Walking Gichigami - Governing Transboundary Waters: Canada, the United States, and Indigenous Communities - page 147

8 Walking Gichigami

Mother Earth Water Walks and
environmental advocacy

Mother Earth Water Walk
It's early morning. The sun is just rising over the calm waters of Lake Superior.
Nokomis Josephine Mandamin, a 66-year-old grandmother and member of the
Anishinaabe Nation, dips her copper bucket into the calm waters of Lake Superior,
the largest of the North American Great Lakes (and the third largest lake, by volume,
in the world).
She quietly, serenely starts the day as she has many times before with a prayer
to the lake (or what Anishinaabe speakers call Gichigami , the big lake). Gichigami
is seen as a spiritual entity, deserving both respect and reverence. Josephine prays
for the health of the water, the well-being of her relatives and ancestors, and blesses
the four directions. She then collects the water and starts her journey.
Josephine is a Water Keeper, and a member of the Ojibwa tribe of the Great
Lakes of North America. In her people's tradition, it is the woman's responsi-
bility to care for and protect the water - a responsibility that must, at times, seem
daunting.
Over her lifetime, she has witnessed a significant decline in the water's health.
She has seen ecosystems fail, coastlines degrade, and beaches close. She has seen
industrial pollutants, agricultural runoff, and forest removal impact the health of
fish and, subsequently, the health of her people. She has seen fish overharvested
and exotic species threaten the survival of native species. She has seen bottling
water companies such as Nestlé and Aquafina pose significant threats to the aquifers
in the Great Lakes Basin. These issues are not isolated. The waters of her homeland
are impacted by decisions made in far-off places. She knows, however, that she
can do only so much from her home.
So, as a Water Keeper, as a mother, and as a grandmother, she does what she
can. She walks. For the past 10 years Josephine has been walking along the shores
of the waters she cares for so much. She walks to raise awareness of the sacred
nature of water, to give voice to the pressing issues, and to inspire others to take
suit. Without complaint, she walks mile after mile, kilometer after kilometer,
building lore that celebrates water. Her schedule is dizzying:

Lake Superior. 2003.
Lake Michigan. 2004.