WINONA, Minn. — At the headwaters of the Mississippi River, in Lake Itasca, the water is clear. It is untouched by pollution, and people can drink it without worry, said Sharon Day, Ojibwe tribe member and executive director of the Indigenous Peoples Task Force.
As the river flows farther from its starting point, the color changes from blue to brown.
To drink from the meandering river would be unthinkable, Day said. She wouldn’t even drink from the river near Bemidji, which is only 40 or so miles from the beginning of the river.
On March 1, Sharon and a group of indigenous women and supporters embarked on a 1,200 mile walk from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico, following the path of the Mississippi River in hopes of raising awareness about the river’s pollution.
Day and others have been walking from sunrise to sunset for the past 17 days.
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“We’re doing it because we want to pray for the water and also bring other people’s attention to all of the things that the Mississippi River is experiencing right now,” Day said.
The lack of oxygen in the water is the reason for the color change, Day said, who added that the Mississippi is the second most polluted river in the U.S.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, more than 6,600 square miles of the Gulf of Mexico is considered a dead zone where marine life cannot be supported due to the low oxygen levels.
The group hopes to remind the water near the Gulf of what it was like when it was clean by carrying a pail of fresh water with them — along with an eagle feather staff. The pail contains pure water from Lake Itasca, which they plan to deposit in the dead zone at the end of the river.
Throughout the journey, two people walk at a time carrying the pail and staff and switch out every 10 to 15 minutes.
“It’s humbling in this world to see such deep commitment,” group supporter and West Virginia resident Beth Brent said Sunday.
Out of the group, a few will travel the entire length of the walk, while others join for a week or a day to support them.
“While we’re walking, life goes on, but for us our life is walking from sunrise to sunset,” Day said. “And even though 60 days seems like a long time to walk, in the frame of a lifetime, it’s not that long.”