Canoer leaves Madeline Island, hopes to make it to the Soo

A man who is paddling his canoe from Madeline Island to Sault St. Marie Michigan to raise awareness about water pollution is one-fourth of the way to his goal.. Jessica Hamilton reports.

Glen Bressette of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and his group have been canoeing since June 3 to retrace the steps of their ancestors. Bressette says this trip is about the water and how we need it to survive.

Mining and its effects on northern Wisconsin and northern Minnesota will be discussed at some of the stops but Bressette says this trip is not just about mining.

“This is about our water and our water ways and how they connect to the earth and all of our beings that live here, creating new life with that tree of life, that white cedar is the tree of life here to the Anishenaabbeg people.”

Bressette says they’re collaborating with the Cedar Tree Institute in Michigan.

“Along our journey we came across the cedar tree institute here locally in Marquette, Michigan and they were going to start planting 50,000 trees so I contacted them and we were able to obtain the first 50 white cedar trees, they plant around 10,000 and at most will be 50,000,” he said.

The group has no set schedule for when the trip will come to an end, or if they’ll even make the Soo because of the lake and weather. Right now, they are resting in Silver City west of the Keweenaw Peninsula after five days of dealing with heat and sunburn but Bressette has high hopes. Bressette also hopes people will come out because they could use the help.

“If they’d like to meet with us and share some meals or cold drinks with us cause it’s hard to keep all of that on with us while were going. We’d appreciate that.”

One way to do that is to go to their Facebook page “Back to the Water.”

Wisconsin Public Radio can be heard locally on 91.3 KUWS-FM and online at www.wpr.org.

Tags: news, environment