The walking bridge behind Legacy Estates over the Boyne River has a new name: Mikaawadad Bridge. The Boyne River Keepers (BRK), a group of citizens who work to promote, restore and protect the Boyne River and its watershed, held a Métis bridge naming ceremony on May 23.
“We did it on May 23, which is World Turtle Day and was the day of the full Flower Moon,” said Chris Larsen, the Boyne River Keepers chair. “This was a Métis history-making moment where knowledge sharing leads to healing.”
New signage was recently posted on several local pathway bridges in Carman, including Mikaawadad Bridge. A few years ago, Carman Elementary School students submitted the name as part of a contest to name the local bridges. Mikaawadad means “beautiful” in Ojibway.
Larsen said the Boyne River Keepers hoped to highlight the river’s history with the naming.
“We wanted it to be an Indigenous name. The Métis people settled around the Boyne River before the settlers came,” said Larsen.
Denise Strange is a grade one teacher at Carman Elementary School. Her grade one class participated in the bridge naming contest the BRK put out a few years ago. They researched and came up with the winning name, but they’re no longer her students. Instead, Strange said she decided to take her current grade one class to participate in the drum, water and tobacco ceremony led by Métis elder Dolorès Gosselin from Stuartburn. Gosselin also told a story about how the river was precious to all of life.
“The naming ceremony was an awesome learning experience. The students were able to listen to a Métis elder who spoke about the importance of water and its role in the Indigenous and Métis culture, then the kids participated fully in the ceremony,” said Strange. “They had a water ritual they took part in, then they each took a piece of ceremonial tobacco and put it in the river to thank the river for all it gives us, and they were able to do a drumming piece.”
Larsen described the water teachings as a way of learning to protect and care for the river and explained that tobacco is one of the sacred medicines for gratitude.
“We had a small vessel made from earth filled with living water. The kids had to pass it to each other without spilling… it was to show them how water is precious and remind them to be grateful for water as the giver of life,” said Larsen. “It was so beautiful when they were doing it…they were so careful. I could see it in their faces.”
Strange said Gosselin made it understandable for her students and was a hands-on way of learning about Métis and Indigenous cultures and traditions.
“It was very unique, especially being that they’re so young…a lot of them have never been a part of something like that,” said Strange. “It’s a fun, interactive way to learn.”
Larsen is a Métis artist and art therapist who operates River’s Edge Studio in Carman, which is by the Boyne River. A couple of years after the group formed, she was approached to join the BRK and felt that it would be an honour to do so.
“In Métis and Indigenous culture, they say that women are the water protectors. I live by the river, and it’s always been important to me,” said Larsen. “We have an amazing group of people who make things happen.”
For their next project, Larsen said the BRK have been fundraising to build an accessible dock.
For more information about the work of the BRKs, visit boyneriverkeepers.ca.
