Sudbury's urban Junction Creek to see first ever Water Walk ceremony

The first ever Anishinaabek water walk of Junction Creek in Greater Sudbury, is being planned for later this month.

The urban waterway is well known for the litter and debris that collects in it regularly. But lead conductor, Tasha Beeds, says that's why they're doing it. 

The Indigenous ceremony of water walking calls attention to the life-giving nature water provides.

Beeds, who is of Plains Cree ancestry, will lead a small group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous supporters on the four-day walk along Junction Creek, starting May 21. 

But Beeds says she didn't choose the body of water, it chose her.

When she first moved to Sudbury a few years ago she says she began taking her dog for a walk along the trails near Junction Creek.

"I got to just on the other side of Regent Street and there was literally a garbage dam. There was so much garbage. And I just was heartbroken," Beeds said.

"It was in a moment, and I knew that this is the water I'm supposed to walk for."

Beeds has been a part of several water walks of the Great Lakes, and mentored with the late Josephine Mandamin. But this will be her first time leading a water walk.

For Beeds, the land and water provide comfort when she is struggling and wanting to connect with her ancestors. 

So seeing garbage littered along the shoreline or throughout a waterway is unsettling for her. She provides a comparison to someone dumping garbage in a church, synagogue or mosque.

"That's my place of worship, that's where I go to pray. And when I go to pray and I see all of this garbage in this beautiful, beautiful landscape...I was literally brought to tears," she said.

Like-minded partners

It was a short time later after seeing the garbage dam in the creek that Beeds was visiting the Winter Market. That's when she saw a booth from the Junction Creek Stewardship Committee, which promotes activities of restoration and research for the creek.

She created a partnership with the organization and began planning the first of four water walks to be conducted over the next few years.

"Historically, Junction Creek has been polluted and has had a lot of pressures, and that comes from a creek that is in an urban setting," said Lili Paradi, science communication and environmental outreach intern, with the stewardship committee. 

Since 1999, the stewardship committee has organized cleanups that have helped to remove 86-thousand kilograms of garbage. Restoration efforts have helped to increase fish species from 10 to 17

"It's definitely better than before," Paradi said.

"And it's always looking better than previous years. That's from all the support of community members and scientists and groups all around the city working together to make the waterway more green," she added.

In water walking, a copper pail is filled with water from the headwaters and then carried the entire length of the waterway. An eagle staff is carried alongside the water.

For the Junction Creek Water Walk, the ceremony will begin in Garson, near the Garson mine, and then the water will be carried 135 kilometres, to the end of the creek in the Town of Spanish.

"Once we pick it up in the morning...that water can never stop moving," Beeds said.

"[Leading a water walk] is a huge responsibility and it's a huge undertaking, it's not something that we enter into lightly, but I'm also driven because I made that promise to her," Beeds said referring to her promise to Mandamin to continue to carry water forward.

Beads added that not only is the task of carrying water tasking physically on a person but also emotionally.

"You're taking on that spiritual level too," she said.

"I'm carrying whatever is inside that water and I've been told that the history of that water is one that's been very neglected and it's been very abused." 

The Junction Creek Water Walk was supposed to begin on May 5, but due to the provincial Stay at Home order was postponed until May 21. That date may change still depending on restrictions.

Paradi says there are family organized cleanups through the stewardship committee that are happening leading up to the water walk, to help clear a path for the walkers.

"The silver lining is that we were able to do some more cleanup and we're seeing more involvement in the community," she said.

There has also been additional education provided online through Zoom and social media platforms. The sessions are offered by knowledge holders from First Nations, non-Indigenous allies and scientists. 

"It's been really good to have that time, that extra time to keep educating the community on what a water walk is because it is so new," Paradi said.

"We just felt like we had that common value of protecting and restoring the creek, and so it's this big opportunity of learning and sharing and adapting."