Milwaukee, WI - On Friday, May 2, 1997 at 9:00am., the "Walk to Save Our Waters" which began April 26 at the farm where the white buffalo calf was born and has been heading towards Milwaukee, will enter the Milwaukee area Friday morning. Dewey Schanandore, the Menominee leading the walk, will come through Milwaukee by way of Blue Mound Road and head up State Street where it will meet at the Indian Community School at 3121 W. State St.

A meal and gathering are scheduled for 9:00 a.m. where the children of the school, 250+ will be anxiously waiting for the walk. After the meal Mr. Schanandore will talk with the children and tell them about the danger to the waters and about the walk itself. At approximately 10:00am the children will join the group and walk towards Appleton Ave. where the walk will continue to Fond du Lac, WI. Apesanahkwat, Menominee Tribal Chairman, and Ken Fish, Director, Menominee Treaty Rights & Mining Impacts office, will join in the walk as it comes to the school and heads toward Appleton Ave.

The walk, over 355 miles, which aims to help raise awareness about the proposed Crandon mine, has been on schedule averaging 17-20 miles a day. The route out of Milwaukee is by way of Appleton Ave. to highway 175 where it will continue to Fond du Lac by Monday, May 5, Oshkosh on Tuesday, May 6, and Appleton on Wednesday, May 7.

A hotline has been set up to track Dewey's location as he walks. Each evening as he stops, his location will be recorded at (414) 342-8166 for those wishing to locate and join him walking. For questions call (414) 906-0431, or write to N.E.P.E.W. c/o Siggneauk Interfaith Spiritual Center, 3126 W. Kilbourn, Milwaukee, WI 53208.

A concerned group of American Indians in the Milwaukee area have joined under the name N. E. P. E. W., (Nations for the Environmental Protection of Earth's Waters), in an effort to help protect the Wolf River. The word NEPEW is actually a word from the Menominee language meaning WATER. Wade Fernandez, a Menominee member of the group said "Our waters are the blood stream of our Mother Earth. From her womb comes the rivers of life that sustain all her children. If we allow her blood to be poisoned, we are allowing her children--our brothers, sisters, and ourselves--to be poisoned. Water is a symbol of life. Don't let Wisconsin's waters become a symbol of death."

Dewey Schanandore, the Menominee leading the walk, said "We have to let our young people know that protecting our resources is the most important thing we can do. There will be no compromise with the corporation, Earth First."

"The Menominee are Wisconsin's original residents, our people originated from this area over 10,000 years ago. These waters have sustained our ancestors for this long, it is our duty to protect these waters for the next seven generations", said Paula Rabideaux, a Menominee member of the group. The group has coordinated the walk to gain support and invite others to walk through their area.