I bring this offering to the edge of the water in song. not in grief.
Ash from the stories they attempted to burn, a muttered name, and a braid of sweetgrass.
Water is life, says Mni Wiconi, yet they paved over prayers with selfishness and steel veins.
She flows, nevertheless.
My aunt's eyes, the rough hands of the seed keepers, and the thunder of the young ones who rise like storms with cedar in their hair and painted faces all reflect her.
We dance barefoot on hallowed ground, with every drumbeat representing the heartbeat of the forgotten and every step representing a promise.
They forgot we were roots and attempted to bury us.
This country remembers us.
She grieves and recovers alongside us.
She tells us to pay attention to the stories written in stone and water, to the quiet before the song.
Our ofrenda is a promise, a cry, a celebration, and a rekindled ember of power to the Two-Spirit kin, to warriors with cradleboards strapped to their backs, to grandmothers with feathers in their hair.
This poem, “Water Is Life,” is an imaginative reaction based on the topics I covered in my research paper, Indigenous Women, Land, and Justice. Indigenous and Latinx cultures have long honored ancestors by using the Spanish word “ofrenda,” which means “offering.” In this instance, it turns into a symbolic gesture toward the land, the river, and Indigenous women, whose struggle keeps the ecosystem and culture alive.
The poem blends the sanctity of the nature, especially water, with Indigenous feminist ideas. The movement at Standing Rock, where the slogan “Mni Wiconi” (Water is Life) became a rallying cry, served as its inspiration. Through colonial attempts at erasure, the offering a braid of sweetgrass and ashes mentioned in the first lyric represents both survival and respect.
Indigenous feminism’s holistic perspective is reflected in the poem’s depictions of generational wisdom, matriarchal power, and Two-Spirit inclusivity. The poem depicts ecology and gender justice or cultural survival as intertwined rather than distinct. In addition to being political, the opposition is ritualistic, spiritual, and firmly anchored in kinship and land ties.
The Ofrenda’s focus on the leadership of Indigenous women and Two-Spirit people is directly referenced in the final line. Additionally, it discusses sovereignty not only as a legal status but also as a form of cultural, spiritual, and bodily autonomy. The poem turns into its own kind of ofrenda, a spoken ritual intended to pay tribute to people who defend the land and water and to imagine a future characterized by compassion, mutual respect, and fortitude.
