Week Three
Water is Life
Mní Wičóni. Water is life. This sacred truth, which echoed around the world as the Standing Rock Sioux Nation led the movement to resist the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline across the Missouri River, reveres the interdependence that defines all of our existence. In both the original Lakota and translated English, Mní Wičóni (Water is life) reminds us that honoring our connections to the elements—the air, the land, the water—transforms our communities. When we fully embrace water not just as a resource for life but as the source of life, we shift from extracting its power to tending to it with reverence. Water—life—is no longer a commodity or an obstacle but instead accompanies us as a close relative.
Mní Wičóni, Water is life, is not just an anthem of resistance against the devastation and violence that colonization continues to inflict upon this world. Yes, to declare “water is life” is to demand an end to the pipelines and mines that destroy ancestral lands, as well as the deadly pollution of waterways and neighborhoods caused by chemical plants and industrial agriculture. But it is also a message of healing and hope, grounded in the wisdom of communities that have endured and persevered through the worst of humanity. It is sacred guidance—an invitation to all of us—to not only end the harm we have caused but to restore the gratitude and care inherent in the ecosystems to which we belong.
Watch/Listen
Family Activities
"The Waves We Give"
Beautiful Chorus
Read/Watch Together
We Are Water Protectors
Written by Carole Lindstrom, Illustrated by Michaela Goade
Body Practice
Breathing Meditation
Suggested Time: 10 minutes
Instructions:
Find a comfortable space where you can sit uninterrupted for this practice.
Listen to “Northwestern Medicine Breathing Meditation for GI Health,” led by Dr. Anjali Pandit
Creative Practice
Create your own Zine to illustrate and/or deepen your responses to the journal practice question, “Indigenous water protectors remind us that water has inherent rights and wisdom. How can you shift your thinking to honor water as a relative rather than a resource?”
Explore the Zine “Tending The Soil – Lessons For Organizing” from Ricardo Levins Morales for inspiration.
Then use this template (or make your own) to create a Zine that expresses how you can honor water as a relative.
Journal Practice
Indigenous water protectors remind us that water has inherent rights and wisdom.
How can you shift your thinking to honor water as a relative rather than a resource?
Sing Together
“The Water Song”
by Mary Lou and Dan Smoke
Do Together
Option 1: Make a Mini-Watershed
Make a mini-watershed to learn about how pollutants get into our drinking water!
Option 2: Water, Food, Community
Notice how simple or complex it is to source ingredients to make food from your history, heritage, and/or culture. Why do you think that might be? What does that bring up for you?
Gather those ingredients and make the food. Share it with others.
Take Action
Join Rooted in Our Power: Defending Immigrants Movement Call with the Detention Watch Network on February 4, March 4, or April 1
Sign up for this training: How We Used Trump’s Threats to Recruit More People & Defend Our Communities with Defend and Recuit on Feb 11
Tell Congress: End violation of sensitive locations and protected areas