In February 2020, Sharon M. Day (Ojibwe) led a group of Water Walkers through the Arizona desert to honor the Salt River. They collected a pail of water at the river’s headwaters then walked in-relay along its path for 5 days — 160 miles — to it’s confluence with the Gila River.

 

Brought together by the shared goal to care for the water, these once-strangers work together to keep the pail moving forward. Roles emerge, community is built, and new relationships develop between the walkers, the water, and the land through which they travel.

 

Through animation, live-shot footage, interview and song, this documentary follows their path across countryside and through the Valley of the Sun — sharing the story of this Indigenous-led ceremony to preserve and be mindful of the waters for our ancestors in the generations to come.