The North Star Chapter hosted another showing of Bad River Thursday July 24 at the Trylon Cinema in Minneapolis.
We were so delighted to have our Chapter Director Margaret Levin kick off the event and also introduce two guest speakers: Nibi Ogichidaa Ikwe, Water Warrior Woman, and Rocky Erickson.
Nibi Ogichidaa Ikwe, Water Warrior Woman, is a tribal member of Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe. She grew up learning great respect for Lake Superior and all water. She was taught from a young age that it is our honorable duty to look out for the next seven generations. Nibi Ogichidaa Ikwe currently serves as the Chairwoman of Minnesota Parks & Trails Legacy Advisory and Chairwoman of Minnesota Governor's Council on Lake Superior Coastal Zone. She also works as an Independent Contractor for Wildrice and Forestry at Prairie Island Indian Community. She is forever grateful and thankful for everybody that is working hard to protect and preserve water for future generations. She wants to share Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) as an important resource.
Rocky Erickson is a tribal member of the Prairie Island Indian Community, a sovereign nation of Dakota people. He currently serves as the Brave of the Prairie Island. Rocky is 15 years old and attends Math and Science Academy in Woodbury, where he has been on the honor roll for 8 consecutive semesters. He just returned from Belize, where he studied water conservation with local indigenous tribes. He is looking forward to continuing his leadership journey by protecting water for all future generations.
Together, Margaret, Nibi Ogichidaa Ikwe and Rocky all helped us ground ourselves before watching the epic journey of the Bad River band as a major force in advocating for treaty rights to be advocated and for protecting water, especially the Great Lakes. You can learn more about the film here: https://www.badriverfilm.com.
Special gratitude to the Beyond Oil team chairs and volunteers leaders, especially Marcy Lessler. If you are interested in water protection, please join the monthly meetings.