Second Annual Mni Ki Wakan Decade of Water Summit August 8-9

Autumn Peltier, Anishinaabe (Screen capture from CBC News You Tube video.)

The Second Annual Mni Ki Wakan World Indigenous Peoples Decade of Water Summit, an indigenous-led event, will be held at Neighborhood House, 179 Robie St. E., St Paul, on Wednesday and Thursday, August 8-9.

Autumn Peltier, a 13-year-old Anishinaabe teen from Wimwemikong First Nation will give the keynote address. On March 22, Peltier addressed the United Nations during its Action Water Decade: 2018-2028, calling on members to “Warrior Up.” (CBC story here.) Peltier is calling for the recognition of water’s personhood and for a future of healthy and clean water. (Here is a five-minute video of her speech.)

Comment: Anyone who does a double take at the mention of giving water “personhood” should consider that we give corporations “personhood” and water is more important to our survival than corporations.

On Day Two of the Summit, Julia Faye Muñoz of Guam will give a Pacific Islander perspective on the access, availability, and sustainability of water. The Summit also will include a workshop on digital storytelling, where people can record their stories of water.

Next Mde Mada Ska Community Meeting Saturday; More DAPL Updates

The next round of community conversations around Mde Maka Ska (Lake Calhoun) and the sacredness of water will be held this Saturday, Dec. 3, 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.,, at First Universalist Church, 3400 Dupont Ave. S. Lunch will be served.

This is the latest in a series of community conversations, but there is no need to have attended any of the previous conversations to participate. Teens welcome!

Roughly 50-75 residents had attended previous meetings in late 2015 and early 2016 to build relationships and brainstorm about what Mde Maka Ska could be to the world and how to tell the stories Mde Maka Ska holds. One of the ideas to emerge from this work a proposal for a “Mni Wakan: Decade of Water” Summit. (Mni Wakan means Sacred Water in Dakota.)

Come and join the conversation. For more background, here is our earlier blog on the meetings. Here is an article The Circle Newspaper ran on the Water Summit.

These sessions are facilitated by LeMoine LaPointe and his sons Wakinyan and Thorne LaPointe.