Ecofem Tales

In the spring of 2003, as the ice thawed and the first signs of renewal stirred in the North, a quiet but powerful journey began. A group of Anishinaabe grandmothers; Indigenous people of the Great Lakes region, whose traditional territories span parts of what is now Canada and the northern United States, set out to walk around the Great Lakes. They did not walk for fame, nor for protest signs or cameras. They walked for the water. Their journey was an act of love and ceremony, a response to the pollution and misuse of the Great Lakes, a system that holds nearly 20% of the world’s surface fresh water. Led by Josephine Mandamin, an Anishinaabe grandmother and water protector, they walked thousands of miles with copper pails in hand, offering prayers to the water at every step. This movement, known as the Mother Earth Water Walks was not just a response to environmental degradation. It was a restoration of responsibility. A return to a sacred relationship. A reclaiming of Indigenous ...