We Are All Downstream
To be downstream is to change our view.
To consider our relations upstream of this time and place.
To be downstream is to wonder how people are treating the river as water flows to us?
We might realize our inter-dependence with people upstream and with the river.
To be downstream is also to realize we are upstream from others.
They too might wonder about our respect for this river before it gets to them.
To be downstream is not just a matter of geography,
it’s also a matter of chronology.
If time is said to flow like a river,
Then we are downstream from the original people of this land;
the Wapekutewan and Bdewakantonwan Dakota
Their stories have been too often disregarded and submerged
but we can hear them today as they cry out:
“Mini Wiconi” – Water is Life!
Our upstream ancestors have treasured and used and abused this river
What kind of ancestors will we be to our downstream descendants in the flow of time?
Will they shake their heads or nod in approval at the way that we treat this river?
There is a third aspect to we are all downstream
As we grow in relationship to the river and to each other,
We look upstream to the systems that influence and affect the water
We are individuals, yes, but also inter-dependent members of a larger community and of larger systems: food and energy, transportation and recreation…
Let’s go upstream from our individual places to see how our communities and our systems are either helping and sustaining this life-giving river
or how we need to go upstream to fix destructive systems through policy and legislation
by imagining new approaches to the way we live our lives
to working together to create the future we want for our water, for ourselves, for our communities
We are all downstream:
What does it mean to you?
What will you do for each other and for the river?