Northern Ontario water walkers want to protect sacred resource
Over 20 people are taking part in a 135 kilometre water walk from the Greater Sudbury community of Garson to Spanish, Ont., to raise awareness about protecting the waters of Junction Creek.
Junction Creek winds its way through Greater Sudbury, flowing into the Vermilion River, the Spanish River, and, ultimately, Lake Huron.
Water walkers are making their way west along Highway 17 carrying water in a copper pail in a continuous, COVID-19 bubble, relay-style system. The walk is to draw attention to the need to respect, honour and rehabilitate Junction Creek.
"Most people don't realize that Junction Creek flows into Lake Huron. I am thinking about it and I am like 'ok, so you have fish -- a lot of people enjoy fish along here -- all of that garbage that is in Junction Creek is going to be in the fish that you are eating,'" said Tasha Beeds, the group's lead water walker.
When the walkers take a break, they hold a touch-down ceremony to honour the water resting.
"Just to ensure that people, you know, understand about the water and how important and how sacred the water is. Because we walk for the seven generations and beyond," said Liz Osawamick, one of the group's water walkers.
Water walks have been taking place over the past 20 years to raise awareness about protecting the resource all over the world.
"Water is very important because it's a gift from the Creator. It's one of the things that has been given to us as people. It's a gift to the women because we are the life-givers," Elder Shirley Williams-Pheasant said.
The walk started in Garson Wednesday and will end in the community of Spanish over the weekend.
"The women are the carriers of the water. The carriers of the water, they represent life, right? It's just like we as women are the only doorway through which life can enter. So it's echoing that, we are carrying life," Beeds said.
Organizers said the walk will wrap up Sunday with a private ceremony at the residential school in Spanish to honour survivors and the children who never made it home.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
What happens after we die? Most Canadians say an afterlife does exist, survey shows
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.