GOING UPRIVER: An interpretive tour to celebrate North America's freshwater heritage, Gulf of St. Lawrence to Great Lakes, Summer 1988

UPRIVER. The word evokes mystery, challenge, the lure of the unknown. Upriver swims the salmon each year to spawn. Upriver sought the Indians for the Father of Waters. Upriver came the first Europeans into the heart of an "unknown" continent, to find swift white currents and Champlain's "sweetest seas," the vast Great Lakes. Upriver strove the voyageur, the shantyboy, the paddlewheeler and the iron freighter. Upriver today lies most of our fresh water, and much of our foul.

The rivers of North America tell the story of our beginnings. Their song is the song of our future. GOING UPRIVER traces history's journey up the great St. Lawrence river from Gulf to Great Lakes, listening to the voice of the river in the stories and songs of its people.

In the summer of 1988, a special interpretive tour spanned the Great Lakes/Saint Lawrence with an exhibit and program series on North America's freshwater heritage. QLF/Atlantic Center was proud to sponsor GOING UPRIVER as a centerpiece of its rivers initiative.

"What a magic way you have of creating a wonderful feeling about the rivers! Your program is a refreshing way to convey to people the specialness of these waters." Ohio

I: FROM GULF TO GREAT LAKES

The Saint Lawrence Seaway stretches across half a continent from eastern Quebec to Minnesota. This vast waterway defines the world's longest freshwater boundary, between two nations that control 20% of the world's fresh water: the Great Lakes. QLF/Atlantic Center envisioned the GOING UPRIVER tour as a celebration of our boundary waters, and as a literal and metaphorical journey into the heart of the continent.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Our goal was to promote awareness and stewardship of North America's freshwater heritage. Two events catalyzed this project: the twentieth anniversary of the U.S. Wild and Scenic Rivers Program, and the development of a magnificent photographic display by the Canadian Heritage Rivers System. The CROSSCURRENTS concert series (see page 2), and a freshwater ecology program, WATERWATCH, complemented the CHRS exhibit. Support for the project was provided by The George Gund and William H. Donner foundations, the Canadian Heritage Rivers System, the U.S. National Park Service, and program sites. 

Our objectives were fourfold:

1. to educate U.S./Canadian audiences to an appreciation of our common history, geography and water resources;
2. to place current river conservation initiatives in their regional and historical context;
3. to collect, present and preserve river-related music and folklore as regional cultural artifacts;
4. to encourage citizen involvement in river heritage conservation.

ST. CROIX TO ST. CROIX: TRANSBOUNDARY COOPERATION FOR RIVERS MANAGEMENT

Our two chosen endpoints symbolized the transboundary nature of the tour. One St. Croix River forms the boundary between Maine and New Brunswick; jointly managed by both state and province, its nominated status as a Canadian Heritage River reflects its outstanding natural, cultural and recreational value. To the west, the other St. Croix was among the first designated U.S. Wild and Scenic Rivers, and it too is jointly managed (by Wisconsin and Minnesota) to preserve its outstanding character. Both rivers were central arteries for early exploration, and their common name bears witness to a common history whose symbol became the symbol of the tour: the voyageur.

Our journey had its epic qualities, much like the early days of the fur trade when the heavy-laden canoes left Montreal each spring. Summer staff Alain Meunier and Teresa Garen joined me in May to travel from New Brunswick to Minnesota in eighteen weeks, crossing the U.S./Canadian border six times, to present a total of 77 public programs and eleven exhibit displays. The 26 program sites included museums, nature centers, retail arcades, schools and libraries, and national and provincial parks. Our tour was made possible by the welcoming support of our site hosts and the warm response of over 5000 audience members.

STAFF

LYNN NOEL is a geographer, musician and environmental educator from Madison, WI. Born in Boston, she received her B.A. from Dartmouth College and her M.S. in Geography from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She appears on two albums by Revels, Inc. and on two solo cassettes, CROSSCURRENTS and GOING UPRIVER, both available from QLF/Atlantic Center. She continues to pursue her special interests in landscape imagery, conservation policy and women and wilderness.

TERESA GAREN hails from Defiance, Ohio. She holds a B.S. in Environmental Science and Biology from Bowling Green State University, Ohio, with a major in Resource Conservation from the University of Montana Student Exchange Program. As of this writing, Teresa is headed to Costa Rica with the Peace Corps.

ALAIN MEUNIER received his B.A. in Native Studies from Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. A bilingual Quebeçois, he has a special interest in Community and Human Resources Development. Alain is now working at a youth drop-in center in Montreal and preparing for a trip to South America in December.