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Mary Crate
Written by Chanda Hunnie
The Feather
An eagle feather held loosely in her hand, Mary Crate looks upon it inquisitively, twirling and twisting it into speckled flight. “The eagle is the highest-flying bird, and it is the eagle’s feather that is the symbol of truth and honesty,” she explains.
Mary brought the feather because she wants people to understand that what she is about to share is genuine and true: traditional indigenous wisdom from knowledge keepers like herself. She is concerned for the Earth, our Mother. She can hear our Earth Mother’s voice calling out to us for help, and Mary’s part in healing her is to share the teachings passed down to her.
“I’m an Ojibway Anishinaba woman. I am called Kookum by many young people, which means grandmother in my language. I am also known as Silver Rock woman, or Shoon-ya-asinie-kwa. Each of us is given a name before we come to this realm. When we do come to this realm our parents or care givers go to an elder and offer tobacco, and we ask that elder to speak to the spirit on our behalf for our name. The name given to us comes from the Creator.”
Names are symbolic of the responsibilities given to an individual and all members of their clan. These responsibilities, assigned by the Great Spirit, are not to be taken lightly. As a member of the elk clan, Mary is charged with a significant duty – peacekeeping.
Peacekeepers must perform a weighty task, one that includes a commitment and concern for the environment. Peace can only exist in fair and just societies – societies where resources are shared equitably. Protecting the integrity of the environment and its ecosystems is paramount to ensuring that the needs of all creatures, now and in the future, are secure. This must begin with the sharing of knowledge, and especially with the awareness that we are all invested in a common future.
Water Women
“Life began as water and woman; for this reason, women have been given the responsibility by the creator to care for the water. Her [the Mother Earth] lifeblood is the water that flows through her veins. Women are the carriers of water. It is in us that we carry the seed of life.” Mary wants to share the water teachings passed down to her from her elders. “We need water to live. Everyday when I wake up I look to the east as the light rises in the sky and I give thanks to the Creator for all that is good in life. Tobacco is given as an offering, praying occurs at every meal, and food is placed into the sacred fire as gifts to the creator. Everything we do is a ceremony. Even when we are asleep we are in the dreamtime ceremony. That is why we must always remember our tobacco offerings every day and every night.”
Every spring in early May, Mary sets out to tend to the waters that are in her care. The journey is a symbolic and spiritual one, which, she calls a Water Walk. Performed by women, together they dip a copper vessel into a natural freshwater spring and extract its clean and purifying waters. The water, housed in copper (chosen because of its curative properties), is then carried to the watery place that is in need of healing. Followed by male “warriors” who provide support and safety, the women and pray with the water that is to be given as a medicine to the lake and to the other life forms that live in the lake. This spring the women will travel by foot for two days from the Fisher River/ Jackhead junction, to Lake Winnipeg.
A Place in Need of Healing
Lake Winnipeg is the largest aquatic life support system in Western Canada. The Lake Winnipeg watershed – the entire geographic area drained by a river and its tributaries - is enormous. Covering nearly a million square kilometres, it stretches from the Rocky Mountain foothills nearly to Lake Superior. The surrounding lands are home to many First Nations communities, including Mary’s community of Fisher River. Fisher River, and many of the people living around Lake Winnipeg, rely on the large commercial fishery that the lake supports. Surrounded by boreal forest, Lake Winnipeg has a direct relationship with the forest and the waters that flow through it. Each depends on the health of the other to maintain a strong and diverse habitat for fish, waterfowl and wildlife. Excess nutrients, caused by activities such as increasing urbanization, agricultural practices, and other economic development, are upsetting the health of the lake and its watershed and the future of those dependent on it.
Distressed, Mary adds, “The Great Spirit is our Father and the Earth is our Mother. She nourishes us. Even though we continue to poison her and rip her apart, she gives us all we need to live. We are abusing her by our own ignorance and she is very sick. Everyday I pray to the Great Father so that we may become aware of our wrongs. We have to so that we can heal her.”
To find out more about the Water Walk you may call Mary Crate @ 204-645-4946 or 204-801-5310
May 16th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
BOOSHOO
Im so proud to have sisters like yourself who have learned such genuine and true knowledge of the reason why our people slill exsist.
We all know whats the right choice to make!!
We know we will see results!!
we know our people will still exsist thousands of years
from now and live for our mother earth too “PROTECT HER”
Is this not “our gifted” native land!!!!!!!!!!!!
Is it that diffucult to say “NO” to these foreign people
of “OUR GIFTED” native land,which was given to “PROTECT”
I believe thats why we have our leaders in postion!!
SPEAK FOR OUR “FIRST NATIONS” PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!
MEEGWETCH