PROTECTING CLEAN WATER FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS
By Kelly Applegate, Commissioner of Natural Resources
Clean water is deeply linked with so many parts of Ojibwe culture. The desire to protect clean water is central to the Band’s work with Water Over Nickel, which raises awareness about the risks posed by the nearby proposed Tamarack nickel mine.
Our first Water Over Nickel video filmed in the summer of 2023, focused on the connection between clean water and Manoomin (wild rice). The video helped Minnesotans understand why they should be informed and concerned about the development of a nickel mine. It was shared across advertisements on social media and at film festivals throughout the Midwest; it even won a Regional Emmy. Wild rice is only the beginning, and that’s why we decided to create the second chapter of our visual story about the importance of clean water.
On March 18, members of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Department of Natural Resources, the Water Over Nickel team, including Beehive Strategic Communications and 515 Productions, Band community members, and local students gathered at the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe traditional sugar bush camp near the powwow grounds on the shores of the lake.
The upcoming video focuses on protecting clean water for future generations. We used the maple sugar tapping process to illustrate water’s relationship to Ojibwe culture, tapping traditions, and the importance of protecting these practices and the environment.
Mille Lacs Band Elder Joe Nayquonabe Sr. talked about the need to keep Ojibwe culture alive and the importance of caring for each other. Kelly Applegate, Commissioner of Natural Re sources at the Mille Lacs Band, highlighted the ways pollution f lows from one watershed to another. Todd Moilanen, Cultural Resources Director at the Department of Naturals Resources, discussed the tapping process and how it has evolved over generations. Chief Executive Virgil Wind shared his vision for 2025 as "The Year of the Child" and why protecting clean water and the environment is critical to setting youth up for success. As he shared, “We don’t inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.”
The video captures the younger generation’s perspective by inviting several visiting school groups from nearby Ojibwe communities to participate in the tapping process and share more about why these traditions matter. Students learned how to identify a maple tree and how trees produce sap through their roots. They also had hands-on experience tapping trees and collecting (and sampling!) sap.
The new Water Over Nickel video will be finalized in Spring 2025 and will be shared with Band members and across Water Mille Lacs Band Elder Joe Nayquonabe Sr. is interviewed by the 515 Productions team. Submitted photo. Over Nickel’s channels, including waterovernickel.com and on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. We look forward to sharing this exciting next chapter.
