This Anishinaabe ceremony calls for perseverance in connecting with the water, giving hope for healing the polluted water of Hamilton Harbour
The Hamilton Water Walk is a four-year Anishinaabe ceremony that inspires participants to connect with a body of water, in this case the Hamilton Harbour and Cootes Paradise. Once a year during the cycle, a multi-day walk around the body of water begins at daybreak and concludes when the whole of the body of water have been encircled.
This year, the Hamilton Water Walk completed its second cycle on Oct. 12 and Oct. 13. Throughout the two days, a sacred fire was kept ablaze at Princess Point while participants walked around the perimeter of the harbour. To commemorate the end of the ceremony, a feast was held at Princess Point.
The water walk ceremony was developed by Josephine Mandamin in 2003 for the Great Lakes. Mandamin, an Anishinaabe elder, was a water activist famous for walking around the entirety of the Great Lakes starting from the Wikwemikong First Nation in Ontario.
Danielle Boissoneau, who has had the teachings of Mandamin passed to her, is a McMaster alumna and an organizer of the Hamilton Water Walk. She cites the connection that Indigenous women have with the water as a motivation for the ceremony. "Indigenous women, particularly, have a very close relationship with the land and the water in terms of observation and relationships and experiences," said Boissoneau.
Indigenous women, particularly, have a very close relationship with the land and the water in terms of observation and relationships and experiences.
Danielle Boissoneau, organizer
Hamilton Water Walk
The first cycle of the annual water walk around Hamilton Harbour began in 2017. Boissoneau explained how the walk came to be in Hamilton with her fellow activist Kristen Villebrun. "Kristen was able to determine that something was wrong with the water in the harbor because of the amount of human waste that she was seeing on the shorelines," said Boissoneau.
Boissoneau shared that she and Villebrun wanted a way to draw attention to this issue that would disrupt people's everyday lives. "Historically that would have been through protests, rallies or marches and at that point in time Grandma Josephine Mandamin started to do water walks, she inspired me so greatly because she was so peaceful, so determined, but she was still making such a huge presence," said Boissoneau.
The second cycle was initiated in response to information about the water quality of Hamilton Harbour that was reported by a 2019 article by The Hamilton Spectator. The piece exposed a four-year cover up of 24 billion litres of human waste being leaked into Chedoke Creek and Cootes Paradise over that period of time. This news incited Boissoneau and the other organizers to begin the second water walk, this time around Cootes Paradise in addition to the Hamilton Harbour.
Boissoneau outlined her frustration with the increased development around the harbour and its effect on the ceremony. "There's not much to see and be grateful for because of the amount of destruction and the industry. Around Burlington side, you just see country clubs and golf courses. Both of these things stand in the way of us getting close to the water, and our ability to maintain our focus, a huge part of our ceremony," said Boissoneau.
There's not much to see and be grateful for because of the amount of destruction and the industry. Around Burlington side, you just see country clubs and golf courses. Both of these things stand in the way of us getting close to the water, and our ability to maintain our focus, a huge part of our ceremony.
Danielle Boissoneau, organizer
Hamilton Water Walk
Boissoneau added that the water walks and their work are not complete. "The situation in the harbour is not getting better, there's still sewage being leaked, especially when it rains a lot. I don't believe that the wastewater system that Hamilton has is equipped to deal with the population or the industry that it currently has," said Boissoneau.
Boissoneau encourages anyone to make a connection with the water and give offerings through one's presence. "It doesn't need to be this gigantic ceremony for you to go down and make a relationship with the water and make your own offerings for the water. Just let the water know that you're there," said Boissoneau.
It doesn't need to be this gigantic ceremony for you to go down and make a relationship with the water and make your own offerings for the water. Just let the water know that you're there.
Danielle Boissoneau, organizer
Hamilton Water Walk
The importance of making a personal, individual connection with the water was emphasized by Boissoneau. She emphasized that the work is not finished and that a third cycle of water walks is likely.
A leak in a combined sewer pipe in 1996 led to approximately 337 million litres of sewage being spilled into Hamilton Harbour before it was discovered in Nov. 2022
On Nov. 22, Andrea Horwath, mayor of Hamilton, released a statement regarding a recently discovered sewage spill.
“At approximately 4:00 p.m. today, I was notified of a sewage spill into Hamilton Harbour in the area of Burlington Street and Wentworth Street that appears to have started in 1996. In line with my commitment to transparency, I asked that this information be made public immediately,” wrote Horwath.
On Nov. 23, the City of Hamilton patched up a leak in a combined sewer pipe near Wentworth Street North and Burlington Street East.
According to the City of Hamilton website, the total cost of the leak repair was $29,830. Of this amount, $17,000 went to excavation and sewer repairs, $9,830 went to vacuuming wastewater to stop the spill and $3,000 went to road restoration.
This leak had gone undiscovered for 26 years, having been created in 1996 and was only uncovered last month. In this time, the City of Hamilton estimates that 337 million litres of sewage were spilled directly into Hamilton Harbour.
The harbour played a large part in Hamilton’s economic growth in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and its role as an economic centre led to significant pollution of its waters. In 1987, the International Joint Commission identified the harbour as an Area of Concern on the Great Lakes, leading to the establishment of a restoration plan in 1992.
The harbour is also home to numerous fish species, many of which have been declining over the last few decades. According to CBC Hamilton’s interview with Hillary Prince, a spokesperson for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the species that are currently thriving in the harbour are the ones most tolerant of poor water conditions.
The Hamilton Harbour website states that, while the harbour remains an Area of Concern for the IJC, it has seen significant progress over the past thirty years.
“[T]raction towards a healthier harbour is evident. Improving water quality, healthier wildlife populations, more opportunity for public access, and the return of locally vanished species, such as bald eagles, are benchmarks to celebrate,” reads the Hamilton Harbour website.
The relationship between humans and the harbour has defined generations of Hamilton’s history. Now, alongside Hamilton’s wave of modernization comes a brand new type of development aimed at making the waterfront a destination in and of itself.
In the 1800s, the Hamilton Harbour was an engine for economic and urban growth. The proximity to fresh water made the area ideal for industry.
The harbour was a popular swimming place for many Hamiltonians, especially working-class families in the North End. However, pollution resulting from industrial development, sewage and garbage resulted in heavy contamination.
Even after the factories closed, the waterfront land remained closed off to the public due to high levels of pollution.
Citizen-led movements beginning in the 1960s lobbied to clean up the harbour, reduce pollution and make the shore publicly accessible.
In 1992, a Remedial Action Plan was introduced to restore the health of the bay. The RAP has guided numerous restoration projects over the past 30 years, leading to the gradual improvement of water quality and wildlife health.
The environmental cleanup opened up possibilities for further development. In 2013, the city of Hamilton gained control of the Pier 7 and 8 lands and began implementing long-awaited development plans.
The Waterfront development is a multi-level project to redevelop the West Harbour area bounded by Hamilton Harbour, York Boulevard, Cannon Street and Wellington Street North.
The city of Hamilton website states, “This $140 million redevelopment project will transform the West Harbour into a vibrant, mixed-use, transit supportive and pedestrian-friendly community that is the jewel on Hamilton’s waterfront.”
One pillar of the development plan is a transformation of Pier 8. The 5.24-hectare site currently houses the Discovery Centre, skating rink and Williams Café.
The redevelopment plan will transform the area into a mixed-use commercial, residential and institutional neighbourhood at the edge of the waterfront.
According to Bruce Kuwabara, founding partner of KPMB Architects, “we are […] creating the kind of dense, compact, diverse, and walkable neighbourhood that is the future of urban living.”
The design for Pier 8 aims to reflect Hamilton’s unique identity as a city. Having grown up in the North End, it is important to Kuwabara that the design is representative of Hamilton.
For example, the brick and steel design of the buildings aims to celebrate Hamilton’s industrial roots.
Additionally, buildings will not exceed eight stories tall. According to Kuwabara, this is because low rise housing is characteristic of the North End and allows neighbours to cultivate a sense of community.
According to Chris Phillips, senior advisor of the West Harbour redevelopment project, a main goal of the redevelopment is to improve public access to the Waterfront.
“The stage we’re at right now is to implement the plan to enhance public spaces that are already there and to create new public spaces,” he stated.
For decades, citizen advocacy groups have been campaigning to improve public access to the waterfront.
Forty per cent of the Pier 8 land will be open to the public. Public amenities in the design include two parks, a beach area, and a cultural plaza. There will also be 1.6 km of additional walkable space added to the waterfront.
According to Chris McLaughlin, executive director of Bay Area Restoration Council, improving public access to the waterfront will have positive benefits for people’s mental and social well-being. Additionally, if people are able to enjoy the waterfront for themselves, they will have more of an interest in protecting it.
“People care about things that they experience,” he stated. “By developing a sense of place you create that critical relationship between people and the Bay.”
The development plan includes 1292 new residential units, five per cent of which will be affordable. Affordable housing units administered by Habitat for Humanity will be dispersed throughout every block.
However, according to Mike Wood, chair of Hamilton Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, the affordable housing offered in the new developments is not enough to meet the demand in the city.
Wood stated that the Waterfront development would better meet Hamilton’s needs if 10 to 20 per cent of the units were affordable. Currently, the waiting list for affordable housing in Hamilton is almost 7000, and it continues to grow.
“We've talked to many residents that are needing affordable housing,” said Wood. “A lot of these residents are also in an unhealthy and unsafe conditions while they're waiting […] We have individuals and families that are living in tents.”
There are also questions about what development will mean for people currently living in the nearby North End neighbourhoods.
North End residents have raised concerns about aspects of the development that may harm quality of life and alter the neighbourhood’s character.
Issues raised include amplified noise, increased density and grain dust pollution.
One major concern about the Pier 8 developments is the impact that increased traffic and parking will have on the residential neighbourhoods near the waterfront.
In a written statement submitted as part of a public hearing in May 2017, lawyer and North End resident Herman Turkstra highlighted that, as developments bring more people to the waterfront, traffic through the North End will increase.
Turkstra points out that high levels of traffic in residential areas can seriously impact accessibility and quality of life.
“The North End has been seen for decades by city hall and much of the broader community as a corridor from the gore to the shore,” wrote Turkstra. “We see it as a place where people live, and more importantly, a major civic asset.”
For the past hundred years, the waterfront and surrounding areas have been the subject of city planning, community activism, and economic development.
As this wave of development redefines yet again the relationship between people and the bay, the same questions remain central: who benefits from urban development? And at what cost?
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