DETROIT LAKES — Fifth-graders at Roosevelt Elementary School in Detroit Lakes decorated 14-inch cedar canoes and launched them into the Pelican River on May 26, sending them on their “dream journey” to Hudson Bay in Canada.
Contributed photo/International Water Institute
“The Pelican River flows into the Otter Tail River, the Otter Tail River confluences with the Bois de Sioux River to form the headwaters to the Red River of the North, the Red River then flows north and ends in Canada at Lake Winnipeg, which is connected to the Nelson River, which flows into the ocean at Hudson Bay!” explained LaRyssa Nelson, who works for the International Water Institute in Fargo, which has a watershed education program called River of Dreams.
Contributed photo/International Water Institute
Each canoe that is launched has a dream story created by its students, and each canoe has its own web page, which includes the date and place of launch, a photo of the canoe and the dream message. Canoes found by area residents during their voyage can be logged at
www.riverofdreams.org
, where you can also see the decorated canoes, read the dream stories and see where they are discovered.
Contributed photo/International Water Institute
“If any of these canoes are found along their journey to Hudson Bay,” Nelson said in an email to this newspaper, “they can be logged on our website:
riverofdreams.org
so the students are able to see how far their canoe has gone! I’d love to spread the word about this program and make sure residents know to keep an eye out for these canoes in the river and lakes that are connected to the Pelican River!”
Detroit Lakes Tribune newsroom