A night of poetry, projection, and music illuminates a future where both rivers and people are liberated, where we celebrate wildness, and where we practice reciprocal relationships between all bodies of water, including one another’s.

Returning the River tells the story of a daughter born into a time of walls whose life is intrinsically linked to the life of a paddlefish. Participants will take in visual projections on the water by Mike Hoyt, a soundscape composed by Dameun Strange and a story written by Molly Van Avery and narrated from a boat in the Lock chamber and sung by Ritika Ganguly from above. Come listen and sing along. Hold water drawn up from below, imbue it with blessings for descendants, and then pour it back into the river to make its way towards liberation.

Presented as part of Illuminate the Lock by Northern Lights.mn, Mississippi Park Connection, the National Park Service with support from St. Anthony Falls Heritage Board and the US Army Corps of Engineers.