We Speak for the Water

Indigenous water protectors are set to host the 6th annual Water Is Life Festival in Petoskey

By Ren Brabenec | Aug. 17, 2024

One need only glance at a map to understand Michigan’s unique connection to water. The state’s legal boundaries extend far into Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior, giving the Great Lakes State 40,000 square miles of water, 40 percent of the state’s total “land” area. We’re home to 20 percent of Earth’s total freshwater, and the state is graced with 3,288 miles of shoreline, more than anywhere else in North America.

However, Indigenous water protectors have become concerned that the daily presence of water in our lives may lend itself to taking the resource for granted. And given the contemporary threats our waters face from pollution, overuse, invasive species, and habitat destruction, the stakes are high.

Water + Women

“The Water Is Life Festival is an annual event that celebrates our connection to the water and builds power through community so we can work towards living in a holistic way with the water and protect it from those who seek to exploit or endanger it.”

Jannan Cornstalk reads this statement aloud from the mission of the Water Is Life Festival, introducing us to the event’s ethos. Cornstalk is the director and founder of the festival, which is about to celebrate its 6th annual event on Aug. 31 at 200 Wachtel Ave in Petoskey.

To Cornstalk, a citizen of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, water protection is more than just the necessary work we all must do to ensure the planet’s most critical resource is preserved for generations to come.

“This is also a deeply spiritual and functional responsibility,” says Cornstalk. “Indigenous women are at the heart of this, because, traditionally, Indigenous women are protectors of water.”

Cornstalk speaks to a tradition that spans generations, going back long before European colonization of the Americas to a time when Indigenous women collected water for their families and communities while also preserving and protecting water sources. Water protection might look different today, but the message is the same: Water is life.

A Path to Protection

Cornstalk founded the Water Is Life Festival in 2019 because she believed bringing people together to celebrate and learn about our waterways was the best way to fulfill her mission as a water protector. To Cornstalk, it’s about growing the movement and breaking away from a “take it for granted” mindset.

“The festival gives us a chance to speak to the people, to empower them to do the good work that needs to be done around the land and the water,” says Cornstalk. “The festival creates human connections, empowers the community, and informs interested participants on the importance of protecting water and being good custodians of the blessing that is our water.”

Water protectors don’t have the lobbyists, cash capital, and political influence that oil corporations or mining interests do. But they have their voices, and the more voices, the better.

The ripple effects continue outward from Petoskey. For example, Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) recently slowed and potentially halted a controversial Tilden Mine expansion proposal. The proposal centered around an iron ore mine expansion in a delicate wetlands ecosystem in the Upper Peninsula. According to the Citizens for Superior organizing group, “This is a big win for the power of public participation. Cleveland Cliffs withdrew its application to fill 77.9 acres of wetlands and 4,661 linear feet of stream with mine waste after EGLE highlighted unresolved issues with the application, including tribal coordination and cumulative impacts on the watershed.”

According to Citizens for Superior, EGLE only pressured Cleveland Cliffs to withdraw the permit because of the voices of water protectors across Michigan informing EGLE and the EPA of the threats such an expansion would pose to nearby wetlands.

That story is a proof of concept to bolster Cornstalk’s theory. She believes the voices of water protectors—strong, loud, and united—can be more influential than exploitative interests and the dollars they wave. And there’s no better time to speak up than now.

“Water is a unique element unlike any other on Earth or in our universe,” says Cornstalk. “Without it we cannot exist. It is our relative.”

This Year’s Festival

Raising first hundreds, then thousands, and then millions of voices in unison for water protection is the theme of the Water Is Life Festival, and this year’s event is anticipated to be the biggest yet.

“We’ll talk about all the different ways water connects us,” says Cornstalk. “We’ll help raise awareness and educate people by bringing them together at the festival. We’ll help people have an experience that connects them to the water. Then they’ll go back to their communities and share that experience with their loved ones. Our hope is that the festival inspires new generations of water protectors to return to their communities and carry on the good work of water protection.”

This year’s event will take place from noon to 9pm on Saturday, August 31, featuring vendors and food trucks. Live entertainment is also on the agenda, with scheduled musicians including headliners Patty PerShayla & The Accidentals, Alina Morr & Urban Tropical, Dave Kroon, Pete Kehoes, Seth Bernard, and Ruby John.

Attendees are encouraged to register before the festival for a chance to win door prizes. Cornstalk and other organizers will also host a Friday Night Feast/Potluck in Wolverine the evening before the festival, with camping options available for the weekend at Lost Tamarack Lodge. They ask attendees to bring their own water bottles, plates, and silverware to help the festival reduce its carbon footprint.

Visit the festival’s website at waterislifefestival.org for more information or to register.