NEW RICHMOND - Songbirds serenaded the women in long skirts as they gathered on a small bridge near the Willow River headwaters. Anticipation hung in the cool morning air as the walkers awaited a ceremony long delayed out of concern for a dangerous virus.Â
Instructions were shared, questions answered as a circle formed and women counted off into groups of four.Â
Water, ânibiâ in the language of the Ojibwe, gathered from the Willowâs headwater is poured into a copper kettle. Faint white tendrils of smoke weave the smell of tobacco, âasema,â through the circle.
Then it begins, the heartbeat, the drum is joined by voices singing the tobacco song followed by a song for the water. The primal connection to the water, the women and the Willow is complete. Now the journey can begin.Â