‘Water walker’ remembered as protector

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This article was published 26/02/2019 (2466 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A protector is someone who stands in the way of danger and violence.

Someone who keeps stories and ideas alive.

They give us hope in the direst of circumstances, and are there for those who cannot defend themselves.

I want to tell you about a protector.

One day, in a Midewanikwe ceremonial lodge, the grand chief named Bawdwaywidun stood up and said: “Look around. See what is happening to the water. It has become polluted, bottled and destroyed. Water gives us so much, but we take and take and take. There is almost nothing left to take now.”

At the time, in 2000, a report had just been released saying the Great Lakes had become so bacteria- and algae-laden due to pollution and industrial waste that fish stocks had almost disappeared, wildlife was threatened and one of the greatest freshwater bodies in North America was becoming undrinkable. Bawdwaywidun turned to his relatives and said: “In 30 years, if we continue with our negligence, an ounce of water will be more rare and valuable than an ounce of gold. What are you going to do about it?”

“I listened,” a grandmother named Josephine Mandamin or Biidasige (One Who Comes With the Light) said, “and then I thought: What am I going to do about it?”

Josephine was 58 years old, from Wikwemikong First Nation. She was a part of the teachings of Midewanikwe, a women’s society that did ceremonies for the water. She was from the awaazisii clan, the bullhead catfish, who taught her and her family about how to live on this planet.

Bullhead catfish are known to swim closest to the bottom, but most notably have “barbels” (resembling cat whiskers) and chemoreceptors across their body, which “taste” and “smell” the water. They are innately aware and sensitive to chemical changes and invasive pollutants, witnessing everything in the deepest areas of waterways.

Few lived their clan more then Josephine.

In 2003, she joined her sister, Melvina Flamand, along with other Midewiwin women, to help nibi, the water. They decided to do a walk, carrying a small copper vessel of Lake Superior’s water, to help it while raising awareness of the abuse and disrespect of the Great Lakes, encouraging humanity to rekindle a sacred relationship with its most important resource.

This was also to recognize and embody the power of Anishinaabe-kwe women.

“As women, we are carriers of the water,” Josephine said. “We carry life for the people. So when we carry that water, we are telling people that we will go any lengths for the water. We’ll probably even give our lives for the water if we have to.”

At 61, she did that first walk on highways and paths. Some days, she walked with others, some days alone. For kilometres, she carried that vessel, on hot days and in the rain, growing blisters on her feet. “Nga zhichige nibi onji, we do it for the water,” she would answer when asked why she was walking.

In 2004, Josephine and Melvina and other Anishinaabe women would walk around Lake Michigan, Lake Huron in 2005, Lake Ontario in 2006 and Lake Erie in 2007. For 10 years after that, she would do walks for the St. Lawrence River and along each ocean coast, connecting all four directions of water in North America.

Along the way, Josephine would talk about the effects of oil fracking projects, on the overwhelming number of boil-water advisories in Indigenous communities and the parallel experiences of women and water.

“Mother Earth is a woman, and the abuse of what is happening to her is also happening to women,” Josephine said in a 2016 documentary. “As Mother Earth’s body is being abused, mistreated and prostituted — these are the same things happening to women.”

Others saw what Josephine and her fellow “water walkers” were doing and began walks in their own communities. This “water walk movement” grew across North America, landing in Manitoba.

In 2013, after learning Lake Winnipeg had become the most threatened lake in North America, my mother, Katherine Morrisseau-Sinclair, had a vision to create the Lake Winnipeg Water Walk. She and my sisters walked more than 1,000 kilometres, inviting hundreds of others, like my daughter, to join in to save water in Manitoba.

One of the dreams was to have Lake Winnipeg recognized with the same legal rights and protections as a person, as the Whanganui River is in New Zealand. With such rights, water is given consideration, representation and cannot be stolen and abused without ramification.

All the time, Josephine kept walking, doing her last water walk in 2017 when she was 77. By then, she had travelled for 14 years and walked more than 17,000 kilometres.

She left to make her final walk, travelling to the west and the spirit world, last Friday.

My sister called me after returning from our lodge and ceremonies Sunday. She told me Josephine had a final message for everyone.

“She wanted everyone to love and protect the water. That’s all she walked for.”

I knew Josephine almost my entire life. She was a constant presence at feasts and gatherings and was always kind, always giving.

She was small, spoke quietly and always had a smile on her face.

But she was one of the fiercest, strongest and most fearless people I’ve ever known.

Josephine was a protector.

Of me. Of you.

Of everyone.

She walked so that we could walk, too.

Miigwech Nokomis.

Niigaan Sinclair is Anishinaabe and is a columnist at the Winnipeg Free Press.