Our Inaugural Flowing Waters Ceremony at Heart Lake Conservation Area was a HUGE SUCCESS!!!

Here is a brief description of the 2002 Inaugural Ceremony:

In preface to the event, Ojibwe Elder Bahnii Kenny and Neil Clifford went to visit the participating children in May and introduce the water vessel and give them traditional teachings on water. This was followed by visits from artists Aiko Suzuki, Andrea Pillar and Allycia Uccello to support the children in the Arc of Dreams art activities. Further visits from Catherine Stone and friends to the schools, ensured they had a wonderful outing for gathering water in their communities.

On June 3rd the Peel Children's Water Festival welcomed H₂onour Earth and children from Brant Central P.S. in Walkerton, Palgrave P.S., High Park Alternative School in Toronto and Donwood Park Jr. P.S. in Scarborough to create the Flowing Waters Ceremony to officially open their week-long water festival.

The day unfolded with the children arriving in the morning at Heart Lake, a lovely natural amphitheatre surrounded by trees with a central pond, and bringing with them their collected water and artwork. They split into groups, some children constructing the Sacred Circle with earth friendly materials, while others worked with indigenous Elders from four continents creating mandalas for the four directions of the circle. The rest of the children began construction of the Arc of Dreams installation.

After the Peel VIPs addressed the crowds, everyone gathered at the gateways into the circle, carrying water from their communities. Accompanied by children’s poetry and original music, all participants united their water in the vessel during the Waters of Life opening procession.

After lunch the main activity was finishing the Arc of Dreams. By mid- afternoon the installation was completed, and it was an incredible sight! The children joined all their work together, and using on-site materials built a fantastic watershed starting with a multi coloured waterfall down which three rivers flowed. In and around the rivers were the animals made from twigs and twine and clay and reeds and grasses. Loons, salmon and whales floated downstream, beavers and otters and turtles splashed on the riverbanks, herons and moose grazed on the shores and dragonflies and flying fish flew through the air!

The day ended with a group picture, goodbyes and hugs and the assurance that this was only the beginning of an annual event that would continue to grow and develop as a transformative, authentic experience for children celebrating their future!

"The Flowing Waters Ceremony was a wonderful celebration and experience for the students and for me. Please include us inall future Flowing Water Ceremonies as our community and its youth need to connect with others and realize our relationship with water. It is an event that needs to be held again and again!

Anne Range Grade 6 teacher
Brant Township P.S. Walkerton, Ontario

The Flowing Waters Ceremony, through its programs, integrates visual and performance art with environmental education and cross-cultural exchange. Our holistic learning methods allow children to articulate the deepest level of personal interpretation of our most essential shared value: caring for the web of life.

The ceremony has three phases:

1. Visits to schools and community groups by Native Elders and artists
2. The Culminating Ceremony
3. Public participation after the Ceremony

Phase one: Visits to schools and community groups by Native Elders and artists

A series of five programs encourages children to investigate their environment and develop a personal relationship to the natural world. The five programs are:

1. NATIVE TEACHINGS - learning through cross-cultural exchange
Cultures and generations meet, as children across Southern Ontario welcome Native Elders to their communities and schools, to learn about the environment and water through traditional teachings, and share their hopes and concerns for the future during interactive storytelling circles.

2. WATERS OF LIFE - education through scientific investigation
The children investigate the water sources in their communities with the support of volunteer experts in the field of natural sciences. Each child collects a small amount to bring to the culminating ceremony in June, and unites it in the crystal vessel in the Waters of Life Opening Procession.

3. JUMP RIGHT IN! - empowerment through creative expression
Performance artists and musicians work with the children and support them in their creation of song and dance, drama and poetry, using themes of water. The focus is on the process of developing the children's unique creative response to the precious resource of water, and showcasing it during the Flowing Waters Ceremony.

5. FROM SEEDS TO FORESTS - learning through sharing
Clay artists support young children's design and construction of a small seed pot made from firing clay. Into the pot they plant an indigenous tree seed. The pots and seeds are brought to the Flowing Waters Ceremony on the second day, nourished with the Waters of Life during closing ceremonies and given as gifts to all the participants. The recipients contact the young sculptors, tell them where they are going to plant the tree and how they will care for it.

Day one: The culminating celebration is held in a beautiful outdoor setting. After a grand procession through the islands, the children gather with Elders, musicians and artists and build a medicine wheel, a sacred circle honouring all races of people in the four directions on earth...Together they create mandalas and place them in the four directions inside the sacred circle...

• A crystal vessel, handcrafted for the ceremony, is at the centre of the sacred circle, and the children enter to unite their water from across Southern Ontario with a personal wish for their future on our earth...the Waters of Life Opening Procession. Children recite poetry with musicians playing original compositions as a background to this simple and reflective ritual.
• A traditional feast is prepared for the children
• In the evening, children are entertained by performers, storytellers and drummers around bonfires.

Day two: The children have brought their artwork ~ inspired by water and the environment ~ and together create a new large outdoor installation: the Arc of Dreams. Being earth friendly, their art remains onsite after the ceremony and is recorded breaking down and returning to the earth over time The Jump Right In! performances begin on day two. This giant show and tell between children is great fun for all the participants!

• The ceremony will close with the united waters from the vessel poured over the hundreds of fired clay pots made by the children in the From Seeds To Forests activity. These pots, with tree seeds now nourished by the waters, will be given as gifts to all the children, elders, guests of honour and volunteers, in recognition of everyone's accomplishments. A small amount of water is kept for the next Flowing Waters Ceremony.

Phase three: Public/community participation after the ceremony
Throughout the week, the public is invited to add water, with their wishes, into the vessel, and create artwork for the Arc of Dreams installation

© 2003 H₂onour Earth
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