Walking Gichigami - Governing Transboundary Waters: Canada, the United States, and Indigenous Communities - page 155

The Ojibwa are the people of the lake; they have relied on the lake's harvest
for millennia. To turn their back on the fish is to turn their back on a way of life.
Similar to the issues facing the Coast Salish peoples discussed in Chapters 5 and 6,
the Ojibwa peoples' ways forward is contextualized by place and custom. The
communities are fixed to set territorial boundaries to make their livelihood, yet
extraterritorial pollution disproportionately influences the quality of this life
(Donatuto, 2008).
So, what does that mean in terms of ways forward? For some, they stay and
hope for the best. Some choose to ignore the signs because it is too overwhelming.
For others, like Josephine, they make their work trying to do what they can -
raising the profile of the issues, raising awareness, increasing allies. For Josephine,
this means walking.
Along the way, she tells stories, collects friends, and builds allies. Over the years,
a team of people has come to support this annual Journey, and other walks have
sprung up in solidarity. With each Journey comes increased awareness with
increased concern.
The 2011 Journey described below was perhaps the most highly publicized and
the most involved. It is a journey similar to mine - a Journey from the waters of
the Salish Sea to the heart of the Great Lakes. This Journey is astounding.
Four Directions Water Walk
In 2011, Grandmother Nokomis Josephine Mandamin embarked on arguably the
most ambitious and inspirational walk yet; to gather pails of salt water from the
Four Sacred Directions - from Hudson Bay, the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of
Mexico, and the Pacific Ocean - to meet at the center, on the shores of Lake
Superior (see Figure 8.3) . The four directions link to the four cardinal points on
the Medicine Wheel, beginning in the East and moving clockwise to the West.
For the Ojibwa, the directions are represented by the colors yellow, red, black,
and white. In addition, the sky above, the earth below, and at the center the self,
the physical world, complete the Medicine Wheel, or the wheel of life.
Many teachings are embedded within the Medicine Wheel and the four
directions, both spiritually and practically. They are in place to remind people of
the need for balance in the world, and the balance that people must achieve in
everyday life. The need for “centering” and “grounding” is also explicitly linked
to respect for place and respect for others. So, for Grandmother Josephine,
extending the Journey to the Four Directions not only was a practical way of
widening her message, it was also spiritually grounded in an ancient practice,
which served to foster reciprocal and respectful relationships between earth and
humans.
Josephine gathered the water in copper buckets at each of the four collection
sites. At one site after another, she prepared the water and the volunteers with
blessings and promises. Groups of volunteers helped to carry the salt water from
each of the four collection sites to the final destination in Lake Superior. The walkers
took turns carrying the pail - over mountain passes, across bridges, and along