August 2015 Alley Newspaper

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Honoring Water 150 Miles The Chippewa River Water Walk

By Joe Kruse

In the Midewiwin belief system, the indigenous spiritual practice of the Ojibway people, there are eight prophecies that have come and are coming to pass. The prophecies take into account the migration of the Ojibway people from the east to the upper Midwest where food (manoomin/wild rice) grows on water, the invasion of the light-skinned race, and the struggle for survival among and resistance to that colonization. Bode, a long-time water walker, and I sat in a minivan watching other walkers hike along a beautiful stretch of a rural county road as he explained this part of his spirituality to me. The rain was lightly misting our windshield. He went on to describe the eighth and final prophecy, when people of all skin colors will live in harmony. He said that, on these walks, he has started to see this prophecy fulfilled. He has seen white people, Native people, and people of color work together to pray for the water and our future. He sees how, while we are praying for the healing of the water, the water seems to be healing us.

This is just one of the many beautiful lessons I had the privilege of learning while I participated in the Chippewa River Water Walk this past April.… Read the rest “Honoring Water 150 Miles The Chippewa River Water Walk”

“All the news?” Never!

Chuck Michener (l) and Kurt Bullert (r) were inaugurated with newly released “The Alley” T-Shirts and to the Midtown Phillips Festival July 25th by inveterate Neighborhood activist Joseph Spangler at Stewart Park. Photo Credit: Harvey Winje

BY HARVEY WINJE, Senior Volunteer Editor and Outreach Coordinator

The Alley Newspaper received an e-mail with these questions from a reader:

“Does The Alley Newspaper fact check submitted articles?”

“Does The Alley Newspaper do the ”˜malicious bidding”' for some neighborhood leaders?”

These important questions reminded us that we don”'t take space often enough to explain how we serve our mission to “inform and engage”.

This month, we are taking time to describe how the content within each Alley Newspaper is determined with the hope of giving a voice to all members of the community. To set the context, we”'ll start at the beginning in 1976.

When and how did The Alley Newspaper decide what news to publish?

40 years ago, two people were talking about the benefits of people having more in-depth conversations about community affairs. They noted every day encounters and community meetings especially did not provide enough time for substantial conversation. One of them had seen a magazine in which the content was a dialogue between writers; in fact, that was its name.… Read the rest ““All the news?” Never!”