"Water is Life:" Indigenous Approaches to Climate Action in Relationship to Mother Earth

12:00PM Meet at Goldsworth Valley Pond for Traditional Water Ceremony

12:30PM Discussion at Lee Honors College Lounge with livestream

This workshop explores the connections between water, the use of fossil fuels, and climate activism from Indigenous perspectives. Traditional ecological knowledge, culture, relationships, and spirituality inform Indigenous responses to the climate crisis.  “Water is Life,” a declaration of the Standing Rock Movement is a contemporary expression of a long history of intergenerational struggle for environmental justice by Indigenous people. Shannon Martin, citizen of the Gun Lake Tribe and former director of the Ziibiwing Center for Anishinabe Culture and Lifeways, and WMU student leaders from the Native American Student Organization will speak about climate action, in relationship to Mother Earth, following a traditional water ceremony at Goldsworth Valley Pond. The event is free and open to all.