Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
In a city of pinstripes and partisan power brokers, Mike Allison sticks out like a sore thumb. He’s in the wrong place — and he knows it. “I shouldn’t be here,” the denim-clad Indigenous elder suddenly says, fighting tears beneath the brim of his trademark cowboy hat. “I should be out on the land, working with my kids, teaching them values. I should be teaching them kids how to work with the environment, not fight for it.”
The naming ceremony saw the name changed to ‘the Water Walker’ in Ojibwe to recognize water rights advocate Josephine Mandamin. The Anishinaabe grandmother, elder and founding member of the Water Protectors walked around the Great Lakes to bring awareness to water pollution. She walked 25,000 miles around the shorelines of all Great Lakes and other North American waterways while carrying a bucket of water to bring awareness to the need to protect the waters from pollution.
