By Mark “River” Peoples
1 Mississippi Intern, Quapaw Canoe Company
We wake at the banks of the Yellowstone River. Instantly I start to reflect upon the sites, sounds, distinct landscapes and settings we use as boundaries. Separation by east, west, north, south, dialect, culture, rich, poor and any other superficial labels that apply. But rivers, historically a dividing line, actually connect us all.
That is me, on the left, raising up one finger as a shout out to my fellow River Citizens. My sign language represents 1 Mississippi, a special group of everyday people, River Citizens, taking responsibility for the health of the Mississippi River, one of our nation’s greatest natural resources.
I think about the cornfields of Nebraska and Iowa, full of white-tailed deer and pheasants. The record-low Platte River and its beautiful gravel bars and sandbars. Wyoming’s antelope, prairie dogs, and wind turbines.
I realize the massive scale of the Louisiana Purchase. Emotions and excitement stir, knowing I will fulfill a lifetime dream of seeing the headwaters of the Missouri River, one of the major tributaries to my friend, the mighty Mississippi River.
As we proceed west toward the Continental Divide, the rivers become more rocky, instead of the meandering curves and sequences of sand and mud running parallel with the Mississippi River for miles before they join. The pristine, mountainous streams branch out like limbs on a tree, thriving with various species of trout. The Clark Fork of the Yellowstone River winds alongside the highway with me, as I get ready for my introduction to one of my favorite rivers. My emotions get the best of me. Being a child of the river, I feel that I’ve only seen a small scale of what the Mississippi River filters and distributes. I am fascinated with every introduction to a tributary, knowing the diversity and health of each individually is proportional to the existence of mankind.
Finally, I meet the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin Rivers. The watershed, or one could say the area of water collection, of both the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers is vast and impressive. I sit quiet keeping my composure, watching my mentor and brother Johnny “Driftwood” baptize himself in the headwaters and smear its distinctive mud from head to toe. I think about the four rivers that flowed out of Eden – the Pishon, Gihon, Hiddekel and Euphrates – and put our great rivers and tributaries on the same pedestal of sacredness.
Being a part of 1Mississippi makes us a steward of all rivers.
The intimate relationship that I’ve created with the Mississippi River with all its rifts, runnels, creeks, streams and oxbow lakes has given me the strength and courage to follow my path in life and to share and distinguish between what’s real and material. My goal in life once revolved around football, how many touchdowns I could score, the tackles I could make or punts I blocked. Now, my awareness draws me toward preserving our country’s freshwater rivers and aquifers for generations to come. Help me. Become a River Citizen; pledge to preserve and protect a national treasure and an amazing natural resource. Go to www.1mississippi.org. Get to know your own river.