Sharon Day: Speaking for the Water

Transcript

[Music: Native Lights Theme]

Sharon Day: You know, when somebody does something that we consider to be extraordinary, we think they had some epiphany or some spiritual something. And for me, it was, I wanted to walk the Mississippi River because it's a river I love. It's the main artery on [Nima key?], and I crisscrossed it every day for 40 years.

Leah Lemm: Boozhoo, hello, welcome to Native Lights, where Indigenous voices shine. I'm your host Leah Lemm. Miigwech for joining me today. Native Lights is more than a podcast and radio show. At its core, it's a place for Native folks to tell their stories. Each and every week, we have great conversations with wonderful guests from a bunch of different backgrounds, musicians, artists, doctors, water walkers, educators, language warriors, you name it. We have a great mix of passions featured on this program. So we talk with our guests about their gifts and how they share those gifts with their community. And it all centers around the big point of purpose in our lives, and it's another opportunity to amplify Native Voices.

And as you can hear, I am a solo host today. And if you've been following along, you know that Cole Premo, my brother and co-host, was expecting a little one, and well, he's now out on parental leave. I have permission to say that. So I'm a really excited, Auntie.

I'm really excited for today's guest, Sharon Day. Sharon does Nibi Walks, or Water Walks. She's also the executive director of the Indigenous Peoples Task Force in Minneapolis, and today we'll focus on Water Walks and how the public can be more aware of the environment by practicing gratitude and spending more time outdoors.

And just to say, you know, water is such a significant aspect of our lives, and it's one of those things we don't quite realize until we're without it. So our house in Grand Rapids, we have a well, and when the power goes out, well, that means no water pump, and that can be pretty inconvenient. In fact, I actually, like, made a hotel reservation once during one of these longer power outages, just so we could have running water and a restroom and all that good stuff.

But you know, Minnesota has so much water available to us, so many lakes and rivers and streams. And, well, I live right by the Prairie River here in Grand Rapids, and I get to wake up every morning and look out the bedroom window and see the water, the current of the water, and maybe even some wildlife, if I'm lucky. Right now, we got plenty of geese. I love it when the trumpeter swans come by. Sometimes it's a little territorial there with the geese and the swans, which is kind of fun to watch. But yeah, it's just lovely to be able to, you know, look out and look at water and just kind of feel a part of a larger ecosystem.

And I believe my guest today, Sharon Day, kind of highlights that herself. So here's Sharo. Boozhoo, Sharon.

Sharon Day: Boozhoo.

Leah Lemm: It's nice to see you again. It's been a little while since we last chatted. Well, I will get started. Sharon, can you please introduce yourself.

Sharon Day. Boozhoo. [Speaks in Ojibwe-mowin.] My name in Ojibwe is singing Wolf, and I'm from the Martin clan, and I'm an Ojibwe woman, two spirit. Let's see. And my English name is Sharon Day.

Leah Lemm: Thank you. And how are you and the family doing?

Sharon Day: We're doing fine, great.

Leah Lemm: And before we get started on all the things that you do, because the list is long, is there anything that you are concentrating on or thinking about these days that that's kind of sticking in your mind?

Sharon Day: Well, you know, thinking a lot about climate change, the effects of climate change. I live on a farm. I've been here for about six years. And you know, when you're close to the plants and in water, or lack of it, or too much of it, you really notice everything. For instance, this year, you know, we have pretty good water. You know, rain frequently. And so our plants are doing fairly well this year. This spring, we tapped the maple trees. We did not the year before because we had a two-year drought. So we want to give the maples a little bit of a rest. But yeah, you know, you pay more attention. And you know, as I read about what's happening around the world. We've been experiencing such bad air quality and smoke pollutants in the air from Canada, from the fires up there. And I have friends up in Saskatchewan who talk about, you know, the Canadian fire policy of letting it burn and how it's just really destroying their forest. So, you know, and then we get flooding in Texas and in New York City. So, you know, we have fires raging around the world, and temperatures, extreme temperatures, and so I think a lot about climate change and, you know, what are we going to do about it? You know, how do we ensure that our grandchildren have a world that's fit for habitation?

Leah Lemm: Yeah, those Canadian wildfires really remind me about how connected we are just through the air and close we end up being because I know up here, I live in northern Minnesota, you know, it gets pretty, pretty gray and pretty strong smell in the air. And I'm, I'm pretty sure it does in a lot of places, too. And you mentioned, you know, what can we do about it? And I know you do the Nibi Walks, the Water Walks. And you just mentioned you know how you are on a farm and like, notice what's happening on the land. And so can you talk a little bit about how we can be even more aware of what's going on with, you know, changes, and what's going on with the land, wherever we might be?

Sharon Day: Yeah, I think just, you know, like, if you, if you step outside a little bit more often, then if you just stay in office building all day, and you know you have air conditioning on. You know you only have to deal with that little bit of, you know, the air quality between your footsteps, from your office door to your front door. But if you're working out in the field and you're breathing in that smoke, you know, like it really affects people. I have asthma, and so Saturday, I went down to Prairie Island powwow, and had to wear a mask while I was outside. I mean, I didn't want it to stop me, but I did take the precaution of wearing a mask, and I didn't stay that long, but it was so beautiful to see all the dancers and all, you know, the relatives. And then I popped over to Under the Pines when my grand-nephew sings at that drum, and, you know, and it was just so nice to see everybody, you know, to experience what's happening.

We really have to be outdoors. And I think that's one of the things that happens on the Nibi Walks, is people are outside all day, and when they're walking, they're quiet, you know, no ear buds. Just silence while they walk and carry the water. And you can hear the water in the pail, and you can hear the wind in the trees or the lack of it. And you can hear the birds. And you know the horses always come running to greet us. And you know you can hear them call to you. And you know, I remember walking through Missouri once, and all of a sudden I came upon probably about 30 feet on the road where there was just dead bees. Bees dead on the road, like what caused that, you know? So when you're outside, you see these things, and you can pay attention to them.

So that's what we try to do on the Water Walks, is really connect people with the water. You know, it's not just something that you turn your tap on and you have it, and out here on the farm too, you know, like I have a well. So it's not like in the city, where you have this unlimited amount of water flowing from your faucet. And so in the last couple of years, we've had to take water tanks over to, you know, the little fire department down the road and buy water for the fields. So, you know, the more one can be outside.

I wanted to say too that on the Water Walks, when we ask people to walk in silence, you know your sensory perceptions are different, right? Because you're walking in silence, and you can feel the wind blowing, you can hear everything, and you can also taste things in the air, right? So all your senses are, are sort of opened up to what's happening in the world.

This spring, I've led like a few like small walks already, short walks, couple walks around Como, Little Como Lake in St Paul, Battle Creek. I have another one around Como. And then August, 1, we're going to walk the Rum River from Lake Mille Lacs to Anoka to the confluence with the Mississippi. And really looking forward to that.

Leah Lemm: You're listening to Native Lights, where Indigenous voices shine. Native Lights is produced by Minnesota Native News and AMPERS, with support from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Today, we're speaking with Sharon Day. Sharon Day is enrolled with the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe, and she serves as the executive director of the Indigenous Peoples Task Force. She's also a grandmother, an artist, a musician and writer, and she leads Water Walks, or Nibi Walks. For those who don't know, do you mind giving just a brief summary of a Nibi Walk?

Sharon Day: So a Nibi Walk, we gather the water at the source, the headwaters. We begin with ceremony. We use sage to cleanse ourselves. We sort of get ourselves in a circle in the order that we're going to walk that day. We offer everybody an asemaa. People speak for their asemaa. We talk about the, you know, the protocols and then after everyone has spoken for their asemaa, then we begin. You know, one woman will carry the water and a man will carry the staff. Or if there aren't any men there, then women can carry the staff as well. And they begin. And when they begin that first walk in the morning, you know, we sing the Nibi song, you know. That song says, water, we love you, we thank you, we respect you. And as we sing that song, I, you know, I tell everybody before we start that, you know, we're carrying the water, but we are the water. And you know, every single one of us is composed of the majority of our bodies is water. And when we lose, like when we've lost over 50% of the of our bodies water, you know, that's when we begin to make that journey and to walk on. But, but while we're here, we're we are the water. We are water and so as we're singing to that water that they're carrying, we love you, we thank you, respect you, we're also sending all of our love with those two people that are walking. And our teachings as Ojibwe people and I believe all and Indigenous people have similar values, if we really practiced those seven grandmother, grandfather teachings and of being loving, being kind, being generous, you know, being courageous and you know, always being honest and seeking wisdom, we would all always love each other. We wouldn't have to be reminded of that if we actually lived those teachings. And when we say, you know, [words in Ojibwe-mowin], you know, not just talking about the humans in that circle, but we're talking about, you know, the water, the air we breathe, the trees that create the air, the grass, the birds, everything. That's all our relations, and that's who we're, who we're greeting, is everything in creation, the seven grandmother, grandfather teachings. They have to be more than placards on a wall. You know? They actually have to be something that we begin to live.

You know, me myself, just about every morning I get up and I give some gratitude for, you know, this beautiful land that that I take care of, and, you know, for the four leggeds and the two leggeds, and the, you know, the chickens and the goats and the dogs, and the longer we're here, the more animals we see. So this year, we saw an otter, wabasheshi and mukwa. I mean, we see more and more, always animals. And of course, we have waawaashkeshi that walk through the land just about every evening. And a lot of people ask me, Can I come hunt on your land? And I always tell them, I'm sorry, I love venison as much as anybody, but you know, this is kind of a sanctuary for them, and because you know they're safe here, it wouldn't be fair all of a sudden in November to allow somebody to come and shoot them. That's just not fair. So I'm sorry knowing that some people say, well, I'll just use a bow. No, you know, I'm grateful for this land. I'm grateful for the animals, but I also ask every day to be just a little kinder, if I could just be a little kinder, a little more gentle. That's what I ask for myself. Just like everybody else you know, I'm driving to work and that person cuts in front of me and like, What is wrong with you? We all have to practice that, right?

Leah Lemm: Yes, yeah, I hear that. Yep, that's a good reminder. Sharon, how did you find yourself doing Nibi Walks? Was this something that you practiced with another person? Or how did this come about?

Sharon Day: Well, in 1998 I was initiated into the Midewiwin Lodge, and
the grand chief said to all of us, you know, all you Midewins down the cities, go help those Dakota people. They're trying to save the spring. And so I went and that was about two and a half years then that I worked with trying to save Coldwater Spring. And what he said to us was, you know, when you're initiating everything is like hyper right? You're hyper sensitive to everything. And he said, You know what would happen if all of the women in the world stood up and said, No more, because women are the life givers, and water is the Life Giver.

In our Ojibwe ways, women are responsible for the water. So I thought to myself, you know, whenever you see pictures around the world of people carrying water, it's always the women. It's always women. And that just stuck with me, that, you know, what would happen if all the women in the world said no more? Josephine Mandamin, you know, another woman in the lodge, just a little bit older than me, she heard him say that too. She came to the lodge in 2003 and said, "I want to walk around Lake Superior, carry the water. Because water has to move to be healthy. And so I want to do that." And so we all agreed with her, and I was fortunate to be able to walk with her then and then not again, until 2011. But in 2011 there was a Four Directions Water Walk, where we brought the water from the four oceans to Lake Superior. And nobody wanted the south from Gulfport, you know, straight up, because, you know, there's no tribes down there. You know, they've all been removed, except for the Mississippi Choctaw. Anyhow, I said I would do that, and I did.

And, you know, I'm the executive director of the Indigenous Peoples Task Force, and so much of my time is spent dealing with federal and state bureaucracies and foundations and so on and so forth. And to have 43 days, I think that walk took was 43 days to be outside. Not chained to a desk, not flying across the country to some meeting or conference. But just to walk and carry the water every day. You know, that was so incredible. And when we finished that walk, I told Josephine, "I want to walk the Mississippi River," and she said, "I know that, Sharon." And I said, "How did you know that? I just figured it out myself." She said, "Look at your staff. You carved the Mississippi River on your staff." And indeed, I had. So that's how it began.

And you know, sometimes people think that, you know, if somebody does something, you know, that we consider to be extraordinary, we think they had some epiphany, or some spiritual something, you know. And for me, it was, I wanted to walk the Mississippi River because it's a river I love. It was the main artery on [Ojibwe-mowin word], and I crisscrossed it every day for 40 years. And in St Paul, I owned a house in Highland Park, you know, just above the river, and I spent so much time.

But anyhow, I wanted to do that. So I did it. And then when we finished that, Barb Baker LaRush from LCO [Lac Courte Oreilles] said, "I think we should walk the Ohio River." And I said, "No, let somebody else walk that." She said, "It's the biggest polluter of the Mississippi." And I said, "Yeah, I know that, but you know somebody else can do that work." And then we were at a meeting about a month later, and she showed up at that meeting, and she handed me a box, and I opened up the box, and there was an eagle head inside. She said, "This is for the staff." You know, I swore at her, and then I cried, and I said, "Okay, Ohio River, here we come." And after that, you know, then it was one other St Louis River, I think, in Minnesota, because of the mining issue, and then another river. And then it was finally okay. This is what I'm going to do until I can't walk anymore.

Josephine, you know, those first walks in for the first 10 years, you know, she was always available to me by phone, or she would show up to walk the Missouri River. In 2017, we were in eastern Montana, and then seeing this little black car pull up. She had just retraced the migration, right? Started in Duluth and walked all the way, the Saint Lawrence Seaway. So anyhow, so I'd been walking. It was just probably like the sixth or seventh of August, and we've been walking about a week or so, and a little black car pulled up, and I got out to see. We didn't expect anybody to be joining us, but I got out to see who it was and it was Josephine. I said to her, "What are you doing here?" And she said, "I came to support you, Sharon." And that is love. You know, when somebody has just walked 1000 miles over two or three months, and then they drive clear cross country to be with you, to support you. That is love, and that's how I felt about her, too. I could call her.

I remember calling her, and it was in Grand Rapids and Minnesota, and blizzards, snow, coming directly into our base, and I called it that night, and I said, "Could you petition giiwedin, the north wind? Could you tell the wind to be a little bit more gentle on us?" She said, "I'll do that right now." In the morning, we woke up and we headed out, and it was still a blizzard, but the wind was at our back and there were no cars on the road. It was like the most beautiful day, because we didn't have to dodge traffic.

Just one other thing about the water too, when you're carrying the water. We've been walking around this twice now, around this little lake in St Paul, and I noticed each time that the water moved in a different way. You know, when we started the Mississippi walk up by Lake Itasca, it was seven degrees and the water froze in the pail that day, but it froze in a circular pattern. You know, the water was moved like that. But on this little lake in Saint Paul, both times I've walked it, the water's like moving. You can almost hear it like Glug, glug. I've never, never heard water and you know, just sound like that.

Leah Lemm: You're listening to Native Lights, where Indigenous voices shine. Native Lights is produced by Minnesota Native News and AMPERS, with support from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Today we're speaking with Sharon Day. Sharon Day is enrolled with the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe, and she serves as the executive director of the Indigenous Peoples Task Force. She's also a grandmother, an artist, a musician and writer, and she leads Water Walks or Nibi Walks. Have you been witness then to transformation, whether you know little or big, or with yourself or others, as you've done these Nibi Walks for the couple decades?

Sharon Day: I saw a young woman walk with me for 10 days, and she had been in treatment,
and she got out and drank that night, and then the next day, her mother said, You're gonna go walk on this water walk. So she was with me for 10 days. It was kind of a struggle those first couple of days, and at one point that first night, she told me, she said, "I really want to drink, and I have $20 in my pocket and I could go drinking." And I said, "Yes, you could, but let me, let me tell you a story and sing you a song." So I did, told her the whole story, same song, and she said, "Okay, I'm going to go to bed, but tomorrow I might drink." Like, okay, fine. Well, she stayed with me for 10 days, and on the 10th day, she ran up ahead of us. We crossed the Mississippi River into Wisconsin, and there was a wayside rest up there, and she ran up ahead of us, and she came running back and she had this eagle feather in her hand, and she said, "Look what I found." And I said, "Look what found you." And she said, "It's kind of like me. It's a little battered." And I said, "But it's still beautiful." She said, "Yes."

Anyhow, that was a transformation. And to see her, you know, be the sort of like chip on her shoulder, tough little girl to be this. It just the tears streaming down her face, you know, look what I found, you know, and there have been other things like that, you know. I've seen people walk with me that, gosh, I was afraid they were going to have a heart attack. And, you know, canes, heavy. And then, you know, see them a couple years later, and they're walking without a cane.

And then South Dakota, and this car pulled up ahead of me, kind of a like souped up little, I think it was a Mustang, and the guy motioned for me to come up. So I went up to greet him, and he opened his door. And when he opened his door, it was an Indian guy, a vet, put his leg out the door, and it was a steel prosthesis. And he said, "I saw I passed you yesterday, and I didn't have time to come find you, but, but I had time today to find you." And he said, "I want to thank you for what you're doing." And he reached out his hand and shook my hand. I shook hands with him, and, you know, I took my hand away. You know, there was a folded up bill in it. And so he said, "My prayers will be with you." And he left. And I looked up at it, and it was $100 bill that he had gifted me. And I knew that, I knew, if that man could be walking, he would be walking with us. So we walk for all the people who cannot walk.

[Music: Native Lights Theme]

Leah Lemm: So miigwech, Sharon Day. What a wonderful person to talk to. Sharon really reminds me about connection. These Nibi Walks, the Water Walks, really help to connect people with water and to pay attention to it. And really, you know, a living entity to respect and to be thankful for. So chi miigwech, Sharon Day, really appreciate that conversation. So miigwech for joining us. I'm Leah Lemm. Giga-waabamin. You're listening to Native Lights, where Indigenous voices shine. Native Lights is produced by Minnesota Native News and AMPERS With support from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.