By Rosalind Russell – The Anishnaabe Grandmothers Water Walkers will be walking eastbound along Highway 17 and southbound on Highway 6 towards Manitoulin Island over the next couple of weeks.
East Algoma OPP Constable Bev Gauthier says the walkers began walking around Lake Huron yesterday.
Gauthier adds the public is asked to exercise patience and respect for the women on their walking journey.
The group will complete their trek in Detour, Michigan, on August 19.
The late Elder Josephine Mandamin of Manitoulin Island began the walks making a significant contribution to Indigenous peoples, Canada and the world as “Grandmother Water Walker”.
Her treks around the Great Lakes raised awareness of the urgent need to fight water pollution and contaminated water on Indigenous reserves in Canada.
Mandamin was honoured as one of the most recent stamps marking her legacy as part of National Indigenous Peoples Day in June.
Her niece, Autumn Peltier, also from Manitoulin Island, has continued the advocacy work of her aunt who passed away in 2019.
Peltier, at the age of 14, was given Mandamin’s position as the Anishinabek Nation’s chief water commissioner.
Her work since then has helped force the government to address the lack of clean water on reserves.
Peltier has received widespread recognition for her environmental work including international recognition by the United Nations and closer to home, the Canadian government, and most recently, a 2024 Canadian Walk of Fame award .
Photo: Autumn Peltier with Dr. Jane Goodall. Peltier is walking in her famous aunt’s footsteps, Grandmother Water Walker, Josephine Mandamin, as the Anishinabek Nation’s Chief Water Commissioner, a position she was appointed to when her aunt passed away in 2019. Photos provided.
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