Sharon Day, an Anishinaabe elder, is leading the walk that began March 1 at Lake Itasca State Park in Minnesota with a traditional Ojibwe water ceremony.
The four women and one man, three of whom are Native Americans, are carrying a ceremonial copper pail of water from the Mississippi headwaters to the Gulf of Mexico.
As Day says, the Mississippi River is the second most polluted river in the United States and the walkers must do something about that.
The walkers take turns in walking, walking in one, twos or threes, while the others ride in a support van.
The walk has built up a following on Facebook at Mississippi River Walk 2013.
Tribute to the walkers
