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The Poetics and Politics of
Water is a series of readings

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that Professor
Ofelia Zepeda and I

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planned and organized
for this spring,

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in conjunction with
a graduate class.

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The series explores
how water works

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in contemporary American
Indian writing, how

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sacred essence contends
with commodification,

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how an element that formed the
original environment for all

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of us now sustains us via
taps, and plastic bottles,

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and a 336 mile uphill climb
from the Colorado River.

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And, yes, sometimes it rains.

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Still.

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The writers reading
in this series

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are custodians and stewards
of indigenous conceptions

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of water.

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And through their
words, their creativity,

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they can help us to
think more deeply

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about an element in our lives
that we can't do without.

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We have many sponsors.

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And I'm going to thank
them very briefly.

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We thank them for the
time they've given us,

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the space they've
given us, the labor,

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and for many other resources.

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American Indian Studies,
the Department of English,

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the University of
Arizona Poetry Center,

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and the American Indian
Language Development Institute,

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the Institute of
the Environment,

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the Southwest
Center, the College

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of Social and
Behavioral Sciences,

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the Confluence Center--

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thanks to you all.

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And thanks to our
students and our class,

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we very much appreciate
your engagement, your ideas

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and your hard work.

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Upcoming, as Tyler said, we have
Ofelia speaking on March 12.

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Natalie Diaz will read in
our series on April 2nd.

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And I'm very pleased to be
able to announce that we've

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added another event
in this series, that

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will have on Wednesday,
April 15, at 7:00.

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Working with Robert Hershey,
from the Indigenous Law

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program in our law school,
and Dr. Ofelia Zepeda,

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we've been able to
arrange a panel--

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a roundtable discussion on
American Indian water issues.

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So the presenters will be--

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they're real luminaries
in this field--

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Jim Enote, Jim Enote from
Zuni Pueblo, director

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of the museum there,
Charles Wilkinson,

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who's an endowed professor at
the University of Colorado,

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Boulder, and James Anaya, who
is our colleague here in the law

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school at the University,
and an international expert

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in human rights
and related issues.

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Robert Hershey will
serve as the moderator.

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April 15, Wednesday
night, 7:00 PM.

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Now my colleague and friend,
Regents' Professor Ofelia

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Zepeda, will
introduce our speaker.