On September 22, a small group of people from Broad View United (BVU), in Victoria BC gathered in the BVU parking lot, which is located near the headwaters of Bowker Creek, to participate in the Memory of Water Walk, to honour and remember a 6km section of Bowker Creek that is mostly culverted. They were offered ‘cut throat trout water sticks’ to carry with them, that the youth at Broad View United had created earlier that day. With their colourful water banners; sun hats and walking shoes they set off to meet Corina, the community artist that was leading the Memory of Water Walk. With Corina at the helm carrying 2 buckets of water on her shoulders, drawn from the headwaters of Bowker Creek, the walkers encouraged the water of Bowker Creek, as it splashed out of the buckets whilst they walked, to dream itself back into being a living creek.
Dreams are powerful. When we share them they help us to hold the possibility of something new. And when we embody those dreams through art and community participation we help each other hold that collective dream. As the walkers approached the Annual Friends of Bowker Creek Biodiversity Day event, participants there were invited to join in to the last stage of the walk/dance, and help hold the collective dream, to bring Bowker Creek back as a flourishing day-lighted, visible presence running through the land in which it used to flow freely, 50-100 years ago. Participants were invited to sprinkle some of the water from the headwaters onto the ground where the Friends of Bowker Creek have envisioned a wetland restoration site, to symbolically evoke the memory of water in that place.
It was an amazing, energizing day, where conversations to connect the work flowed freely. If you are in the Victoria area, keep your eyes and ears tuned for signs of Bowker Creek coming back to life.
The Regenerate Greater Victoria group have been working with the Friends of Bowker Creek and Broad View United to host bioregionally themed conversations.