Water walks along the bay are filling up weekends throughout Indigenous History Month and aiming to educate everyone about the importance of Lake Simcoe and Kempenfelt Bay.
The Barrie Native Friendship Centre (BNFC) is hosting weekly walks by the bay to educate and bring the community together around the water that we share as a community.
The Shining Waters Nibi Walks are happening every Saturday this month, starting at different points each week near the lake.
The first walk was held June 4 and saw 89 people attend as the group left from the Sea Serpent installation at Heritage Park.
Tomorrow, the group will meet at the Spirit Catcher at 10 a.m.
BNFC cultural resource co-ordinator Paige Russell told BarrieToday the event is being co-ordinated with the Barrie Public Library
“They had received a grant from the Government of Canada’s Healthy Community Initiatives to do something with the Barrie community and they suggested a Kempenfelt Bay water walk,” said Russell. “The purpose of this is to raise awareness in the larger community about the state of our waters and the importance of honouring our waters. protecting them and keeping them healthy for the next generations.”
Russell explained that the waters in Simcoe County were often called Shining Waters “because of the way the sun would hit the lakes and sparkle.”
“We wanted to honour the original name of the waters and the name Nibi means water in Anishinaabemowin,” Russell said. “A water walk is ceremonial and inspired by (Ojibway Grandmother) Josephine Mandamin.”
The walks are being done in four parts to make it accessible to everyone. On June 18, the walk starts at Centennial Beach and finishes at the Southshore Centre, while the final day on June 25 begins at the Southshore Centre and finishes at Minet’s Point Beach with a traditional feast to follow at the Kiwanis Pavilion.
“The walks are approximately 500 metres each and last week we had an opening ceremony with speakers educating about the waters,” Russell said. “Each walk has a different speaker or knowledge keeper and they may talk to the group as the walk is happening just to help people learn about things along the way.”
Russell said that while it's a great way for people in the community to get some fresh air and exercise, it's also an important part of the local landscape.
“We are taught that water is life, so we have a responsibility to love and care for the water as it does for us. That involves honouring the water, saying kind words to Her and, of course, performing everyday things we all can do to maintain clean water,” Russell said. “There are a lot of communities around us that don’t have access to clean drinking water, so we need to be thankful and mindful of what we have.”
More information on the Shining Waters Nibi Walks can be found at the BNFC Facebook page and the Barrie Public Library website.
In keeping with honouring water during Indigenous History Month, the cultural sharing organization Red Quills is also hosting an event on June 21, called National Indigenous Peoples Day, that will take place at 10 a.m. along the water's edge between the Southshore Centre and Spirit Catcher to experience the drum representing Mother Earth's heartbeat.
The head drummer for Coldwater Ojibway is Ogimaa Nme (Chief Sturgeon), who is Ojibway/Pottawatomi.
Information for that event can be found here.
