Nibi Bimadiziwin in Anishinaabemowin. Mni Wiconi in Lakhotiyapi. Water Is Life.
This inaugural Water Is Life Festival in Marquette, Michigan is a Northern Michigan University winter semester compliment to the annual summer Water Is Life Festival held in Petosky, Michigan founded by Jannan Cornstalk of Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians. The festival for water provides opportunities for networking, incredible performances by musicians, dancers, and singers, and an opportunity to celebrate those who provide protection for our vital relationship with water. Our hope is that Marquette can provide water protectors with a show of supportive community through annual celebration of and consistent engagement with the importance of clean water, healthy ecosystems, and championing Indigenous ways of cherishing water as a relative.
Water Is Life Festival Event Poster
Activities
News Coverage
Sarah Mittlefehldt talks about the upcoming water festival for Earth week.
Friday was the first-ever Water is Life Festival in Marquette.
Performances
The Water Remembers is an original, multidisciplinary performance by The Sister Tour that weaves together spoken word, soundscape, movement, and ancestral memory to explore Black women's sacred connection to water. Rooted in ritual and resistance, the piece channels stories of survival from before the trauma of the Middle Passage to the modern-day water crisis in Flint, Michigan. Through rhythm, breath, and testimony, The Water Remembers honors water as both witness and healer. This performance invites viewers into a space of remembrance, reclamation, and collective care.
Aquanima: The Movements of Water Marquette Fringe collaborated with the Water is Life Festival presented by NMU's Center for Native American Studies in April, 2025 to bring a collaborative performance to this community event. Through dance, movement, and song, the show brought audience members through the transformative cycles of water, building connection with the powerful element that brings us life.
SUPAMAN live at Water Is Life Festival at NMU in Marquette, Michigan April 25, 2025 " There ain’t nothing like hip hop music"
SUPAMAN freestyle at Water Is Life Festival NMU Marquette, MI 2025