For the women of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi, the care of the bountiful rivers, streams and lakes has been a part of their responsibilities for hundreds of years.

Next Friday, the current generation of caregivers will help fulfill that time-honored tradition during the annual Women’s Water Walk. Held every year before the band’s Kee-Boon-Mein-Kaa Pow Wow, the walk is an over 13 mile trek, where the women carry a copper pot full of water collected from the springs on their property on Gage Street to Rodgers Lake, the site where the pow wow takes place.

Local Pokagon women began organizing the event seven years ago, after hosting a group of Anishinawbe water walkers, who had stopped at Silver Beach in St. Joseph while traveling around the Great Lakes. The women were participating in the Mother Earth Water Walk, where they travel along the Great Lakes to increase awareness of the protecting the ancient bodies of water from chemicals, vehicle emissions and other pollutants.

“When they were here, they gave us teachings on how we can help care for our water,” said organizer Andy Jackson. “They made us promise to take care of our water, and bring awareness to the community to ensure that they will be around for future generations.”

The Water Walk begins during the early morning hours. Jackson will collect a jar of water from the middle of the crystal clear spring, bringing it ashore. After a short prayer and a light breakfast, the walk will begin.

The precession will be making frequent stops, pausing whenever they hit another body of water along the route, Jackson said.

“We stop, say a prayer for the water and drop some tobacco into it,” she said.

The walkers will also make several other stops along the way, including at stop at the Mno-Bmadsen office inside the old National Copper factory, where they will  provide them with water and fruit, as well as stop at the Dowagiac Fire Department, where they will be served a light lunch.

Among the people assisting with the march will be officers with the Pokagon Tribal Police and the Dowagiac Police Department. Firefighters with the Dowagiac department will also join later in the morning, along with one of their engines, Jackson said.

The women among the procession will carry the water itself though, who will be wearing traditional skirts during the walk. The kettle is made from copper, which is a sacred material of health for members of the tribe.

“This is an important responsibility for us because the water is devastated right now and we don’t know how long we’re going to have it,” Jackson said.

Upon arriving at Rodgers Lake, the water from the spring will be poured into the lake, concluding the day’s journey.

“It’s draining but it’s very fulfilling when it’s done,” Jackson said. “It’s an awesome feeling when we enter the tribal grounds again.”

People are encouraged to participate in the march, even if they are unable to walk the entire route. Interested participants can call Jackson at 269-757-2520 for more information. The event is open the entire community.

“This water sustains us all, every living person and every living thing,” Jackson said. “We all have to have it.”