Nibi Walk Orientation and Nibi Walk
Event description:
Join the Minnesota Humanities Center and its “We Are Water MN” partners, the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment and the River Life Program, and the Lower Phalen Creek Project in learning more from Phalen Creek. The Nibi Walk program of the Indigenous People’s Task Force, led by Sharon Day, will lead us in a Nibi walk: an Indigenous-led, extended ceremony to pray for the water. Every step is taken in prayer and gratitude for water, our life giving force. The walk begins at the headwaters, Lake Phalen, and will wind through East Saint Paul and Lowertown to the mouth of the creek, at the Mississippi River. This event has two parts: on October 6 from 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m., walkers will learn more about the Dakota history of the creek, the ecological impacts of and to the creek, and about the Nibi Walk protocols; on October 27 from 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., the actual walk will occur, followed immediately by lunch and a reflection activity. In order to participate in the walk on October 27, it is necessary to participate in the orientation on October 6.
Event Schedule:
Nibi Walk Orientation: Saturday, Oct. 6 from: 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. at the Arlington Hills Community Center: 1200 Payne Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55130
Nibi Walk and Reflection: Satuday, Oct. 27 from 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., beginning and ending at the Minnesota Humanities Center
Please read and be prepared to abide by the Nibi Walk protocols on October 27:
The Nibi Water Walks are based in Ojibwe Ceremonial Water Teachings. The reason we walk is to honor the rivers and all water and to speak to the water spirits so that there will be healthy rivers, lakes and oceans for our ancestors in the generations to come.
When we are walking for the water, we are in ceremony from the beginning of the day until we retire at day’s end. We try to move like the river, continuously all day long, every day until we reach our destination. We carry asemaa/tobacco with us to offer to any flowing streams or rivers we cross, also to honor any animals we may cross over along the roads or trails. When we walk, this is a time for prayer or songs for the water.
Women make the offerings for the water, sing the water songs and make the petitions for our water to be pure and clean and continuously flow down to us. Because we are in ceremony, women wear long skirts. We wear long skirts to show our respect for the grass, for mother earth and for ourselves. Women on their moon do not carry the water during this time, as they are already in ceremony.
Men carry the eagle feather staff, but if there are no males in attendance, then women can carry the staff and the copper vessel.
As a community of walkers, we carry the water in relay. Because this ceremony is about duration and following the water’s flow, the relay allows us to maintain our strength through a balance of rest and walking.
The Nibi Walk ceremony walks along the roads that follow the river most closely. Often we are on country highways. We may not visually see the river. Yet we are always carrying the river.
Ngah izitchigay nibi ohnjay– Anishinabe language for “I will do it for the water.” (A phrase we say when the water is passed.)
Other helpful tips:
If you feel called, we welcome you to walk with us for any length of time.
Please plan to be self-sufficient. Bring a snack, especially if you are worried about low blood sugar.
Because of the relatively short length of this walk, we will not be accompanied by car. Instead, there will be someone on call to help if a walker needs to get back to the Humanities Center before the walk has ended. Transportation will be provided from the end of the walk back to the Humanities Center for lunch and reflection.
Things to bring:
Please bring a refillable water bottle, we do not want to purchase any bottled water.
If you have high visibility clothing (reflective vests for biking, for example) that can be useful.
We walk in all weather – please be prepared for precipitation.
Comfortable walking shoes.
First aid; moleskin and blister bandages!
Respect for the territory you are traveling through.