Water Protectors from across the country unite to speak about the growing movement.
Event hosted by Ashley Williams, Jenya Polozova, and Vina Nguyen
Opening Ceremony:
Shki Bmaadzi (New Beginnings) drum and dance troupe will share Native American cultural dancing and drumming. The performance is presented by Chi-Nations Youth Council. Chi-Nations Youth Council is a Native American youth council created in 2012 as a response to the Idle No More movement in Canada. They have the mission to create a safe space for Native youth with a focus on arts, activism and education. Chi-Nations teaches about the land and provides a narrative, not often heard. The youth have a unique perspective growing up Native in Chicago. They believe their existence and practicing their culture are forms of resistance.
Event Panelists:
Mandaree, ND
Lisa Finley "Accomplishes Everything" DeVille is an enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, also known as Three Affiliated Tribes. Currently, Lisa serves on the Vision West ND Project Consortium and on the MHA Citizens for Change group. She is vice president to Fort Berthold Protectors of Water and Earth Rights (POWER), a board member of the Dakota Resource Council (DRC) and of the Western Organization of Resource Council (WORC). She also serves on the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) in Washington, D.C. Lisa asserts, “The Bakken oil and gas development has brought much environmental and health impacts and has changed our way of life. We must protect our water, land, air that is life.”
Houston, TX
Bryan Parras has been an instrumental part of Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (TEJAS). Bryan has utilized a combination of old media and new media mediums to help educate and advocate for frontline communities fighting for environmental justice. Bryan has also served on the Board of Directors of The Gulf Coast Fund and the Environmental Support Center. Currently, Bryan helped to organize the Gulf Coast Peace and Dignity Run from Louisiana to Houston and continues to co-produce Nuestra Palabra's radio show on KPFT, 90.1.
Anna, IL
Born and raised in a small town in southernmost IL, Tabitha Tripp is an advocate for safe, clean water and opposed to extreme energy extraction that threatens water supplies globally. She is currently on the Board of Southern Illinoisans Against Fracturing Our Environment (SAFE), she is the founder of the Shawnee Forest Sentinels and is a council member of the regional network known as Heartwood. More recently, she also set precedent in the fight to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline by filing as a pro se intervenor on the grounds of a taxpayer and mother of two children who will ultimately inherit the problems created by our fossil fuel addictions.