Eddie Benton-Banai, Grand Chief of the Three Fires Midewiwin Lodge, will be at the Anishinabe Kweag protest camp for a special water ceremony on Saturday. Twelve water drums are being brought to the camp and will be heard together for the first time. This unusual ceremony has great significance for the Ojibwe-Anishinaabe people, who hope that local SDS41supporters, and especially members of the agricultural community, will participate in the event honouring the water and its defenders.
After the ceremony, there will be a feast.
Benton-Banai is a co-founder of the American Indian Movement and the founder of the Red School House, an alternative school for Native students in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is also the author of The Mishomis Book, an account of Ojibwe culture, history, and worldview based on the oral teachings.
He comes from Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation near Hayward, Wisconsin. The drum is central to his life and his teachings. “I was never without the sound of the drum, without the sound of music,” he says. “Since before my birth I began to hear the drum, even as I was in my mother’s womb.”

OTHER EVENTS
Today
Site 41 Community Monitoring Committee meeting, 7 p.m., Tiny Township Municipal offices, Perkinsfield.
Sunday, September 13
Dr. William Shotyk of the University of Heidelberg gives a 45-minute presentation on The Wonderful World of Wetlands, 2 p.m. at the Wye Marsh Interpretive Centre, 16160 Hwy 12 East, Midland.
Monday September 14
Clearview Council meets, 7 p.m., 217 Gideon St., Stayner
Tiny Council meets (second and third Monday), 7 p.m., 130 Balm Beach Rd. W., Perkinsfield
Collingwood Council meets (Mondays), 5 p.m.
New Tecumseth Council meets (Mondays), 7 p.m. 10 Wellington Street, Alliston
Tuesday, September 15
Bradford West Gwillimbury Council meets (first, second and third Tuesday), 7 p.m. 57 Holland St. E, Bradford (first, second and third Tuesday)
Wednesday, September 16
Essa Council meets (first and third Wednesday), 6 p.m., 5786 County Rd. 21, Utopia
Tay Council meets (second and third Wednesday), 1-6 p.m. and 7 p.m. on. 450 Park Street, Victoria Harbour
Innisfil Council meets (frst, third and fourth Wednesday), 7 p.m., 2101 Innisfil Beach Rd., Innisfil
Thursday, September 17
-Anne Ritchie-Nahuis in Barrie court on mischief charge
-The Culture, Language, and History of the Anishinaabeg in Simcoe County – an audio-visual presentation by Jeff Monague, former chief of Beausoleil First Nation and Ojibwe language instructor at Georgian College: at 7 p.m., Stott Hall at Wyevale United Church
846 County Road 6 South, Wyevale. For more information, call 322-2545