‘I could clean myself, but I don’t think anybody cares’: Water Walkers prepare to honour Nibi with every step
Photo credit: All Nations Grand River Water Walk.
By Ella Miller
KITCHENER – Mary Anne Caibaiosai started walking in 2017, blessed to have participated in the late Josephine Mandamin’s final Water Walk. Mandamin was an Anishinabek Grandmother and environmentalist who is often credited with founding the modern Water Walk movement.
Caibaiosai – who is Ojibwe-Anishinabek from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory and Sagamok Anishnawbek – is one of the many people who honour Mandamin’s legacy by continuing to walk for water, or Nibi, following Mandamin’s teachings and protocols for the ceremony.
Caibaiosai now leads the All Nation Grand River Water Walk, an annual ceremonial trek that traverses 270km of land along the Grand River that began in 2018. This year’s walk will begin on Sunday, September 20 and is scheduled to conclude on Friday, September 25.
The walk will start with an opening ceremony at 8 a.m. in Port Maitland near the mouth of the Grand River at Lake Erie. There the Water Walkers will hoist Nibi into a copper pail which will be carried and protected for the duration of their journey.
Throughout the ceremony each participant will have a special role to play: women will be in charge of holding Nibi while the men will carry the Eagle Staff and protect the women walkers along the more dangerous parts of the route.
“The pail changes wherever we’re going through,” said Caibaiosai. “[Nibi] gets heavier when we’re going through stressful areas. She gets lighter when we get into the open spaces. It’s amazing how we can feel that energy. The same happens with the Eagle Staff. They both have spirit; they’re alive, they’re medicine.”
Honouring the spirit of Nibi is the entire purpose of the All Nations Grand River Water Walk. Every morning the walkers smudge to prepare themselves spiritually for the work they have ahead of them that day. Offerings of tobacco are made to flowing streams and rivers. Water Walkers also sing and pray for Nibi throughout the day.
Caibaiosai said that these actions show appreciation for Nibi, especially in the wake of large scale pollution and other abuses of natural resources.
“It’s really important when we think about the water because right now she really needs our help,” said Caibaiosai. “What’s happening with climate change and with industry and I would say the negative force that impact the water.”
Walking along the Grand River is particularly meaningful in this regard, according to Caibaiosai, as Six Nations of the Grand River, the largest First Nation in Canada, was just recently under a boil water advisory due to unsafe drinking water. The Water Walkers will travel through Six Nations on the second day of their journey.
“It’s part of that raising awareness about those issues as well, but it’s mostly a ceremony,” clarified Caibaiosai. “We try to make sure people know that it’s actually a ceremony where we’re embedded in that spiritual realm to seek help for the water.”
People who encounter the water walkers along their journey are welcome to approach them respectfully according to Caibaiosai. They appreciate seeing and hearing support from passersby, especially as they enter a new town. Donations of food, beverages and monetary funds are also appreciated by the water walkers.
The Water Walkers will be passing through communities including Caledonia, Brantford, Paris, Cambridge, Kitchener and Elora. Motorists are asked to leave a wide berth for any walkers they encounter both as a sign of respect and in order to protect the group.
When asked if there were any phrases or intentions that people wishing to pray for the water walkers as they engage in their ceremony could use, Caibaiosai had a few suggestions.
“‘Please keep the Water Walkers safe’, ‘send in helpers’ to make sure we’re safe and that we’re being taken care of,” suggested Caibaiosai. “We believe in our ancestors, right? [People] will say ‘please send our ancestors to walk with us or protect us.’”
Ultimately, the All Nations Grand River Water Walk is an expression of joy and appreciation for Nibi to help reinvigorate her which walkers like Caibaiosai have been preparing themselves mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually for, for almost a year.
“When we do this walk, when we sing, pray and put out positive thoughts for her it helps us,” said Caibaiosai, describing the reciprocal nature of the walk. “It’s a joy to walk for her. It’s a joy to carry her.”
For more information people can visit the All Nations Grand River Water Walk website at grandriverwalk.com. The site includes links to an online donation portal to support the work of the walkers, as well as track them live using an interactive GPS.