In January we entered this short film into the Nat Geo Wild to Inspire Short Film Festival. The requirements were that for the 50th anniversary of Earth Day this year it be about someone or something that inspires people about the environment. We could think of no one better than the one who inspired us when we first started filming the documentary The Sweetwater Seas, Frank Ettawageshik. The film had to be under 3 minutes – yes a very short film! Below is how we described the film.

“WATER IS LIFE”

(Nibi aawan bimaadziwin in Anishinaabemowin)

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, "Water Is Life" profiles Frank Ettawageshik, a former tribal chairman for the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians and current executive director of the United Tribes of Michigan. Using imagery of the Great Lakes that Ettawageshik has spent a lifetime revering and protecting, "Water Is Life" calls viewers to follow his lead and become involved, and it ends with his faith that the youth of today are as willing and able as those who marched in April, 1970, to work tirelessly for the health and sustainability of our environment.