Virtual Soup-Sing Event with Dorene Day & Mike Forcia: Protect Mississippi River, Fight Line 3!

I had the great pleasure of teaching a group of dedicated students at University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in their scholar activism projects in an Environmental Justice class (SUST 3017) in Spring 2021. The team I mentored engaged with Rights of Mississippi River community group to create an in-person and virtual event focused on “Our Connections to Water: Protect Mississippi River, Fight Line 3!” The students’ virtual event features Dorene Day (teacher, advocate, healer, singer) and Mike Forcia (Chairman of the American Indian Movement (AIM)- Twin Cities).

In this event, we are making soup and singing the Nibi (Water) Song. Community members and students are engaged in discourse about their relationships with Water using a soup-sing toolkit by Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light. The event was also educational as we discussed Line 3, Rights of Nature, and Mississippi River. It was an immersive opportunity for reflection. Dorene Day, creator of the Nibi Song, led us in singing, and Mike Forcia, Indigenous activist, spoke about activism and Water! And the event closes, the community is activated with resources to fight Line 3 and for the rights of Mississippi River.