Listen to Indigenous Stories of Nature, Healing, and Resilience in Webinar Series "An Alliance Between Humans and Creatures"

Posted on
September 15, 2020

In his 1998 talk, “An Alliance Between Humans and Creatures,” Yupiat scholar Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley discussed the materialism and consumerism that characterize modern living. Our cities, lifestyles, and very approach to natural resources, he said, were fragmented. He called for alliances—between humans and nature and Indigenous knowledge systems and western research—and he reminded us that our thinking required a shift, and our work needed to be responsive: “Native ways of knowing…entail constant flux of doing. The universe and Mother Earth are constantly changing. If we are looking at and trying to make sense of the world in which we live, we must speak of it as an active process.”

Today as Indigenous peoples face the pandemics of health, economic, and social injustice, we consider our relationships to the natural world through research, art, education, and conservation. In this webinar series, open to all, we share our stories, observations, efforts, and ideas regarding respectful alliances with nature and across humanity.

Indigenous Relationships with Nature

Thursday, October 1, 2020 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. CDT

A person is standing in front of an enormous mountain. They appear very small to the left, with an enormous mountain capped with snow to the right.

Speakers:

Deborah McGregor

Ojibwe, Whitefish River First Nation | Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Environmental Justice, York University

Alexis Bunten

Aleut/Yupik | co-Director, Indigeneity, Bioneers

Elizabeth Sumida Huaman

Wanka/Quechua | Associate Professor of Comparative and International Education, U-M, Twin Cities  

Check out the webinar recording

Nature and Indigenous Traditional Arts

Thursday October 22, 2020 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. CDT

A woman in sunglasses smiles at left. A man in sunglasses, a tee shirt, and a ball cap smiles in the center of the photo. A child's face is at the bottom of the picture, but below her nose is cut off, revealing only the top of her head.

Speakers:

Niiyogiizhig Wesley Ballinger

Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe | Illustrator and Community Engagement Coordinator of American Indian Studies, U-M, Twin Cities

Porter Swentzell

Santa Clara Pueblo | Associate Dean and Chair of Indigenous Liberal Studies, Institute of American Indian Arts

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Nature and Indigenous Education Development

Thursday, November 19, 2020 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. CST

Three woman gather around a bucket filled with water, squeezing water out of fabric. The woman on the left smiles at the camera, while the woman in the center and the woman on the right are focused on their task. They are outside on the grass.

Speakers:

Meixi Ng

Hokkien/Hokchiu | Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow, American Indian Studies, U-M, Twin Cities

Steve Smith 

Ojibwe, White Earth Nation | STEM Faculty, Leech Lake Tribal College   

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Nature and Indigenous Community Development and Conservation

Thursday, December 17, 2020 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. CST

A woman wearing glasses and round dangly earrings stands at the right of the picture next to plants. She smiles at the camera.

Speakers:

Tiffanie Hardbarger

Cherokee Nation | Assistant Professor, Cherokee & Indigenous Studies, Northeastern State University

Brittany Luby

Anishinaabe-kwe, atik totem | Assistant Professor, University of Guelph

Check out the webinar recording