The Hamilton Water Walk concludes its second four-year cycle

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.

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.

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.

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.