Water🩵

Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones Deck prompts - Tell me about a body of water you are familiar with. Go, ten minutes.

I visit the Mississippi River, most Sundays, for a water ceremony held there throughout the year. I have lived in the Grand Rapids, MN area since 2012, and shortly after moving there, I discovered a group of women who met weekly for a water ceremony.

Prior to joining them, I was a few short miles away at another Mississippi water site. My family are enrolled members of the White Earth reservation, and the Mississippi headwaters are located close to my homeland in Naytahwaush, Minnesota, in Itasca State Park.

I have been to the headwaters many times. The Mississippi River flows from Minnesota into the Gulf of Mexico. And along that route, many people are attending the water ceremony at 9:00 a.m. each morning.

I attended a meeting with women in the late 70s, and two women from the tar sands area in Canada were with us to talk about how our water was in trouble. They spoke of family and the importance of having safe drinking water for our future generations.

They talked about how it is up to the women to make sure that our families into the future have safe drinking water, so that our babies have a safe place to live before they are born, to make sure that the fish and other water life are maintained, and that water continues to live.

It worked for me as I instantly began attending a full moon ceremony where women gathered to talk about women's roles and what we need to do together as women. It was later that water walks and water ceremonies began.

Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones Deck prompts - This can be a river, lake, ocean, lagoon, stream, creek, or spring. You feel no relation to any of these? Try the water in your bathtub, a glass of water, a shower, a gallon of water in those plastic containers at the gas station. You can find some kind of body of water. Even your own body, which is 60 percent water. No excuses.

Water is a great and necessary element. We need to pay attention and protect it. Ask the people of Flint, Michigan.

My mother used to say we were made up of 86% water, and that was why it was important to treat water with respect. She recycled, repurposed, reused, and refused when dealing with water. She was always aware of the importance of water. It just reinforced what I heard from the women from Canada.

She saved rainwater for watering her garden. She used a wringer washing machine most of her life and hung clothes outdoors. It was important to her that we get that fresh air in our clothing.

I have been practicing those same 4 R's for over 50 years now. With the elections, we talked about how when we pray for water, we are also praying for people, as we all carry 60% water in our bodies, so when praying for water, in a sense, we are praying for people we may not even like.

Other things that have come up and have been brought up. Straws will give wrinkles, and they are bad for the ocean. They are on the list of do not recycle, so they end up in the oceans.

Then I have spent many years in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA). I love the cool, clean, clear water. It reminds me of spending the summers in the water as a kid, and that water we could drink.