lookout point
Water walkers are shown near Houghton traveling south along US 41 on Sunday evening, Oct. 10. (Theresa Pitts photo)
WATER WALKERS 90-mile ceremonial trek taken to protect, celebrate the living water By Joyce Wiswell
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rowing up on Torch Lake, the body of water in Houghton County fouled by some 200 tons of copper mill stamp sands, taught Theresa Pitts to never take water for granted. “We knew from childhood that it was off limits – no wading, no swimming, no eating the fish that came out of it. It was a very sick lake,” she said. “I remember being in school in Lake Linden and looking out the window on a beautiful spring day and the feeling of wishing it was different.” That experience inspired Pitts, a member of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC), to become involved with the People of the Heart Water Walkers, which recently held their third annual Water Walk to honor Nibi, the Ojibwe word for water. Water Walkers trekked nearly 90
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Marquette Monthly
November 2021
miles from the Copper Harbor Lighthouse to the Sandpoint Lighthouse in Baraga, part of what’s known as the 1842 ceded territory, from October 9-11. They began at sunrise and walked into the late afternoon each day. Rather than a march, the walk is a ceremony conducted through Anishinaabe (the original peoples of North America) protocol that celebrates water as an essential, living entity. Along the way, Anishinaabekweg (Anishinaabe women) took turns carrying water in a special copper vessel taken from Gichigami (Lake Superior) in Copper Harbor, finally pouring it into the Keweenaw Bay in Baraga at the walk’s conclusion. The idea is to move continuously, like water, and offer prayers and songs to the water spirits along the way.
