Sault Ste. Marie to Sault Ste Marie, ON
Traditional territory of the Bawating, Algonquin, Anishinabek, Haudenosaunee, Ojibway, Odawa and Cree
18 km
Glorious sunshine, rain at the end of the day, 23 ºC
Whenever there is a bed to sleep in, my body takes its time rolling out. I don’t mind this much. You take your hours of rest when you can and the Soo has been an unexpected balm on a lot of levels. This home and its inhabitants, in particular. A house, a home. Hmmm.
I rolled into the town (again) to park myself at a beautiful spot to work on the fourth episode of our podcast, now online for your listening pleasure, but heard from my friend, the talented multidisciplinary artist Rihkee Strapp that we could go swing by the Dawaa Dazhi Gallery to see their contribution to the exhibit.
When I returned to the spot where I spent the next few hours editing audio, I met Gio and Cleis. Interacting with them a little while trying to focus on the work at hand (presence or productivity?), there was a wealth of wisdom and knowledge in these two who had two of the most beautiful voices I’ve ever had.
27 years ago, to this day, the Oka Crisis began. It felt very poetic then to have been in attendance at Algoma University, a former residential school, listening to the Bawating Water Protectors about their reoccupation of Parliament Hill with ceremony, the tipi, and the fire.
It started to rain lightly as the event came to a close and one of the water protectors, Cleis, whose father had caught all the fish which we’d had for dinner, sang us the Buffalo Song, and I learned of how an Eagle Feather was earned and who had presented it. What a day.