Jospehine Mandamin honouring the water
On April 10, “Anishinaabe grandmothers, women and men, and youth from Canada and the United States” began walking “to call attention to the sacred gift of water” and to “raise awareness of the need to take care of the water, and to help our Mother Earth who is struggling to survive and to provide for all her children.” This year’s “Water Walk unites all the waters of our Mother Earth. Water from the vast Pacific Ocean, from the Gulf of Mexico, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Hudson Bay will be gathered in copper pails and carried by hand. (The walkers will converge on) the shores of Lake Superior (on June 12).”
On Friday May 20, the Council of Canadians will be joining in Ottawa with the “Walkers from the East” who started their journey in Machais, Maine on May 7.
“The Anishinaabe, also known as the Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi, are the caretakers of the eastern woodlands and Great Lakes, the largest freshwater system on Earth. Anishinaabe women, as givers-of-life, are responsible for speaking for, protecting and carrying our water.”
More information on the Water Walk, the schedule of where and when Council of Canadians chapter activists and members could join the walk, and how to support the initiative with a donation, can be found at http://www.motherearthwaterwalk.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=119&Itemid=126.
You may also be interested in watching the documentary ‘Waterlife’, which follows the inspiring journey of Anishinabe elder Josephine Mandamin as she walked the 17,000 kilometre shoreline of the Great Lakes in 2008. For more on that film, go to http://www.primitive.net/waterlife.html.
