- by Anne Finlay-Stewart, Editor

“Where have the whitefish gone?” Marshall Nadjiwon had a passion for the water, said his friend Justin Johnston, and this question kept coming back to him. As they came together on their path to the spiritual life, Nadjiwon and Johnston spoke of many things – sacred fires, ceremony, a healing lodge for youth – the water, and the fish.

After Marshall passed last year, on one of their walks on the land, the elder Johnston told young Christopher Akiwenzie of his friend's vision of walking the land and doing ceremony for the spirits of the land, the water and the fish. Akiwenzie spoke with his mother Natasha, founding member of the Bagida’waad Alliance  and she in turn organized a plan to fulfill Marshall Nadjiwon's vision.

Bagida’waad means “they set a net” in Anishinaabemowin , and the Alliance is led by Chippewas of Nawash fishing families to facilitate elders sharing traditional knowledge and to do research and active stewardship of the lands and waters of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron.

Last August Nadjiwon's vision was fulfilled, beginning at Sandy Beach, in the heart of the Neyaashiinigmiing community. The Big Canoe Project was an integral part of the journey on the water. The 29 foot craft carried ten paddlers - and Justin – the self-described “splasher” who says he used humour to keep up the spirits of those who kept the canoe moving. They stopped at black bush and the light house – doing ceremony and tying flags in each of the four directions of the medicine wheel.

“They fished for what they needed,” said Johnston of the fishers who used to have a community of huts at the northern tip of the cape, to shelter them if the weather was too rough for them to get safely home. At that site, the furthest point out into Georgian Bay, Johnston tended the sacred fire for his friend throughout the night, and made offerings for the whitefish.

The next day the group tied flags at Benjamin's Point, and at Partridge Point the pipe was dismantled to end the ceremony, before they headed across five kilometres of open water to Hope Bay.

“GCHI-JIMAAN-JIIME – fulfilling the vision of Marshall Nadjiwon” was one of two films shown last Thursday as part of Bagida’waad Alliance's first film night. Stunning drone shots above the cliffs and shoreline were combined with gopro footage in the canoe, on the land and underwater, with a gentle commentary by Johnston.

“We don't look back – we always move forward,” said Johnston. “This was a healing for the community. Feeding the spirits on the land and on the water as Marshall envisioned. Making offerings for the whitefish.”

Last Thursday was the first time Nadjiwon's partner Shirley had seen the film. “He was my soulmate,” she said, and after a year of healing, sitting beside Marshall's brothers, she was ready to see his vision fulfilled.

photos thanks to Rino Noto