WORDS OF REVERENCE FOR WATER
All over the world there are human beings who have not separated themselves from the land, the water and all of nature. Indigenous cultures have an unbroken chain that extends back to the time when our ancestors first settled the continent. For thousands of years we have lived here and it remained much as it was in the beginning under our care, we have utilized the knowledge passed down from our ancestors.
Edna Yumtheska, my mother of the Havasupai – the People of the Bluewater told me:
Whenever you come upon Water in it’s natural state, you approach it with respect; you introduce yourself to it. Take time to pay respect to it. For Water gives life, we live inside Water for nine months in our mother’s womb. Then we follow the Water into this world. It is sacred, we depend on Water for the rest of our life. Water is Life.
Water is also a great teacher of humility. There was a time while walking in the desert, that I came upon a small natural basin filled with fresh rain Water. I was told that if I was to take any of this sacred Water I must make a prayer of thanksgiving and offer a sprinkle in the direction of Hopi land, so that there would be a good rainfall for the gardens.
When I knelt at the Water, I was overwhelmed by the realization that there was a Hopi farmer’s corn crop waiting for the rain in order to grow, there is a child in the desert lands of Africa searching for Water mile after mile, who may not even find a drop; there is a little Tibetan boy sucking the Water dripping from a utility pipe to quench his thirst; there are the First Nations people who cannot get their fish to dry or can for winter food because the hydroelectric dams are holding back 80% of the river Waters; so the fish do not come, because 20% of the river Water that is now allowed to flow cannot accommodate the fish. Yes, Water is sacred.
Allow for a moment of gratitude the next time you take a drink of Water. Then, hope will flicker within – hope that allows us to envision a way, a path towards a more compassionate and caring society that heeds the consciousness that Water is Life.
Mona Polacca
Havasupai/Hopi/Tewa Nations, Arizona
International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Indigenous World Forum on Water and Peace
Co-Secretariat

Opal Creek Wilderness, photo by Sandy’s NW Hiking Photos, used with permission