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Headed to Hudson Bay
The IWI revived its River of Dreams (ROD) program in 2016, and it has generated some of my most memorable work experiences to date. In the spring of 2018, ROD reached 18 schools, 31 classrooms, and over 600 students throughout the Red River Basin. Every year I find I am more impressed with our students’ collective creativity and ability to comprehend their place in the world of water.
Several times this year I was blown away by the retention students exhibited at our launch events. Canoes will travel a local tributary stream – the Rabbit, Wild Rice, Red Lake, etc. – down to a confluence with the Red River of the North. The Red flows north, from its source at Breckenridge, MN/Wahpeton, ND, along a 550-mile meandering course through the economic hubs of the region – Fargo, Grand  Forks, and Winnipeg – before finally reaching its mouth at Lake Winnipeg. But our water does not stop there. I had a particularly proud moment overhearing a River of Dreams student explain to a reporter how the Nelson River flows from Lake Winnipeg to Hudson Bay and, ultimately, the interconnected world ocean system. If all people knew of these connections from a young age, how would that impact the way in which they experience and interact with their local watershed?
When we consider the actions and needs of our neighbors upstream and downstream, perhaps it broadens our perspective and leads us to make better-informed decisions which are more mutually beneficial. A long-time River Watch teacher had the following to say as he observed the River of Dreams program in his elementary school for the first time this year:
“…I noticed that in reading the short passages they wrote, some of the kids seemed to be beginning to open their minds up to the idea of a bigger world than they'd really thought they'd ever experience. Fun to think of where those thoughts may lead them.”
I hope you take the chance to browse through the stories and canoe designs created by our students this spring, below, and follow along with the journeys at riverofdreams.org. It's a big watershed out there - dream big!
-Andy Ulven, Monitoring and Education Specialist -
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Discoveries
With all the canoes launched this year, we are getting more reports of sightings than ever before! Paddlers, fishermen/women, and others just taking time to observe our local rivers are finding canoes nearly every day. Check this link to view all sightings as they are recorded, and keep an eye on your local river to make your own discovery this summer!
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Featured Canoe "Dream" Story
Written by a 4th grade student from Crookston, MN:
My name is Hudson. I am on a journey to Hudson Bay. It is spring and I just left Crookston by being launched into the Red Lake River. I am headed to Grand Forks, there I will enter the Red River. I have just passed Fisher and only 15 miles until I reach Grand Forks. It is about 6:00 in the evening and the sun is starting to set. When I woke up I was on the riverbank. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get back into the water.
A golden retriever and a little boy about 10 years old came over to me. I was scared the dog thought I was a chew toy. The boy read the message on my right side which said, PUT ME IN THE WATER PLEASE. The boy knew where I was going because of my name. He wrote Grand Forks on my right side and brought me to calmer water and gave me a push and I was off again to Grand Forks. Finally after what seemed like hours but was actually 5 minutes I reached Grand Forks. I didn't realize it would be so noisy. I saw some walleye swimming next to me.
One of them nibbled my canoe and I told it to shoo by shaking, it quickly swam away and just in time to watch as I entered the Red River. As I left Grand Forks it began to storm. I shook with fear as a wave threw me on shore again! I wondered if I would ever get to Hudson Bay. I spent the night on shore as animals like rabbits, lynxes, squirrels, coyotes, and even a cougar came to see what I was. I woke up to the sound of footsteps. I couldn't look behind me and with that, I was picked up and examined by a girl who asked her dad if she could keep me. Thankfully her dad found the message and said I had a journey to go on.
She pushed me back into the river. It was late in the morning about 10:00 and it was very sunny. My permanent marker designs started to fade. I reached the border after almost 5 months because of I kept washing up on shore. This time I got stuck between two rocks in the middle of nowhere. A kind fisherman accidently caught me in his net. He could barely make out my name. He brought me back to his house and put a coat of the same colored paint on each design...Read the rest of Hudson's story and follow its journey here.
Follow along with each individual canoe's journey to Hudson Bay through our canoe database by viewing individual canoe launches. Click a school launch, then “list canoes” to see canoe stories and portraits of each design.
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Latest from our Blog
Here at the International Water Institute, the GIS group has been quite busy working on hydro-conditioning for our Prioritize, Targaret, Measure Application (PTMApp). We have been scouring the landscape of the Red River Basin, and during our work, we have come across a few interesting features that we would like to share with you...Read more here.
 -Austin Braget, GIS Technician- |
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River of Dreams in the News
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Special Thanks and a Look Ahead
We gratefully acknowledge our partners for assistance with the River of Dreams program this spring. Especially, we thank Ashley Hitt of the Red Lake Watershed District, Laura Bell of the University of Minnesota-Crookston, and Liz Bailey of the Conservation Corps of MN and IA, for being so giving of their time and enabling us to expand our reach. River of Dreams is made possible by the funding we receive from the Red River Watershed Management Board and Clean Water Land and Legacy Amendment.
Looking forward to 2018-2019, we are excited to share that we will be expanding our efforts into North Dakota, potentially doubling our reach from this past year. Along with this, new maps, materials, and ideas are emerging from our growing network of teachers and partners, all combining to make our staff as excited as ever for what lies ahead!
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