Listed here are films about Indigenous peoples from various parts of the world and their struggle to preserve their sacred sites and ceremonies.
In addition to this sampling, you can view a YouTube playlist of Indigenous Traditions and Ecology videos here.
As part of the open programming at Congress 2023, the Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change (EUC) hosted a keynote panel titled “Indigenous Knowing and Climate Futures.” Candis Callison and Deborah McGregor, two distinguished Indigenous researchers and communicators, spoke about how Indigenous knowledges can make the threat of climate change and strategies of confronting it matter to broader publics. Award-winning author and activist Naomi Klein provided a response. Candis Callison is the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous journalism, media, and public discourse and an Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia, jointly appointed in the School of Journalism, Writing, and Media and the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies. Deborah B. McGregor is an associate professor and the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Environmental Justice at Osgoode Hall Law School, cross-appointed with the Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change at York University. Naomi Klein is Co-Director of the Centre for Climate Justice, and Associate Professor of Climate Justice at the University of British Columbia. This event took place on 5/31/2023.
The session ‘Indigenous peoples, climate change and the role of decent work for a just and peaceful transition’ was organized in partnership with Indigenous Peoples Major Group for Sustainable Development, International Labour Organization and Right Energy Partnership with Indigenous Peoples at the 2022 Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development (#SthlmForum) held on the theme ‘From a Human Security Crisis Towards an Environment of Peace.' This session focuses on the interlinkages between indigenous peoples’ rights, climate action, the world of work, human security, and peace. It provides insights from the perspectives of indigenous peoples and government officials. The discussion aims to identify actions for increasing policy coherence and building innovative partnerships that (a) address the risks faced by indigenous peoples from the impacts of climate change; and (b) seek contributions from indigenous women and men to advance climate mitigation and adaptation efforts.
Moderator: Manuela Tomei, Director, Conditions of Work and Equality Department, ILO; Speakers: Oscar Pérez Ramirez, Vice Minister of Sustainable Development, Ministry of Energy and Mining, Guatemala; Lucy Mulenkei, Vice president, International Indigenous Women’s Forum; Ivan Zambrana-Flores, Minister Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Bolivia to the United Nations in New York; Joan Carling, Executive Director of the Right Energy Partnership with Indigenous Peoples. This event took place on 06/23/2022.
Indigenous communities have looked after their ancestral forests for millennia, cultivating immense amounts of knowledge on how to protect, nourish and heal these vital environments. Today, 470 million Indigenous people care for and manage 80 percent of the world's biodiversity – yet their legal rights to these lands are inexplicit and subject to exploitation by illegal loggers, miners and companies. Human rights lawyer Nonette Royo describes how her team at the Tenure Facility, an organization that provides legal assistance to Indigenous people by taking their land rights battles to court, will help these communities secure and defend 50 million hectares of forests over the next five years. Watch more: https://go.ted.com/nonetteroyo. This talk was recorded on April 2022.
The risks posed by climate change, and in particular climate’s impact on marginalized communities, have further exposed the linkages between climate change, environmental degradation, racism, and social injustice. Often missing from conversations focused on these injustices, however, is an awareness of the agency and knowledge that Indigenous communities bring to climate response. As the global community ramps up efforts to address climate change, incorporating Indigenous knowledge into those efforts could serve to inform scientific best practices for climate resilience and boost multi-stakeholder engagement at local, regional, and national levels. How can Indigenous knowledge help shape efforts to address climate change? What kinds of partnerships can ensure that Indigenous knowledge is incorporated into decision-making at various levels (i.e., from the local to national and international)? Join us for a discussion with leaders who are working to incorporate Indigenous knowledge into climate decision-making.
Moderator: Lauren Risi, Program Director of the Environmental Change and Security Program at the Wilson Center. Panelists: Cat Brigham, Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in northeast Oregon; Sineia do Vale, Coordinator of the Environmental Division of the Indigenous Council of Roraima and a member of the Climate Change Committee of the Coalition of Indigenous Peoples in Brazil; Dalee Sambo Dorough, International Chair of the Inuit Curcumpolar Council.
This event was recorded on November 3, 2021.
Squamish Nation Councillor and community leader Khelsilem joins Am Johal on this first episode of Below the Radar’s Climate Justice & Inequality series. In this episode, they discuss the climate crisis as a result of the colonial project, how climate change hits hardest for those already at a disadvantage, and the spaces where colonialism has existed within climate movements. Khelsilem speaks to his critique of fossil fuel infrastructure, the false narrative of individual responsibility, and the role governments play in worsening the crisis through policy decisions that favour oil and gas. We also hear about innovative affordable housing projects, such as Squamish Nation’s Sen̓áḵw Development, and how to build climate-friendly design into new housing models. This podcast was released August 31, 2021. Follow link and scroll down the page to listen to podcast.
The Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States (SCIP) hosts a virtual, fully remote oversight hearing titled, “Environmental Justice in Indigenous Communities.” Witnesses who testify on environmental justice efforts in their communities include the Honorable Ira Taken Alive of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of Fort Yates, ND; the Honorable Melvin J. Baker of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe of Ignacio, CO; and Mr. Herb Lee, Jr., president and CEO of the Pacific American Foundation in Kaneohe, HI. This event was streamed live on May 13, 2021.
Join us for a conversation with Sámi activist and writer Petra Laiti (Mihku Ilmára Mika Petra). The talk was facilitated by Henriette Friis and Eva Duran Sánchez from Feminist Futures Helsinki.
Indigenous people have been marginalized by colonialism for centuries. In the era of the climate crisis, the general public has become increasingly aware that indigenous people play a key role in upholding eco-systems in their traditional lands. Still, the climate movement is not exempt from marginalizing indigenous voices. How can indigenous people be brought to the forefront of the climate debate? How can we recognize when we are trying to do good, but end up doing harm instead? Petra Laiti has a MSc in Organizational Leadership from the department of Economics and Business Administration at Hanken School of Economics. She has been a vocal figure amongst Sámi activists since 2016, and has helped create awareness around Indigenous land rights, cultural appropriation, and ethical tourism. Petra served as the chairwoman of the Sámi Youth association in Finland from 2017-2020. She is also part of the Ellos Deatnu! (Long Live Deatnu!) activist group. Since 2019, Petra has worked as a political assistant in the Finnish parliament. This is event was part of the public series hosted by Feminist Futures Helsinki in connection with the Feminist Futures Helsinki hackathon 2021 in May 2021. To read more about Feminist Futures Helsinki visit https://feministfutureshelsinki.org
This week's episode of Spotlights is the second part of a two-part interview with Sandy Bigtree (Indigenous Values Initiative). She discusses more about her work with the Indigenous Values Initiative, and she talks about the ongoing impacts of the 1493 Doctrine of Discovery, which provided justification for Christian Europeans to explore and colonize places outside of Europe. You can find more information about the Indigenous Values Initiative on their website. More information about indigenous religions and ecology can be found here. This episode was posted 05/03/2021.
This talk was part of the Bradford Seminar at the Princeton University, Center for Policy Research on Energy and the Environment. Deborah McGregor, Anishinabe, Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair: Indigenous Environmental Justice. Osgoode Hall Law School and Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University. Professor McGregor’s research has focused on Indigenous knowledge systems and their various applications in diverse contexts including environmental and water governance, environmental justice, health and environment, climate change and Indigenous legal traditions. Professor McGregor remains actively involved in a variety of Indigenous communities, serving as an advisor and continuing to engage in community-based research and initiatives. Professor McGregor has been at the forefront of Indigenous environmental justice and Indigenous research theory and practice. Her work has been shared through the IEJ project website https://iejproject.info.yorku.ca/ and UKRI International Collaboration on Indigenous research https://www.indigenous.ncrm.ac.uk. This event was streamed live on Apr 26, 2021.
This week's episode of Spotlights, features Sandy Bigtree (Bear Clan), a citizen of the Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne. She discusses her work as a founding board member of the Indigenous Values Initiative, which fosters collaboration between the academic community and the Haudenosaunee to promote the message of peace that was brought to Onondaga Lake thousands of years ago. This is the first part of a two-part interview. You can find more information about the Indigenous Values Initiative on their website: https://indigenousvalues.org/.
This episode was posted on 04/26/2021.
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This discussion happened at the 5th Annual Religion & Ecology Summit hosted by the Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. This panel took place on March 19, 2021.
This week’s episode of the Forum on Religion and Ecology podcast features Tyler M. Tully, a doctoral candidate in religious studies and the Arthur Peacocke Graduate Scholar in Science and Religion at the University of Oxford. He talks about his work at the intersection of Indigenous religion, critical race theory, traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), secularism, and (post)humanism. He also discusses his dissertation, “Critical Materialisms: Power, Place, and Personhood in White and Black 'Red' Spaces.” Learn more about Tyler's work here. You can find more information about Indigenous traditions on the Forum website. This episode was posted on 12/28/2020.
Dina Gilio-Whitaker, author of “As Long As the Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock”, confronts not only the United States' violations of indigenous self-determination but also the mainstream environmental movement's legacy of contributing to those violations. This event was recorded 9/18/2020.
The second installment of our three-part Advocacy & Water Protection in Native California training and certificate program will focus on water rights advocacy as it relates to culture, environmental justice, and community. The concept, “Water is Life” is a fundamental tenet of water rights advocacy and traditional ecological knowledge; this theme carries throughout the module. The panels in this series will explore grassroots movements, indigenous environmental justice, art, food sovereignty, culture, and community resilience as they relate to water justice in different watersheds. Moderator: Brittani Orona - UC Davis Native American Studies. Speakers: Tia Oros Peters (Zuni) - Seventh Generation Fund; Morning Star Gali (Pit River) - Save California Salmon.
This conversation was recorded on July 3rd, 2020.
As part of World UNITY Week and in observance of the International Day for the Conservation of Tropical Forests, the Parliament of the World's Religions partnered with the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative (IRI) and the Jane Goodall Institute to host a special program, highlighting the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative. The Interfaith Rainforest Initiative works globally and in major rainforest countries on the mobilization of faith-based leadership, advocacy and on-the-ground action to protect rainforests. It works in Brazil, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia and Peru, which together contain more than 70% of the world’s remaining tropical forests. Work in each country is focused on education and training, program development, communications and public outreach, faith-based mobilization, political advocacy and connecting religious leaders with allies from across sectors to multiply their collective impact. With Parliament Keynote and Jane Goodall Institute Founder, Jane Goodall; Senior Advisor, Forests & Climate, UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Charles Ian McNeill; Parliament Chair, Audrey Kitagawa; and Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz. Enjoy the complete livestream, originally streamed on Friday, June 26th, 2020.
Indigenous climate justice activist Clayton Thomas-Müller embarks on an intimate storytelling journey, overcoming trauma, addiction, and incarceration to become a leader for his people and the planet.
This 16-year-old Indigenous activist is fighting for environmental justice for her community, which sits just a mile away from one of the nation’s largest coal plants. Meet Mikayla Johnson, a 16-year-old indigenous activist and member of the Diné Tribe in Black Mesa, AZ. Mikayla Johnson's Native community sits approximately 1 mile from the Navajo Generating Station, one of the nation's largest coal plants. Mikayla, who grew up without running water or electricity, has been persistent in her water conservation efforts. Additionally, her and her mother Nicole Horseherder are advocating for 100% renewable energy in their community.
'Indigenous peoples have been on the front lines of environmental racism for decades’ — Indigenous rights lawyer and activist Sherri Mitchell explains why all Americans should care about environmental justice and Indigenous issues. Mitchell was born & raised in the Penobscot Nation, a federally-recognized native tribe in Maine, where she witnessed the impacts of the climate crisis 2020 firsthand. “Environmental justice is a term that is thrown around quite frequently. And I think that a lot of people have this idea that it's this separate component that people need to be working on. But for us, environmental justice is really about harmonized relationship, what we call Psilde N’dilnabamuk. It's about living in kinship with the rest of creation, with all life. So we understand that we have a certain responsibility to honor the right, that all other living beings have to continue to exist, uninhibited, unmolested in their natural environment, just as we do in ours.”
To tackle a problem as large as climate change, we need both science and Indigenous wisdom, says environmental activist Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim. In this engaging talk, she shares how her nomadic community in Chad is working closely with scientists to restore endangered ecosystems – and offers lessons on how to create more resilient communities. This talk was recorded on December 6, 2019 at TEDWomen 2019.
Dr. Ingrid Waldron focuses on her journey leading the Environmental Noxiousness, Racial Inequities and Community Health Project and the partners she has engaged along the way to address environmental racism in Nova Scotia through multi-disciplinary, intersectoral and intersectional approaches. Dr. Ingrid Waldron, is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health at Dalhousie University, the Director of the Environmental Noxiousness, Racial Inequities & Community Health Project (The ENRICH Project), and the Team Lead for the Health of People of African Descent Research Cluster at the Healthy Populations Institute at Dalhousie University. Ingrid’s scholarship is driven by a long-standing interest in looking at the many ways in which spaces and places are organized by structures of colonialism and gendered racial capitalism. The 2019 documentary There’s Something in the Water is based on Dr. Waldron’s book and was co-produced by Waldron, Ellen Page, and Ian Daniel. This independent TEDx event was sponsored by Alexa McDonough Institute for Women, Gender and Social Justice at Mount Saint Vincent University and took place on 12/5/2019.
“Real climate solutions are rooted in a return to the land - a return to and of the land - and are rooted in decolonization,” says Eriel Deranger, Executive Director of Indigenous Climate Action (ICA) and member of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation. ICA is a network of Indigenous peoples framing the ideas and actions regarding climate change in traditional knowledge and community-based solutions. These grassroots actions, Eriel explains, will support the transition to renewable energy while also ensuring social and environmental justice by maintaining and strengthening Indigenous peoples’ connections to language, land and culture.
The 2019 Katherine A.H. Graham Lecture on Indigenous Policy featured Deborah McGregor, Associate Professor at York University & Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Environmental Justice. The event was held on Monday, June 10, 2019.
The Global Environmental Justice Documentaries collection was first released in April 2019. This project is a curated compilation of documentaries selected by faculty who wrote the accompanying teacher's guides. The subscriptions, which support the project, are especially low, thanks to underwriting provided by the Luce Foundation.
Pete Westover is the co-founder of Conservation Works. This talk focuses on the current indigenous struggles for land in New England and eastern Canada, focusing on the Penobscot, Nipmuc, Mashpee Wampanoag, Chappaquiddick Wampanoag, and Cree. Pete Westover discussed the work of groups like Conservation Law Foundation, Arise for Social Justice, and Climate Action Now in partnership with Environmental Justice communities on land, energy and climate issues. Pete Westover founded Conservation Works with Terry Blunt in 2005. In addition to his work for Conservation Works, he is a frequent adjunct professor of ecology at Hampshire College, a contractor for the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, and formerly long-time Conservation Director for the Town of Amherst. This talk was shared on 03/28/2019.
Various indigenous environmental justice activists—including Anishinaabe artist Nancy Deleary, Anishinaabe scholar Deb McGregor, Metís filmmaker Marjorie Beaucage, and Onondaga activist Adrianne Lickers—address how their traditions help them to see how human well-being is inextricable from Earth’s well-being, with all more-than-human beings considered. This video was posted by the Indigenous Environmental Justice Project.
Associate professor at York University Deborah McGregor, who is Anishinaabe from Whitefish River First Nation and the Canadian Research Chair for Indigenous Environmental Justice, discusses the breadth and depth of indigenous environmental justice, particularly in its understandings of multispecies justice and the spirit world. McGregor is also joined by Odawa Elder Stanley Peltier and Two-Spirited, Metís filmmaker Marjorie Beaucage in this interview discussion about the challenges facing indigenous environmental justice activists.
Chief Hagwilnegh and Chief Knedebeas, among other Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs, discuss land sovereignty for their people as they fight the Canadian government’s unlawful environmental injustices.
In a piece for the Indigenous Environmental Justice Project—a community-based research initiative based out of York University—indigenous figures young and old share about how their intergenerational traditions inform their view of the world’s sanctity. The project builds from knowledge held by Elders, activists, women, youth, artists and scholars in order to develop a distinct environmental justice framework that is grounded in indigenous worldviews.
In his lecture “Indigenous Peoples and Climate Justice,” Kyle Powys Whyte showcases indigenous leadership in the climate justice movement and illustrates the unique and grave threat climate change poses to indigenous experiences and ways of life. Climate change is not a new phenomenon for indigenous people, he explains. There are long-standing traditions in indigenous cultures that enable societies to respond to seasonal and inter-annual climate variability. Indigenous people have also already experienced climate change through their endurance of colonialism. Whyte describes how the current threat to indigenous people is a continuation of colonialism and how the consciousness gained from their prior experience with climate change can provide sound leadership for confronting the problem today. This talk is a part of the Bedrock Lectures on Human Rights and Climate Change presented by the Spring Creek Project. This talk was delivered on April 18, 2018.
This Change for Climate Talk features Eriel Tchekwie Deranger. Eriel is a co-founder and the Executive Director of Indigenous Climate Action, Canada's only Indigenous-led climate justice social movement organization. She is also a Dene Indigenous rights advocate, activist, and member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) of Northern Alberta, Canada, downstream of Alberta's Tar Sands. She talks about how the lands Indigenous Peoples are advocating to protect are important globally and culturally, and why Indigenous Peoples are a critical part of protecting lands and making an impact on climate change. Change for Climate Talks are short and inspiring presentations by local community leaders who want to share their ideas on how we can act on climate change. This presentation was filmed during the first Change for Climate Talks on Dec. 9, 2017. Find many other ways you can act on climate change by visiting http://changeforclimate.ca.
Still invisible and often an afterthought, indigenous peoples are uniting to protect the world's water, lands and history – while trying to heal from genocide and ongoing inequality. Tribal attorney and Couchiching First Nation citizen Tara Houska chronicles the history of attempts by government and industry to eradicate the legitimacy of indigenous peoples' land and culture, including the months-long standoff at Standing Rock which rallied thousands around the world. “It's incredible what you can do when you stand together,” Houska says. “Stand with us – empathize, learn, grow, change the conversation.” This talk was recorded at TEDWomen 2017 on 11/2/2017.
Names in order of appearance: Sylvia McAdam, a citizen of the nêhiyaw Nation, Treaty 4 Desmond Bull, Louis Bull First Nation, Treaty 6 Melina Laboucan-Massimo, Lubicon Cree First Nation, Treaty 8 Ellen Gabriel, Mohawk - Kanien'kehá:ka Nation, Quebec Sylvia McAdam, ibid Kevin Settee, Treaty 1 Eriel Deranger, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Treaty 8 Clayton Thomas-Muller, Mathais Colomb Cree Nation, Treaty 6, Manitoba Erica-Violet Lee, Student, Indigenous feminist, Saskatchewan Danika Littlechild, Maskwacis, Treaty 6, Alberta Grand Chief Derek Nepinak, Pine Creek First Nation, Treaty 4, Manitoba.
Indigenous Climate Action (ICA) is an Indigenous-led organization guided by a diverse group of Indigenous knowledge keepers, water protectors and land defenders from communities and regions across the country. We believe that Indigenous Peoples’ rights and knowledge systems are critical to developing solutions to the climate crisis and achieving climate justice. To learn more about ICA, visit their website here: www.indigenousclimateaction.com. This video was posted Feb 4, 2017.
Global warming and the effects of the environmental crisis are matters of global interest that are not only affecting large cities, but also to the small farmers, and particularly to the indigenous peoples who continue to suffer the dispossession of their ancestral lands. The reporting team of Avispa Midia has initiated an independent journalism project to investigate which are the effects and real impacts of the plans that are reorganizing the indigenous and campesinos territorialities in Mexico and Central America, as well as the various alternatives used to counteract the climate crisis. Learn more here https://avispa.org/english/.
Visionary Indigenous leaders highlight the need for mainstream understanding of the benefits of protecting human rights as they apply to resource extraction and Mother Earth. This panel was held on October 21 at the 2016 National Bioneers Conference. Featuring: Kandi Mossett (Mandan,Hidatsa, Arikawa) Indigenous Environmental Network; Eriel Deranger (Athabasca Chipweyan First Nation), Indigenous Climate Action; Tara Houska (Anishinaabe-Couchiching First Nation), Honor the Earth; Dallas Goldtooth (Dakota/Diné), Indigenous Environmental Network.
Chase Iron Eyes outlines the importance of getting involved to secure America's water resources, and the harsh realities of violent, unethical treatment of US Citizens by the government. Chase Iron Eyes is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Nation. This event occurred on November 11, 2016.
Joseph Standing Bear Schranz of Midwest SOARRING discusses his work over the past forty years on native issues with different communities throughout Illinois and the Midwest. This talk was recorded on 10/05/2016 as part of the Joseph Loundy Human Rights Project.
The first of its kind in Canada, the Indigenous Environmental Justice Symposium knowledge sharing symposium was held on May 26, 2016 to advance the theory and practice of EJ scholarship by engaging with Indigenous peoples to more fully develop the concept of “justice” and the policies and laws necessary to enable just relations. The IEJ symposium creates a forum to share ideas, knowledge and experiences to help us understand what environmental justice means. Furthermore, if EJ studies are to benefit Indigenous peoples, then they must include knowledge, principles and values already held and practiced by Indigenous peoples. An important way to include and hear the voices and experiences of Indigenous peoples is to engage directly in sharing knowledge through an IEJ symposium. The IEJ symposium brought together activists, youth, women, artists, Elders, scholars, leaders, environmental practitioners, activists, advocates and community members.
Portland Community College welcomed Eriel Tchekwie Deranger as a featured speaker for Earth Week 2016. She explored the intersectionality of privilege, oppression, race and environmental justice. Eriel Tchekwie Deranger is a Denè Indigenous rights advocate, activist and member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) of Northern Alberta, Canada. She works alongside various Indigenous and environmental organizations at provincial, national and international levels. Her work focuses on creating greater awareness about the negative impacts on climate, human life, and Indigenous rights surrounding the issue of the Alberta Tar Sands. Eriel is the Executive Director of the Indigenous Climate Action’s (ICA). The goal of the ICA is to empower our communities and inspire Indigenous peoples to take climate action. For more information, visit https://www.indigenousclimateaction.com/ This talk was recorded on Monday, April 18th 2016.
Indigenous rights have virtually been cut out of the UN #COP21 climate talks. But indigenous people have been anything but absent here in Paris. Francesca Fiorentini speaks with members of the Indigenous Environmental Network, including Dallas Goldtooth, Keystone XL Campaign Organizer, Tantoo Cardinal and Farrah Tso of Black Mesa Water Coalition.
This panel was held on November 6, 2015 at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA during the first annual Indigenous Climate Justice Symposium. The panel, entitled “Fossil Fuel Connections: Tribal voices from the front and back ends of the oil & coal train routes”, consisted of Fawn Sharp, Kandi Mossett, Jeremiah “Jay” Julius, Adriann Killsnight; and Zoltán Grossman, as the moderator. The Symposium was a part of the Climate Change and Pacific Rim Indigenous Nations Project at Evergreen, founded by the Northwest Indian Applied Research Institute (NIARI) in 2006.
Ta'kaiya Blaney, the 14-year-old actress and environmental activist, addresses the Spotlight on Indigenous Peoples at the 2015 Parliament of the World's Religions in Salt Lake City, Utah on October 19th.
Chief Oren Lyons, Jr., a Native American Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of the Seneca Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, addresses the Spotlight of Indigenous Peoples plenary at the 2015 Parliament of the World's Religions in Salt Lake City, Utah on October 19th.
Chief Arvol Lookinghorse, 19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe speaks during the Climate Change Plenary at the 2015 Parliament of the World's Religions in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! reports on “Gender Day” at the U.N. Climate Change Conference, a day that acknowledges the disproportionate impact of climate change on women, who make up 70 percent of the world's poor. We hear from a panel of indigenous women from around the world who met off-site Monday to share their solutions to climate change. The event, hosted by the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network, featured indigenous women leaders on the front lines of defending the Earth from exploitation by fossil fuel companies. Speakers included Patricia Gualinga, a Kichwa leader from Sarayaku, Ecuador, and her niece, Nina Gualinga. In 2012, the Sarayaku won a case against the Ecuadorean government after a foreign oil company was permitted to encroach on their land.
John Grim discusses Indigenous Traditions and Ecology with Mary Evelyn Tucker. “Indigenous Traditions and Ecology” is part of the larger “Conversations on World Religions and Ecology” project. Watch the whole “Conversations on World Religions and Ecology” series on the Forum on Religion and Ecology YouTube Channel.
Indigenous communities around the world resist threats to their sacred places—the original protected lands—in a growing movement to defend human rights and restore the environment. In this four-part documentary series, native people share ecological wisdom and spiritual reverence while battling a utilitarian view of land in the form of government megaprojects, consumer culture, and resource extraction as well as competing religions and climate change. Narrated by Graham Greene, with the voices of Tantoo Cardinal and Q'orianka Kilcher, the “Standing on Sacred Ground” series exposes threats to native peoples' health, livelihood, and cultural survival in eight communities around the world. Rare verité scenes of tribal life allow indigenous people to tell their own stories—and confront us with the ethical consequences of our culture of consumption. Produced by the Sacred Land Film Project. http://standingonsacredground.org/
Since 1984, Earth Island Institute’s Sacred Land Film Project has produced a variety of media and educational materials — films, videos, DVDs, articles, photographs, reports, school curricula materials and Web content — to deepen public understanding of sacred places, indigenous cultures and environmental justice. Their mission is to use film, journalism and education to rekindle reverence for land, increase respect for cultural diversity, stimulate dialogue about connections between nature and culture, and help protect sacred lands and diverse spiritual practices. For the last two decades they have focused on the production and distribution of documentary films, including In the Light of Reverence (2001), and their four-part series on sacred places around the world, Standing on Sacred Ground (2013).
Dr. John Grim, Senior Lecturer and Scholar at Yale University, discusses the connections between indigenous lifeways and the epic narrative of Journey of the Universe. Drawing insights from Croix, Haudenosaunee, Navajo, and Apache peoples, Dr. Grim suggests that there are shared themes regarding the importance of a journey, the stars, narratives, and cosmovisions that orient humans to their local surroundings and the cosmos. This talk took place during the “Journey of the Universe and Our Elegant Universe” Conference in Chautauqua, NY (June 24-28, 2013).
Tom B.K. Goldtooth, Executive Director of the Indigenous Environmental Network, discusses some of the struggles of indigenous people, opening with a song. This talk (of which only a clip is shown) was presented on October 21, 2012 at the Indigenous Forum at the 2012 Bioneers Annual Conference. Learn more about the Bioneers Indigenous Knowledge Program at https://bioneers.org/indigeneity-program/.
A Wet'suwet'en perspective on the Enbridge Northern Gateway oil pipeline.
Earth Charter Commissioner and Co-Founder of the Yale Forum on Religions and Ecology Mary Evelyn Tucker strongly believes humanity and the earth have reached a critical turning point in history. Likewise, according to Native American Onondaga Chief Oren Lyons, we need a “values change for survival.” From mass extinction to the calamity of the Gulf oil spill, Tucker reminds us, the human decimation of earth threatens to shut down an historical era—soon we will have reached a point of no return. The Feather Project is a collaborative effort to build intergenerational collaboration and cooperation between elders and youth, and to draw upon the wisdom of indigenous cultures to find solutions to this impasse that lies ahead. The key to mobilizing the masses to move from awareness to action, Earth Charter Commissioner and Founder of the Feather Project Rabbi Soetendorp believes lies in the hopes and dreams of the youth. They need guidance, and it is our moral and spiritual leaders who can bring out those leadership capacities of the next seven generations who will inherit this earth in the future. There is a challenging road ahead—the sooner a shift takes place, the more likely there will be something left—for the next generation. Join the Feather Project. Encourage young people everywhere to upload their “feather messages” and to join the effort to turn dreams into reality—for those who work while they dream, dreams do come true.
Native American global leader and Executive Director of the Indigenous Environmental Network Tom Goldtooth shows that at the root of indigenous survival is gratitude for the generosity of Mother Earth and biodiversity. He contrasts this worldview with neo-colonial approaches such as genetic engineering, patenting of life, dirty energy extraction, and “Free Trade” that leads to exploitation, poverty, violence and international discord. This speech was given at the 2001 Bioneers National Conference on October 19, 2001.
Header photo: ©Christopher McCloud; Q'eros farmers harvest potatoes in the Andes, Peru. In recent years, they’ve been forced to move their crops uphill; from the documentary Standing on Sacred Ground
