Sharon Day (activist)

LaFavor had recently discovered that she was HIV-positive and, as both a Native American and lesbian woman, feared that she would be unable to get appropriate medical care.

LaFavor pointed out that there were no health or educational services for Native people related to AIDS and challenged Day, asking "what are you going to do about it?"

"[5] Shortly thereafter, Day began engaging in community outreach to Native Americans centered around the AIDS crisis.

This activity coalesced into the Indigenous People's Task Force, a grassroots organization providing education and services to the Native American community of Minnesota.

In the early years, Day dealt with a many gay and lesbian Native Americans and intravenous drug users who were alienated from the community.

[7] In 1998, Day got involved with a movement to protect Coldwater Spring, a site that is considered sacred by several Native Americans tribes near the Mississippi River in south Minneapolis, Minnesota from a threatened rerouting of a highway.

As Day became involved with protesting some of the development plans for the spring, she was arrested several times for acts of civil disobedience.

"[3] Day assisted in preserving sacred practices at the spring by leading ceremonies and providing traditional offerings.

Water from the Pacific, Atlantic, Arctic-Hudson waterway and the Gulf of Mexico were brought to a convergence point by the walkers and poured into Lake Superior.

Day perceives her life within the continuous span of existence, from ancestors to her great-grandchildren, recognizing that "it is our intention to make sure there is water to nourish our great-great-great grandchildren seven generations into the future.

She argued that preserving the land and traditional ways was more important than entering into a wealth building exercise based on greed, though she thought that renewable energy projects would be better aligned with native practices.

[3] In 2015, Day helped organize a protest at the Minnesota state capitol against oil pipelines bringing fossil fuel from the Canadian tar sands through the northern Midwest.

[12] Following the George Floyd protests in the summer of 2020, Day felt sidelined from the activist energy in the Twin Cities.

The piece was raised at the Minnesota state capitol in October, 2020, before traveling to various art galleries and a permanent home with the Piscataway people of Maryland.