Story Spotlight – A Grand Thanks
We go down to the riverbanks to think
We go down to the riverbanks to drink
The river washes
The river watches
Grand living and learning
Grand transporting and transferring
The grand of the Grand touches us all
We gather at the river to reunite
We gather at the river to might right
The river rests and reactivates
River denizens synergize in song
Glorious voices from the river throng
We join the river in sweet harmony
Grand living and learning, Grand transporting and transforming, the grace of the Grand touches us all
Shared, illustrated and written by Marcia
“Six miles deep from each side of the River beginning at Lake Erie and extending in the portion of the Head of Said River, which Them and Their Posterity are to enjoy forever.”
Knowing your watershed and the waterways that meander through your community is important and I’ve been dabbling in exploring through drawing since creating that map. I met the Grand River Community Play group in the cold of November in the Abe Erb Mill by Laurel creek in Uptown Waterloo. It was the second Prologue, which was a manifestation of the group’s past year of collecting stories about the Grand River and tributaries. I was hooked. I wanted to continue my explorations in this context. This was fine with the creative leaders of the project, because everyone is invited to join in this collective community gathering of stories and ideas about the Grand. It’s in this spirit that I continue recording, exploring, mapping and scribbling ideas on the page with my fude (bent nib) fountain pen. The flow of ink feels like the flow of the river.
The question often asked in our workshops is “What does the River mean to you; and what do you mean to the River? Words for this scrambled in my brain, so I tried to tame them through my pen. Having experienced a guided “automatic drawing” session (I know – that sounds like an oxymoron), I wanted to try reaching my inner consciousness to express my feelings. I started as artists (such as Mirò and Dalì) have done before me, clearing my mind and letting the pen travel around the page randomly without rational control. After many lines and swirls the shape of a creature finally appeared. That’s where I stopped the random marks and started thinking of how this creature might take shape. As I began detailing this strange creature, other critters of the Grand began to enter my thoughts. Eggs, tadpole and frog; dragonfly, bumble bee, otter, … and lastly when I thought I was finished – a kingfisher. In the midst of that, words came and swirled around the image. Now that I look at “Grand Thanks again, I see that strange first image as the spirit of the dragonfly nymph.
Am I the River and the River is Me began when someone said “We are not the river.” I explored this idea in the drawing, but I wasn’t finished chewing on it. My research found that at least three Indigenous-led initiatives have been successful in arguing that rivers have the right to “legal person” status. Rivers in New Zealand, the Amazon and Quebec, Canada now hold legal rights and responsibilities equivalent to a person. https://www.instagram.com/p/C1k-sR3Av-V/
I’m looking forward to exploring the river at Hillside Music Festival nestled on Guelph Island on the Speed River – a Grand tributary. With my comrades in the Grand River Community Play, we’ll be exploring through song, movement, puppetry, storytelling – and drawing.