EVENTS
Wednesday, October 7th, 2026, 10am CT
Zoom Community Meeting
The Rights of Nature and Protecting Minnesota's Waters
by Emily Levang
As communities across Northern Minnesota confront the threat of high sulfide mining, how could the Rights of Nature movement expand our approach to water protection? This presentation introduces Rights of Nature, which begins with Indigenous worldviews in which ecosystems, species, and bodies of water are alive, and inherently have the right to exist, thrive and regenerate. Drawing on her work with Waankam: People for the Estuary in Duluth, MN, Emily shares how this community-led initiative is working towards the recognition of rights for Gitchigami-ziibi, (the St. Louis River Estuary,) which is downstream from a proposed copper mine, and is the largest US tributary to Lake Superior. This presentation will explore Rights of Nature efforts in response to mining and extraction around the world, and explore possibilities for a growing Rights of Nature movement in Minnesota.
Emily Levang is a writer exploring water, relationships, and the Rights of Nature movement. She is the Creative Program Director for Waankam: People for the Estuary, a community-led initiative working towards recognition of the rights of the St. Louis River Estuary in Duluth, Minnesota. Her writing has appeared in publications including Earth Island Journal, Open Rivers, and MN Artists
Register for the meeting to receive the Zoom link at https://tamarackwateralliance.org/php/eventreg.php?eid=16 or Contact Us.