Day 0

Our trip began long before we ever set our canoe on the water.  Shortly after my paddling partner, Heather, arrived from Minnesota, we set out to find the headwaters of the Huron River.  There, we experienced a beautiful, touching, and important ceremony.  By visiting the headwaters of my home river, we not only got the opportunity to participate in the first step of Heather’s sacred journey, but also were able to experience the full beauty of this river from start to finish.

Heather is a first generation descendant of the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians, and upon describing her upcoming trip to Ashinnabe elders, she was informed that her journey down the length of the Huron could be considered a Nibi (water) Paddle - a sacred journey in which members of the tribe pray for and show gratitude towards the life-giving water on which we so greatly rely. As I do not come from native heritage, I cannot speak fully about the aspects of this tradition and journey, but the following description from the NibiWalk website describes it eloquently:

“The Nibi Water Walks are based in Ojibwe Ceremonial Water Teachings.  The reason we walk is to honor the rivers and all water and to speak to the water spirits so that there will be healthy rivers, lakes and oceans for our ancestors in the generations to come.

When we are walking for the water, we are in ceremony from the beginning of the day until we retire at day’s end. We try to move like the river, continuously all day long, every day until we reach our destination. We carry asemaa/tobacco with us to offer to any flowing streams or rivers we cross, also to honor any animals we may cross over along the roads or trails. When we walk, this is a time for prayer or songs for the water.

Women make the offerings for the water, sing the water songs and make the petitions for our water to be pure and clean and continuously flow down to us. Because we are in ceremony, women wear long skirts. We wear long skirts to show our respect for the grass, for mother earth and for ourselves. Women on their moon do not carry the water during this time, as they are already in ceremony.

Men carry the eagle feather staff, but if there are no males in attendance, then women can carry the staff and the copper vessel.

As a community of walkers, we carry the water in relay. Each woman carries the water for a little less than a mile and then passes the water to the next one. On average we might collectively carry the water 25-30 miles a day. Because this ceremony is about duration and following the water’s flow, the relay allows us to maintain our strength through a balance of rest and walking.

The Nibi Walk ceremony walks along the roads that follow the river most closely. Often we are on country highways. We may not visually see the river. Yet we are always carrying the river.

Ngah izitchigay nibi ohnjay– Anishinabe language for “I will do it for the water.” We say this phrase whenever we pass the water – both the person giving the water and the person receiving the water say it. “

Retrieved from: http://www.nibiwalk.org/protocols-for-the-nibi-walks/

Before coming to Michigan, Heather was gifted with the traditional and sacred items needed for this journey, and on her travels from Minnesota, she acquired a copper kettle that would serve as the vessel for the water gathered at the Huron’s headwaters.

After about an hour drive and a bumpy ride down a dirt road, we came to the access gate that led to the outlet stream of Big Lake in Commerce Township.  This outlet stream is one of two sources of the Huron’s headwaters - the other being in the Huron Swamp, which was the second stop on our trip. 

As we walked along this outlet stream, we were amazed by the plethora of flora and fauna that greeted us.  Massive bass swam in the small outlet stream, and young green and wood frogs leapt away from us at every step. 

The shores were sprinkled with arrowroot, pickerelweed, and wild iris, and we marveled at the many crayfish burrows that made their presence known with small, muddy mounds. 

The water was clear and healthy, and the plants and animals that greeted us spoke to the health of these headwaters.  Heather gathered a bit of this water in her copper kettle, we admired the scenery a bit longer, and then we were off to our next stop at Indian Springs Metropark.

After paying the $10 entry fee to access the first of many parks affiliated with the Huron-Clinton Metropark system, we made our way to the Woodland Trail, which winds its way through critical wetland habitat that makes up the Huron Swamp.  It was clear that this trail was meant to stay wild, as both bikes and dogs were prohibited.  As we entered the swamp, the late afternoon light filtered through the treetops and gave an almost magical light to the clear streams and lush vegetation that surrounded us. We were the only humans on the path that late afternoon, and the short walk was filled with stillness and peace. 

On a small footbridge, Heather collected more headwaters in her copper kettle and led songs, prayer, and ceremony to thank and honor the water and to ask for a blessing towards our journey.  I was deeply honored and awed to bear witness and be acknowledged in this beautiful ceremony, which recognizes the incredible importance of this life-sustaining water that was to carry us the very next day.  As Heather sang and prayed, chipmunks scurried across logs that spanned the spring, butterflies flitted nearby, and chickadees sang their sweet calls into the now early-evening sky.  This swamp and these headwaters were special, and left me with a feeling of awe and appreciation for the river that we would be travelling over the course of the next five days.  The Huron has a truly stunning beginning, and I am grateful to have seen its pristine beauty before embarking on our trip.