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MARQUETTE – As part of Northern Michigan University’s Anderton’s Earth Week, the Center for Native American Studies will be hosting the Water is Life Festival at NMU, a celebration of water and those who work to protect it.

“This first year Water Is Life Festival in Marquette, Michigan is a Northern Michigan University winter semester complement to the annual summer Water Is Life Festival held in Petosky, Michigan,” said Tyler Dettloff, director of the Center for Native American Studies.

“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. The 2025 inaugural Water Is Life Festival of Marquette will ripple into an annual community and campus celebration of our abundant and most important relative, water of Lake Superior (Gichigami), our community waterways, wetlands, swamps, and marshes.”

“The phrase “Water Is Life” to me means that there are two things we all share: water and life,” said Dettloff. “With the phrase “Water Is Life,” we are reminded that we are connected to each other and more than human beings by the most important relative necessary for life: water.”

The day-long festival will feature a cultural walk from the Superior Dome to the Dead River, held by the City of Marquette’s Arts & Culture Office, as well as a water protector panel.

“This intersectional panel will celebrate how water is protected, emphasize the importance of water in our Great Lakes region, and invite audience members to consider how Indigenous ways of being help maintain stewardship of our shared waters,” said Dettloff.

Citizens for a Safe and Clean Lake Superior will be participating in Earth Week tabling on Friday as part of the Festival and will be hosting an origami fish-folding station in an effort to break a world record and shut down Line 5, the oil pipeline which runs through the Upper Penninsula and the Straits of Mackinac.

“Line 5 poses imminent danger of oil pollution to multiple Great Lakes, from its snaking path through the Bad River watershed and reservation, to the 70-year-old stretch of pipeline sitting at the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac,” said Jane Fitkin, director of Citizens for a Safe and Clean Lake Superior.

“Not only that, but thoughts of building a tunnel would perpetuate Michigan’s reliance on fossil fuels, and the plan’s economic feasibility is shaky at best. We’ll be folding fish to represent our shared commitment to protecting the Great Lakes and all the lifeforms which rely on it.”

Later in the day there will be an interactive canoe painting, as well as an exhibition of NMU student and faculty art. The Festival will close out with a series of performances put on by The Sister Tour, Marquette Fringe, and SUPAMAN, a Native American Hip-Hop artist.

“The headlining act SUPAMAN is an incredible Hip-Hop artist who fuses Native American drumming, singing, fancy dancing, and more into his performance–do not miss this one,” said Dettloff. “Additionally, this community’s own performance collective Marquette Fringe developed an original performance art piece titled “Aquamina: The Movements of Water.” Come see how our community comes together to celebrate 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,” said Dettloff.

Those seeking more information about the Water is Life Festival can find it on the Center for Native American Studies website.

Annie Lippert can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 542. Her email address is alippert@miningjournal.net.