The kick-off event draws together many of the essential themes and concerns of the overarching journey from the headwaters to New Orleans for a public gathering.

The travails of the Anthropocene River Journey will kick-off with an event at the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca from 27 to 29 August 2019. The event draws together many of the essential themes and concerns of the overarching journey from the headwaters to New Orleans for a public gathering.

The Water Bar is organizing a two-day workshop on sites between the Twin Cities and Lake Itasca, focusing on the colonial legacy of the river in the context of the Indigenous and local activism surrounding the Line 3 oil pipeline. The workshop includes a drive up to Lake Itasca with site visits along the way: to a “kinship / utility” flag-making workshop; the place where Line 3 first crosses the Mississippi River; and to meet up with Indigenous organizers and activists, as well as others who are involved in efforts to protect the Mississippi River watershed. The third day of programming continues this conversation to Lake Itasca and the surrounding State Park where researchers and naturalists will teach us about the anthropogenic history of the headwaters region.