Wiikwemkoong welcomes Ocean Bridge ambassadors

By Rick Garrick

WIIKWEMKOONG UNCEDED TERRITORY — A group of about 40 Ocean Bridge ambassadors from across the country recently participated in a 10-kilometre Water Walk and other activities during their 10-day remote learning journey from June 17-26 in Wiikwemkoong.

“It was absolutely fabulous, and I would recommend the experience to anyone between the ages of 18 and 30 because I think it awakened a new inspiration in me and everyone else that was around me,” says Emilie DeRochie, an Ocean Bridge ambassador. “We got to learn together, and one of the first things we did [was] a Water Walk. We all got really close after this experience because at the end, everyone got a little emotional.”

DeRochie says the ambassadors also went on medicinal plant walks at Point Grondine Park, a back-country wilderness park owned and operated by Wiikwemkoong, and a manomin (wild rice) tour.

“It was a really great experience,” DeRochie says. “I hope I can go back to Killarney one day and meet these people from Wiikwemkoong that we met because they really welcomed us into their community and were ready to teach us.”

DeRochie says the ambassadors felt “very privileged” to have had the opportunity to be immersed in both nature and culture at Wiikwemkoong.

“It was very special — I came back to work afterwards and one of my colleagues said it was like I became a super version of myself because I felt so empowered and inspired to help protect the water for new reasons now,” DeRochie says. “After doing that Water Walk, it opened your eyes to the importance of water, not just physically or biologically, [but] also culturally and spiritually, and that was really special to learn about. When you pass the water, you don’t look back, you just keep going — you leave whatever is wrong or whatever is bothering you behind, and it’s very special that way.”

Rachel Morningstar, Great Lakes manager at Ocean Bridge, says the ambassadors also learned about the history of the land and how Wiikwemkoong has defended and protected their land, water, and resources over the years. The 40 ambassadors were part of about 140 ambassadors brought together by Ocean Bridge in four different cohorts in the Pacific, Great Lakes, St. Lawrence, and Atlantic regions. An initiative of Ocean Wise, a globally-focused conservation organization, Ocean Bridge is funded by Canada Service Corps through the federal government.

“One of our main focuses when we go on these learning journeys is to also provide environmental service for the local community,” Morningstar says. “So we worked with [Wiikwemkoong’s Department of Lands and Natural Resources] and we helped build turtle fences, bat boxes, and also cleared the trail [at Prairie Point].”

Morningstar says the ambassadors also attended the pow wow on National Indigenous Peoples Day in Wiikwemkoong.

“Our ambassadors learned so much and really got to participate in the pow wow, so that was amazing,” Morningstar says. “[They] also learned how to harvest and process wild rice, and we also participated in traditional drumming and moon teachings as well.”

Morningstar says Ocean Wise’s aim is to inspire and empower people by turning knowledge of the oceans and freshwater into action.

“Our ambassadors are so grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from Wiikwemkoong and are so inspired now to lead their own local environmental service projects across Canada,” Morningstar says, noting that the ambassadors will be meeting together in Ottawa in a couple of months. “Since they’ve come back from the trip, they’re now starting to plan their own projects, either in their local communities or projects that can be delivered in Ottawa that really focus on outreach for the general public to educate them about ocean and freshwater health and literacy.”