hile COVID-19 has been pretty crappy in a lot of ways, it gave the editors of AFTERNOON the opportunity to meet with zinesters far and wide. From participating in Broken Pencil’s first virtual CanZine, to collaborating and partnering with publications like Ricepaper Magazine and Youth Water Leaders Zine, the new friends we’ve made this year have helped us through our darkest times. In honour of that, we’ve started a new section: zine library. Each issue, we’ll shine a spotlight on a zine we really admire. Harmony Eshkawkogan graciously chatted with the editors of AFTERNOON (over email, of course) about creating Youth Water Leaders Zine, an art zine celebrating water and the Ottawa River watershed.

How did you come up with the idea for this zine?
I didn’t choose the zine life, but the zine life  chose me! It’s hard to say when the idea formed because The Youth Water Leaders Zine came together in such an organic way. In January 2020,  I joined a program called Youth Water Leaders run by Ottawa Riverkeeper and met other youth who wanted to start a zine about water art.  The program requires youth to dedicate 120 hours to learning about the river and creating a service project that educates the community about the watershed. Last year, my service project was supposed to be a water walk for World Water Day on March 21, 2020. I had to transition to a webinar about Water Walks because of the pandemic, so it was important to have a COVID-19 friendly service project. 

What do you hope to achieve with this project?
Last year, when I joined the program, I didn’t know anything about water or zine-making. The pandemic prevented us from gathering on the water and the program had to switch to online platforms. The Ottawa River is the second largest river in eastern Canada, so a lot of youth who lived in different areas participated in the program. It was hard to maintain the youth engagement because all of us still missed that physical connection. I met two other girls in the program who shared the same vision of making a water zine as our community service project. In the fall, I applied for a rising youth grant from Taking It Global to have the funding for the zine to be printed and to offer youth honorariums for their artwork. It was a challenge to get started because it was our first zine, but we all had a passion for art and water.  I hope the zine was able to uplift youth voices and help others stay connected to water during COVID-19.

What can readers expect from Youth Water Leaders Zine?
It was a completely youth-led project, but it was our first zine, and we created it during the middle of the pandemic. The zine is free for the community, in both English and French. A lot of us live near the Ottawa River that serves as a natural border between Ontario and Quebec. I am a guest on unceded and unsurrendered Algonquin territory and I was always going to include Indigenous language into the zine. All of the French translations are done by bilingual youth from Instagram posts, Google forms, and the zine itself. The grant allowed us to expand the team from outside the Ottawa watershed, but we’re all students who are balancing our free time with the zine. I didn’t think we would get any submissions, but a diverse group of youth from different backgrounds and genders submitted their artwork from all across Turtle Island. 

Can you speak a bit about your relationship with water and its importance to you?
I am from an unceded reserve called Wiikwemkoong (Beaver of the Bay) and the Three Fires tribes, Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi. I was always connected to the water because my clan is Pike and I am from Manitoulin Island, the largest freshwater island in the world. I experienced culture shock moving to Ottawa for high school and walking along the river helped me cope with being homesick. It was reassuring to know the Ottawa River or Kitchissippi (Grand River) was the original highway that connects to the St. Lawrence River and flows into the Atlantic Ocean. I found being near water was medicine for my spirit because it reminded me of my home.

Have you learned any interesting lessons about collaboration, creation, or zine-making that you’d like to pass along?
I am a helper with Assembly of Seven Generations (A7G), a local Indigenous youth group in Ottawa that’s met every Friday for the last three years. I asked A7G to help with my water walk webinar last year. This year, they let me plan a Bob Ross—themed paint night to get more art submissions. I planned this art night in a week with another youth, but if it’s a good idea the collaborations will happen naturally. I had to learn how to order art supplies online because of COVID-19 and another youth with a car volunteered to drop them off. The youth got to keep the art supplies, A7G has copies of the printed zine, and other Indigenous youth are making their own zines.

How or is this project helping you during COVID-19?
I was introduced to the zine community about two years ago by joining a group for survivors of sexual assault. It was the first time I had shared my story as a survivor. I felt a lot lighter and empowered from it. I believe zines are making a comeback because people need a creative outlet to come together and share each other’s truth.
I had never taken on a leadership role or assembled a zine but, now that I know the process, I will try to support other youth who want to make their own zines. I transitioned to posting water videos on Tik Tok because my phone space was already filled. I did Instagram Live sessions on Fridays by the Ottawa River because I just needed to get out of the house. I am so proud of all the youth who dedicated their time and effort to get water submissions in the middle of winter and COVID-19.

Any tips for those wanting to start their own zine?
I saw the zine evolve in so many different ways. It could have just been an easy way to get our service project but all of the youth wanted the zine to make an impact. The zine team started with only two members and we lost members but recruited four other youth. I think being flexible is important because youth were reaching out from outside the Ottawa watershed. I think my best advice is to plan your posts ahead of time to give yourself a break because social media does get exhausting. I was really grateful for the people that allowed me to interview them on Instagram live for February because they all pushed me to finish the zine.

Any other thoughts?
I am from the same community as Autumn Peltier the Anishinabek Nation Chief Water Commissioner. I was inspired by her journey into water advocacy as her great aunt is Josephine Mandamin-baa, the original water walker. Last year, I hosted a workshop at Color Me Mine for youth to paint four clay pails to be used in the water walk. It just happened that I planned it on the same day as Josephine Mandamin-baa’s one-year anniversary journey into the spirit world. I mailed a copy of the printed zine to Autumn Peltier and I recently got vaccinated, so hopefully, this summer, I will be able to attend my first water walk.