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STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: When you're on a 1,200 mile hike, you don't dilly dally. About a dozen people strode, in pairs and singly, down Park Point, the world's longest naturally formed sandbar. They had ferried across from Wisconsin Point the night before, in canoes. A light drizzle turned into a drenching rain, but still they walked. Support cars in front and back carried camping gear. Local people had food waiting at a church basement downtown.

Paul Sugar Bear Smith is a member of the Oneida Nation. He plans to walk as far as the Canadian border.

PAUL SUGAR BEAR SMITH: I guess, in a tribal way, in a traditional way, when we're born, we understand that we're not born with land rights. We're not born with water rights. We're not born with Native rights. What we're truly born with is, we're born with responsibility, responsibility to our relatives. And the water is the primary relative. It's a great mystery of all the life forces that the water has and the water supports. And so, I guess in recognition of her as a life force, we have a responsibility to continue to acknowledge her.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: Part of that responsibility is to share knowledge of the lake and its vulnerabilities. Smith is hoping a World Summit on persistent organic pollutants in South Africa in December will ban pesticides and other chemicals that are deposited into Lake Superior, from as far away as Central America.

The walk was inspired by Walt Bresette, an Ojibwe environmental activist who died last year. Bresette said, people living around the lake should not be divided by political boundaries, but rather should think of themselves as citizens of Lake Superior. Amy Mondloch, of Oshkosh, says the walk is a step in building that community.

AMY MONDLOCH: There's this myth of the average person. We start thinking that we're all about the same. We're all this kind of McDonald's culture, but we're not. You sit down, and you start having talking circles. You start learning people's stories, start knowing where they're from, where they're going, and you start to building a bigger family. And it's through building that community, through building that bigger family, that we're going to protect the waters and protect the place in which we live.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: Another Walker, Frank Kane of Herbster, fought many environmental battles alongside Walt Bresette. Kane says he's meeting many like minded people as he walks.

FRANK KANE: Met a fellow by the name of Jim sitting on his porch. And he says, hey, come over here. What the hell are you doing? Said, we're walking around the lake because it's special. He said, I know that. That's why I'm sitting on my porch.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: Kane and his new acquaintance chatted about the US Canadian agreement to designate Lake Superior as a zero discharge zone for toxic organic pollutants. They agreed the zero discharge concept should be included in every environmental plan, both short and long term.

FRANK KANE: He said, it makes sense to him, thought that way for many years. And we're finding that all over. And the real story is not this ceremony, this walk we're on. It's the people that are thinking about the lake as we walk by, and say, that's right.

STEPHANIE HEMPHILL: Kane and other walkers expect to meet many other people who want to protect the lake, as they walk along Minnesota's North Shore, across the Canadian border, and along the rugged North Coast, down again across St Mary's River, then west on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and back into Wisconsin, they hope, by the end of August. I'm Stephanie Hemphill, Minnesota Public Radio.