With additional photos and videos by water protectors
BARAGA, Mich. -- Completing a three-day, 90-mile Water Walk near Lake Superior from Copper Harbor, People of the Heart Water Walkers -- Native and non-Native -- arrived at their destination, Sand Point Lighthouse in the Ojibwa Campground, Baraga, on Oct. 21, 2019.
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) member Kathy Smith, one of the organizers of the Walk, was happy to report that three generations of her family were represented in the Walk since her mother, Florine Chosa, and Kathy's son Jacob, participated with her.
Kathy said her mother found it very moving to walk for the water and she had tears in her eyes from the realization that she, her daughter and her grandson were walking together.
"We must lead by example," Kathy said. "Our youth is our future. To see my son walk with his grandmother was a beautiful sight. I brought my son to bring that balance of the masculine and the feminine. He was the only male for the last two days on the walk so we could have that balance. As Anishinaabe we must plant the seeds in our youth because they are our future. We must teach our youth to be good stewards for our sacred water and the environment. That's where it is going to continue for the next 7 generations."
Donica Hope Dravillas of Copper Harbor was happy her daughter, Madeline, was able to participate as well. She noted Madeline was at first a little unsure of carrying Nibi when she saw so many strong women carrying it.
"After day one, I asked an Auntie to suggest to Madeline that she carry the Eagle Staff," Donica wrote on Facebook. "Madeline accepted. After that she started to carry Nibi. And after that she became a part. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to these women for encouraging my daughter."
Donica told Keweenaw Now her interest in the water walks is related to her experience at Standing Rock a few years ago.
"When I came back from there I made contact with Terri Denomie (of KBIC) about a water ceremony at Hunters' Point (in Copper Harbor) and then went to a Water Walk at Keweenaw Bay," she said.
The Walk began in Copper Harbor early Saturday morning, Oct. 19.
On hand for the start of the Walk was Erika Vye of Copper Harbor, who participated in all three days of the Water Walk.
"Kathy put it best when she said, 'It isn’t about the walk, it’s about the water,'" Erika noted. "This walk was not a protest or a display of strength or endurance; it was pure and from the heart. Ego is set aside. We walked together to do this important work -- carry the water forward, inspire and raise awareness."
Keweenaw Now joined the Walkers in Eagle Harbor. Some were riding part of the way in a van provided by the Keweenaw Adventure Company of Copper Harbor.
Shelby Coleman of Copper Harbor, who was riding in the Keweenaw Adventure Company van driven by her friend Nick Wiersgalla, said the Walkers had left Copper Harbor at 7 a.m. after doing a tobacco offering.
"That (tobacco) promotes goodness in the travels and good interaction between the participants and the water," she said.
The van carried snacks and first aid supplies. Other volunteers followed or preceded the Walk in support vehicles and provided additional snacks and water or coffee. One of those was Charli Mills, who moved to the Keweenaw from New Mexico, where she had become interested in Native American cultures. Before driving her vehicle ahead of the Walkers she left it to walk with them at the start of the Walk and then walked back to get her car.
"I walked this morning from Astor Shipwreck Park (across from Fort Wilkins) to the edge of Copper Harbor. It was pitch black," Charli said. "Walking back to get ahead reminded me of the role of the sacred clown -- someone who goes backwards to move the story forward."*
Charli's friend Bonnie Harrer of Copper Harbor lent her support by fixing a breakfast of omelette muffins and providing lots of coffee for the Walkers. In her vehicle Charli carried pots of Bonnie's coffee, snacks and a 10-gallon water jug MacDonald's of Houghton lent the walkers for the weekend.
From Eagle Harbor the Walkers continued to Cat Harbor, where some offered asema, sacred tobacco, to the water from the beach. Julie Belew of Houghton was one who made such an offering.
"Those are prayers in the tobacco (asema) -- an offering of thanksgiving for the water," Julie said.
A young family from Copper Harbor -- Jon and Natalie Schubbe and their young son, Eli -- also paused near the beach at Cat Harbor.
Further along, heading for Eagle River, some made a pit stop at the Great Sand Bay facilities. There Keweenaw Now had an opportunity to meet the two hardy elders riding in the golf cart bearing the American flag and the flag of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community.
"We're both elders of the Tribe, and we're all friends," Diane said. "We're supporting the Water Walk (planned months ago). We do one from Pequaming to Sand Point in Baraga every summer. It's a 17-mile walk. This is a first. People from the Keweenaw asked if we would do it."
And do it they did, with Walkers taking turns carrying the copper pail of Nibi, that must keep moving all day until the group stops for the night.
According to Kathy Smith, the water must keep moving in one direction, since that is the way water flows. When the group has an overnight stop, they may do a water ceremony at the end of that day and then resume carrying it the next day. The bearer of the Eagle Staff, as a protector, accompanies the person carrying Nibi.
After stopping briefly at Great Sand Bay, some participants hurried to catch up with the leaders, heading for Eagle River (MI). Walkers spent the night in the homes of volunteers along the route, following a feast at Bethany Lutheran Church in Mohawk Saturday evening.
On Sunday, Oct. 20, the Water Walkers passed through Ripley and crossed the Portage Lift Bridge to Houghton.
In Houghton the Walkers enjoyed a gathering and feast at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.
On Monday, Oct. 21, they set out early again and reached their final destination, the Sand Point Lighthouse in the Ojibwa Campground in Baraga.
When they came to the boundary of the KBIC Reservation, the Walkers were greeted by the sight of 11 eagles.
Terri Denomie, second from right in the video above, whose Anishinaabe name is Gichigamikwe (Great Lakes Woman), called the eagles her sisters and brothers because she is of the Eagle Clan.
"I was gifted the Eagle Staff in 2016 to take care of when my sister, Pauline Knapp Spruce, walked on," Terri said. "I'm doing her work, and she's guiding me along the way."**
Cynthia May Drake of Ripley participated in the Walk all three days.
"We are a community formed by water," Cynthia said. "We may have thought that we walked the Water, but She was gathering us together in community and walking us, showing us along the way those three days, how to build community and gather in together. All of us had roles to play from organizing the event to cooking food or cleaning up at a feast, to hosting someone in a home overnight, to being a driver of the 'respite mobile' to feeding coffee and water or muffins from the back of the trunk of the car. It was a collective effort. We did not measure miles we walked; we measured the depth of Spirit we gained as we walked with our Sisters or held them up in the journey."
Anne Newcombe, who drove one of the support vehicles during the Water Walk, attributed the success of the Walk to a whole community of participants, including the following:
Officer Darren of the Houghton City Police and his unnamed officer from the Hancock City Police for helping the Walkers cross traffic safely across the bridge Sunday afternoon; both Bethany Lutheran (Mohawk) and Good Shepherd Lutheran (Houghton) for feast space, as well as the KBIC Cultural Committee for the final night’s wonderful feast; Ronnie Mae Krueger; Shelby Laubhan’s and Sam Raymond’s Keweenaw Adventure business, Tressa and Vince Alvarado; KBIC for the use of support vans; and all of the overnight home hosts for the Walkers and Grandmothers -- Bucky Beach, Lake Fanny Hooe Resort, Ray and Viki Weglarz, Jenny Lester, Charli and Todd Mills, Anne Newcombe and Will Cantrell, and Cynthia May Drake.
Notes:
* Watch for a guest article on the People of the Heart Water Walk by Charli Mills, coming soon.
** The Keweenaw Bay 6th Annual Pauline Knapp-Spruce Memorial Water Walk was held on July 24, 2019 -- a 17-mile walk from First Sand Beach at Pequaming Point to Sand Point. Pauline Knapp-Spruce participated in the KBIC welcoming of the 2011 Mother Earth Water Walkers, led by the late Josephine Mandamin of Thunder Bay, Ont. See our August 5, 2011, article, "KBIC welcomes 2011 Mother Earth Water Walk participants."
