On Thursday afternoon, under a mostly sunny sky, among faint fall colors, with cars and trucks whipping past on Highway 10, a group of walkers stepped off the asphalt and onto the green grass of Point Douglas near the mouth of the St. Croix River. At this storied spot, they joined waiting friends and walked together to the edge of the water.

Five days before, this group had collected water from the upper St. Croix River in a copper pail and began walking south as part of an Indigenous ceremony to honor this life-giving element. Led by Sharon Day, an Ojibwe woman from Minnesota, this Nibi Walk (“nibi” is “water” in the Ojibwe language) covered many miles in five full days of walking.

St. Croix 360 reported on the planned walk in July, in which Day explained that the walk is a ceremony primarily conducted by women, as both water and women are givers of life. The St. Croix River Nibi Walk was only the latest of a long line of walks begun in 2003 by Canadian First Nation member Josephine Mandamin.

The water walkers followed sandy backroads and busy highways, taking turns carrying the bucket all day long. Every step was a prayer.

For the first three days, they walked down the east side of upper St. Croix, keeping to whatever road was closest to the river. While two people walked or ran, with one carrying the bucket and another a ceremonial staff, the rest of the group leapfrogged them in vehicles, relieving the walkers periodically.

At the old Sunrise Ferry, the group ferried themselves and the water across the St. Croix in canoes, and then kept walking on the west side of the river. The next day they walked from Taylors Falls to Stillwater, and the final day, from Stillwater to Point Douglas.

The St. Croix River culminates in an expanse of water nearly a half-mile wide. From Point Douglas, a longtime home of the Dakota people, you can see more than two miles upriver. All of it was gently held between green bluffs.

Reaching the end of the river and this walk, the group went down to the river to pray. There were some kids swimming nearby, a few boats far off, two men finishing a canoe trip. All brought there by water.

A slight breeze blew from the north. Fluffy clouds crossed the pale blue sky. The river was still warm, and wading felt wonderful for weary feet.