Water Rights: Local Justice, Advocacy, Art and Native Perspective

Water Rights: Local Justice, Advocacy, Art and Native Perspective

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Join AMRA and NACDI as we welcome a panel discussion on water rights, activism and advocacy through Native perspectives. Hear what local Native organizers and organizations are doing to forge the movement on water rights and rethink our relationship to water. There will also be opportunities for questions and ways to get involved locally and nationally.

Water Rights: Local Justice, Advocacy, Art and Native Perspective
Thursday, December 7th, 5:30-7pm / Free & open to the public  

This event is part of programming for Aabijijiwan / Ukeyat yanalleh, a collaborative exhibition reflecting on the Misi-ziibi (Big River, Ojibwe) by artists Karen Goulet (White Earth Ojibwe) and Monique Verdin (Houma), currently on view through January 13, 2024.

Join us for an evening of education, engagement and art moderated by water protector Tara Widner, with panelists Shelley Buck, Gabby Menomin, and Maggie Lorenz. There will be light snacks at 5:30 pm with the discussion starting at 6 pm.

About the Presenters:

Shelley Buck became President of Owámniyomni Okhódayapi in January 2023. Buck is an enrolled member of the Prairie Island Indian Community and served 12 years on the Prairie Island Tribal Council, including six years as president. Prior to being elected to Tribal Council, Buck held other positions serving the Tribe, including enrollment clerk and government relations specialist.

Buck has a Bachelor of Science in business accounting from Indiana University and a Masters of Arts in sports management from Concordia University. She recently finished a second Masters of Jurisprudence in Tribal Indian law from the University of Tulsa. Buck currently serves on the boards of the Minnesota Wild Foundations, Great River Passage Conservancy, and Wakan Tipi Awanyankapi in St. Paul. She also held the position of Alternate Regional VP for the National Congress of American Indians.

Maggie Lorenz (Pabaksawiŋ) is Dakota and Anishinaabe. She is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe and descends from Spirit Lake Dakota Nation. She has spent her career in the fields of education, cultural resiliency and healing, and environmental justice. Maggie is the Executive Director of Wakan Tipi Awanyankapi & the Wakan Tipi Center Director.

Gabby Menomin is an enrolled member of the Forest County Potawatomi Community (bullhead clan) of northern Wisconsin. With a master’s degree in Tribal Natural Resource Management, Gabby is focused on plant relatives and how climate change is impacting them. She is passionate about the environment and looking at how to center Indigenous voices, values, and knowledge in the stewardship of the land.

Tara Widner is an Anishinaabekwe Water Protector and ricer, Pembina Band Ojibwe (White Earth). A traveler from the Midwest, currently residing a mile from the banks of the Misi-ziibi in the Dakota homelands on what is now called Minneapolis. Widner is a current cohort member of All My Relations Arts’ Native Authors Program.

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