right and responsibility to defend and ensure the protection, availability and purity of all waters, both fresh and salt for the survival of the present and future generations.

At that time, the declaration said the ecosystems of the
world have been under considerable stress from misuse and abuse. It’s now seven years later, and that stress has worsened. And it’s not just Ontario that is suffering. Across the country we are seeing a profound impact.

When asked how she wants people to respond to this year’s
Water Walk, Mandamin said she wants women, if they can, to come and carry the water and for men to come and walk with the women for their protection. And if you can’t walk, come and be a part of their gatherings and listen to the old stories. They are walking for all of humanity. It’s all about the water. There
is a Facebook page (Water Walkers United) that tracks the walkers. At this writing they are east of Smith Falls on their way to Toronto, Hamilton and Niagara.

And beyond helping the walkers, Windspeaker asks for a wider response to protecting all waters. ‘What can I do?’ was the question asked around that kitchen table in 2003. And we ask that each and every one of you take time tonight around your own table to ask that question of yourselves.

We are water, and water needs our help.

Windspeaker