SPIRIT OF THE PEAKS is a film about the struggle for balance between two worlds. For Hunkpapa Lakota skier Connor Ryan, skiing in Ute Territory has always raised questions about being in reciprocity with the land and its people. As a skier who connects with the land through sport, he empathizes with the injustices that have displaced the Utes and ongoing colonization, erasure and extraction impacting the Ute people. This story connects conflicted pasts to an awakening in cultural awareness that can create an equitable future for Indigenous people and skiers. 

I am putting out this episode as a direct response to Utah's annual July 24th holiday Pioneer Day. Pioneer Day celebrates the arrival of Brigham Young and the white Mormon settlers to the lands of the Diné, Hopi, Goshute, Paiute, Pueblo, Shoshone, Timpanogos and Ute people. Living in this state, it is uncomfortable to have folks around me celebrating the arrival of colonizers who brought mass eradication, forced assimilation, boarding schools, and generations of trauma to the Indigenous people who were already living here. 

Please take a listen to this episode to hear more about how we can develop a reciprocal relationship with the land, what reclamation to Native culture can feel like, and who are other inspiring Indigenous activists and artists out there right now. 

Follow the film: 

Watch the film for free: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSwmJMH04Ww&t=1s

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