Tuhaymani'chi Pal Waniqa

Nils Cowan and Gina Milanovich

As a collaboration between communities and creative storytellers, this film represents months of collective effort built on many centuries of work by the Indigenous Ancestors of the region now known as Southern California. When we first learned of the illegal efforts to mine the water underneath the Mojave Desert, we were more dismayed than surprised. But those feelings soon turned to creative energy as we witnessed the galvanizing force this threat was having among Indigenous Peoples’ of the area. With both of us deeply motivated to tell stories about underrepresented viewpoints that can have a real impact on environmental issues, we quickly bonded over an approach that would weave together two storylines: An investigative look at the Cadiz water mining project; and the experiences of a father and daughter reconnecting with their traditional homelands and practices. We have been blessed many times over by the relationships and memories made while co-creating this story, and can only hope that by bringing it to the Indigenous communities of the Mojave and to international audiences, we can make a difference in protecting sacred lands and waters everywhere.

‘Tuhaymani’chi Pal Waniqua’ is the first in an upcoming series of films created as part of the Wayfinders Circle, an Indigenous-led program of global exchange and dreaming among many of the world’s most critical land guardians.