Day 7, September 7, 2018. 11.7 miles from Dayton to Otho, Iowa.
Yesterday evening the solar panel unit was set up because there wasn’t any electricity available in the park.
It was cool when we broke camp, but a pretty pleasant day to march, with the sun coming out soon after we started. Since much of the route today wasn’t on busy roads, we were able to walk side by side and share more stories.
ALL THAT WE ARE IS STORY
Richard Wagamese (October 14, 1955-March 10, 2017) Ojibwe from Wabeseemoong Independent Nations, Canada
From the moment we are born to the time we continue on our spirit journey, we are involved in the creation of the story of our time here. It is what we arrive with. It is all we leave behind. We are not the things we accumulate. We are not the things we deem important. We are story. All of us. What comes to matter then is the creation of the best possible story we can while we’re here; you, me, us, together. When we can do that and we take the time to share those stories with each other, we get bigger inside, we see each other, we recognize our kinship — we change the world one story at a time.
Ed Fallon played his flute as we marched.
There was a funny moment when this herd of cattle moved as one toward us, and then stopped as one, as we walked past.
I don’t know if someone just made the name up, but this very steep hill was called ‘suicide hill’. At the bottom was a creek. On the wall of the bridge someone had previously written ‘Mni Wiconi”, Water Is Life.
Also near that creek, Manape showed us wild grapes growing along side the road, and the fragrance of them when they were crushed.
The last part of the day’s walk was past a field of wind turbines. I didn’t notice sound coming from them as we walked past, but that night as we were sitting around the bonfire there was a noticeable “whoosh” sound.
After dinner it was dark. We sat around a bonfire. Trisha Etringer led a very interesting discussion about decolonization. Then Manape spoke about sovereignty, and especially sovereignty of yourself. And how he came to the conclusion that he should give up both his United States citizenship and tribal membership to achieve his own sovereignty.
First Nation-Farmer Unity 