Author Mark Zelinski launched his new photography book, 'Land Between Waters,' a visual tribute to the Niagara Escarpment and its Indigenous peoples, during a weekend-long launch event on Manitoulin Island.
MANITOULIN—Mark Zelinski’s new book, ‘Land Between Waters,’ a stunning visual tour of the Niagara Escarpment, enjoyed a weekend long book launch, beginning on the Chi-Cheemaun on Friday, May 15, continuing to the Café in the Woods on Saturday afternoon and following up with a sacred fire and a hike in Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory on Sunday morning.
The Expositor caught the event at Café in the Woods, sponsored by the Manitoulin Nature Club. The audience held a great many club members, which pleased Nature Club president Phyllis Cacciotti. Ms. Cacciotti introduced Mark Zelinski to the audience, but not before Elder Josh Eshkawkogen opened the event with smudging, prayer (with many teachings inside his prayer), song and some language lessons rolled into his presentation. A breathing exercise led to these words of wisdom, “Appreciation is very important, and it has to start with you, you have to appreciate yourself. And if you’re going through a little bit of a hard time, struggles? They’re meant to be. It’s how you conquer your own troubles; how you defeat your demons, if you have to, and when you come across that threshold of peace and quiet, that’s how you know you’re there.” One of the forewords in the book was written by Mr. Eshkawkogan.
Dr. Roy Jeffery, an Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy (EBC) board member for over 20 years, gave the land acknowledgement at the start of the presentation. He added to it, “And I would like to acknowledge on the part of the EBC, the many contributions that Indigenous people have made to the art and science of caring for the land, keeping it in such a good way that we are all, all of mankind, able to benefit from the healing and wellness that the land has to offer.” Dr. Jeffery attributed the Conservancy’s better understanding of stewardship to Mark Zelinski. “He has a book that is called Land Between Waters, and you’d think that would be a thousand pictures of the Escarpment. But it’s not, because Mark’s vision of the land is the land with the people. So, we realized a very important principle that the land without the people is not the land, and the people with indigenous people, without the land is not a people. They are inseparable, and that was a very important teaching that Mark helped provide.”
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