Mother Water: Maladamatjaute was a Woman is my way of reclaiming and reframing the powerful figure of Mami Wata through personal, historical, and spiritual lenses. The story begins with Maladamatjaute, a woman from Southeast Asia exhibited in a human zoo in Germany in the 1880s, whose image, a snake charmer captured in postcards, traveled to West Africa and transformed into Mami Wata, a water deity. Over time, her image circulated commercially and, in some Christian communities, became demonized. Yet the Mami Wata I grew up with, Santa Marta la Dominadora, embodies Afro-feminist power, resistance, and the ability to subvert imposed hierarchies. Through this work, I invite viewers to feel her strength, confront the limitations of race and colonial ideology, and recognize our shared humanity. Maladamatjaute was more than a woman in a human zoo, she was a symbol of feminine power, fluidity, and resilience that transcends the colonial gaze.