Waves of Change is an online interview series highlighting the diverse faces and perspectives shaping the environmental justice movement throughout the Great Lakes region. Sharon Day is enrolled in the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe and makes her home in Minnesota, where she is a founder and the executive director of the Indigenous Peoples Task Force, a vital provider of culturally appropriate health services, programs and housing. She is a grandmother, great-grandmother, and an artist, musician and writer. “In Minnesota, where there are 10,000 lakes, people have a relationship to that lake that they grew up fishing on, or the lake they harvest wild rice on, or the lake that they go water skiing on. They have a connection to that body of water.” Day said. “You only protect that which you love, and so we need to make that connection with people and water.”
Listen to the full interview:
Water walks are a time for human beings to speak to the water, Day said. She elaborated on the belief that water is a living entity, and that it listens, has a memory and can hear. In 2003, she had the opportunity to walk with Grandmother Josephine Mandamin for two days on the eastern shore near Lake Superior Provincial Park in Ontario. Since then, Day has led several water walks each year. She said she believes reconnecting with the water in that way will help save our waterways. “It’s not about data or metrics or any of those things. It’s making a connection to that water, the way you do when you have a relationship with a close friend and you would do anything for that friend,” Day said. “That’s what we try to get people to feel about the water. We tell the water we love you, we thank you and we respect you.” Learn more about water walks, Day’s activism and upcoming events by listening to the full interview and checking out the resources below.
Learn more about the featured organizations:
- Nibi Walk
- Indigenous Peoples Task Force
- Division of Indian Work
- Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center
Catch more news at Great Lakes Now:
Nibi Chronicles: The “Water is Life” festival goes beyond the music Nibi Chronicles: The Gift of Manoomin
Featured image: Sharon Day. (Photo Credit: John Kaul)