I Speak for the Water: Anishinaabe Nibi Grandmothers and Watershed Discipleship in Northern Midwestern Protestant Communities

Abstract

I Speak for the Water: Anishinaabe Nibi Grandmothers and Watershed Discipleship in Northern Midwestern Protestant Communities Kiara Jorgenson (bio) Ne-be Gee Zah- gay- e- gooGee Me-gwetch -wayn ne- me—gooGee Zah Wayn ne- me- goo1 Every Sunday morning Sharon Day gathers near the waters of the Gichi Ziibi (Mississippi River) at Hidden Falls Regional Park in St. Paul, MN, to sing prayers for the river. Much like the words of her sister’s prayer above, Sharon’s prayers offer love, gratitude, and respect to the waters. Though her shared company changes from week to week, she is rarely alone in her efforts as she has extended an invitation for any and all to join in this spiritual ritual of reverence and reciprocity. Sharon’s longstanding leadership with the Indigenous Peoples Taskforce and role as a second degree M’dewiwin of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe in northern Minnesota have positioned her as a powerful elder in northern Midwestern indigenous communities and beyond, but it has been her particular work related to the protection and preservation of waters that has distinguished her as one of few celebrated Nibi (water) grandmothers. THE IMPORTANCE OF INTENTION SETTING & RITUAL PROTOCOLS In settings like those Sunday mornings beside the Gichi Ziibi and on formal Nibi Walks, Ojibwe elders like Sharon generously share traditional ecological knowledge within and without their communities, often leading educators and activists, clergy and lobbyists to a deeper understanding of water’s dignity and the collective call to care for its future (see figure 1). As a type of spiritual-ecological resistance movement (my term, not Sharon’s) Nibi Walks are particularly powerful given recent infringements upon the water rights of many indigenous groups, including the Ojibwe of Fond du Lac Reservation in northern Minnesota where Enbridge, a multinational energy transportation [End Page 194] Click for larger view View full resolution Fig. 1. Sharon Day, Executive Director of the Indigenous People’s Taskforce and curator of the Nibi Walks website. Courtesy of Sharon Day, nibiwalk.org. company, seeks to complete construction of the controversial Line 3 crude oil pipeline. But perhaps equally valuable to the lessons learned on Nibi Walks is the very way Nibi grandmothers like Sharon gather to honor lakes and rivers, oceans and watersheds. As I shall seek to illustrate below, their model of water walking showcases the spiritual value of prayerful presence and intentional connection with one’s place. With water, as with all facets of a responsible life, the intentions and rituals that make them plain prove paramount. A good example of how method can itself be a spiritual lesson is the Nibi Walk orientation, a half-day of guidance wherein the spiritual goal of Nibi Walks is clearly explained and related protocols outlined. As inherently inclusive Nibi Walks are not M’dewiwin spiritual ceremonies or religious practices in a qualified sense, but neither are they political events or environmental rallies devoid of spiritual tenor. In Sharon’s words, “Nibi Walks are about prayer, not protest.” And because they connect people from divergent contexts and places, the walks require protocols to clarify purpose. During a Nibi Walk water is carried in a copper pail, to remind all involved of Earth’s elements in its tender beginnings. Water, itself rendered an inanimate noun in Ojibwe language as opposed to animate rocks, trees and plants, is to be carried in relay, moving continuously like the river itself [End Page 195] and always in close proximity to the snaking, forging current. As privileged and anointed carriers of the same primordial water that birthed the cosmos, women carry the enclosed water wearing skirts to demonstrate both ceremonial intent and respect for Shkaakaamikwe (Mother Earth), understood as inseparable from one’s very self. If men are present on a walk they carry the eagle feather staff, a symbol of protection for the journey. Finally, endangered Ojibwe language is used whenever possible throughout the walk, its spoken form a prayerful consecration. When I presented the multi-media research which serves as the foundation of this essay in San Diego at the 2019 American Academy of Religion’s “Christian Spirituality Unit,” I also began by setting an...