North America Mother Earth Water Walk from the 4 Directions With a Copper Pail of Seawater

Photo: Josephine Mandamin, Shelley with copper pail for seawater, Silvia Plaine and Tina West

What began with 4 Anishinawbe Grandmothers quickly included women and men walking to raise awareness for the water "Water is precious and sacred; it is one of the basic elements needed for all life to exist." They walked around the Great Lakes and the St Lawrence to the sea. Each of the 24,113,700 steps taken was a prayer for the water.

Now the 2011 Mother Earth Water Walk to Wisconsin from 4 directions has begun. April 10, 2011, at Olympia, Washington, under the watchful eyes of loon and bald eagle, water from the Pacific Ocean was collected in a copper pail. Walkers will gather sea water in Gulfport, Mississippi, Machias, Maine and Churchill, Manitoba and walk the waters to Bad River, Wisconsin. Telling me of the epic endeavour are Josephine Mandamin, Dawnis Kennedy, Joanne Robertson (coordinator) Sharon M. Day (South), Tina (West) and Madeleine Huntjens (East).To learn more and to assist please visit http://www.motherearthwaterwalk.com or view their progress at http://emptyglassforwater.ca/map/

Listen to Moir's Environmental Dialogues: Ocean River Shields of Achilles Episode 41, Internet Talk Radio or free podcast on iTunes

Rob talks with five Mother Earth Walkers:

Josephine Mandamin has walked around the five Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River along with her supporters. With the support of many people, and with financial assistance from many donations, they accomplished a great feat of awareness of the critical water shortage, political and spiritual issues around water for those whom they met along the walk. Women led the walk in demonstration of the important role women play in the protection of the waters. In her great love for the water, Josephine speaks about that connection. She shares how her vision came to be what it is today and what it will mean to the future. Josephine has pledged her life to the environment and always emphasizes the importance of the protection of the water

Madelynn Huntjens studied and worked in Holistic and Mental Health, and Eco-Tourism. She is an advocate for peaceful resolutions and environment protection, where she met her husband while working together at protecting Water. Mother of three children, Madelyn lives along the St Croix River on Passamaquoddy Land in Eastern Canada. Since 2006, Madelyn has traveled West to Wisconsin every season learning and walking the road of the original teachings of her Ancestors and of the people of this Land. I am most grateful to Madelyn for contacting me and for bringing to my attention this most amazing walk.

Joanne Robertson is Coordinator, Central Communications Post, Water Walk 2011. Joanne works for Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig in Sault Ste. Marie, ON www.motherearthwaterwalk.com Facebook: Water Walk 2011   “Ni guh Izhi chigay Nibi onji” - “I will do it for the water”.

Sharon M. Day is an Ojibwe woman from Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe. She currently lives in St. Paul, Minnesota near the Mississippi River. Ms. Day was an active participant in the saving Camp Coldwater in Minneapolis in 1998-2000. She is the Executive Director of the Indigenous Peoples Task Force; which is a health care advocacy and service agency for Native Americans in the area.

Minnawaunigogeezhigoak is an Ojibwe Marten Clan woman from Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation and a first degree Midewiwin of the Three Fires Lodge. Also known as Dawnis Kennedy, she is a Trudeau Scholar, a SJD Candidate at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto and a visiting scholar at Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig. Her dissertation, Onaakonigewin: Rekindling the Fire Within,asks how we might strengthen our selves by learning to work with the laws given to Anishinabe. Dawnis, like many of her colleagues at Shingwauk is busy doing what she can for the Mother Earth Water Walk 2011. Dawnis is the main contact person for the Western portion of the Water Walk 2011, connecting walkers, hosts, support walkers, fundraisers, volunteers and donators from and for the West.

Tina Kuckkahn-Miller, J.D. (Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe) is Longhouse Director at Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington. Tina has served as the founding director of the Longhouse since 1996, when the Longhouse’s public service work first began with the launch of the Native Economic Development Arts Initiative, with funding from the Northwest Area Foundation.