Project Overview: Purpose and Goals

In alignment with the goals of the Waking Women’s Healing Institute, we have collaborated on a connected set of media frameworks which work to uplift the stories and voices of water protectors, survivors of colonial and gender-based violence, and families of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2 Spirit people. Over the course of Spring 2022, our team worked to combine personal testimonies, written messages, art, images, videos, sound recordings, quotes, and geographic storytelling into story collections about issues surrounding MMIW and the protection of land, water, and people. Interactive maps are used to connect our stories, issues, and solutions to the land as well. The product is a live online library which is a constantly growing collection of interactive Story Maps to uplift voices and ignite healing. We hope to collect stories of indigenous survivors, MMIW Family members, water protectors, and acts of healing and justice from around the Great Lakes. We also hope the library will be built for collaboration with members of the community who may wish to design and contribute their own story maps.