Indigenous Planetary Health Podcast

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HECLab University of Victoria

44 episodes

2 weeks ago

We’re burning down our house, and we’re in for nasty weather. But Indigenous peoples have ideas for planetary resurgence and restoration. Professors Heather Castleden and Hōkūlani Aikau bring you conversations with artists, activists, scholars, and other knowledge keepers tackling the climate crisis.

All content for Indigenous Planetary Health Podcast is the property of HECLab University of Victoria and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

Episodes (20/44)

Indigenous Planetary Health Podcast

EP 41: The Audacity of Indigenous Art/ists: A Conversation with Zena Cumpston

As academic institutions in the United States experience a dramatic defunding of research related to decolonization, in Canada and Australia, these efforts are ongoing and accelerating. Given the larger political climate, these efforts are important and should be celebrated. However, as our guest this week notes, far too often the labor of decolonizing research and academic institutions disproportionately falls on the shoulders of Indigenous people. This week, Hoku speaks with Zena Cumpston, a Barkandji storyteller, artist, and researcher from Australia about the cultural burden Indigenous people carry when engaging in decolonizing work and they discuss the limitations, extractive practices, and colonial expectations of academia. While Zena’s experiences identify systemic issues in higher education, she is not content to name the problem. Rather, she seeks out opportunities to elevate Indigenous knowledge and Indigenous stories of Country through art. When they met for this interview Zena was on Treaty 7 territory at an artist residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity where she is furthering her art practice alongside other artists from First Nations. Zena shares how breaking into the art world has allowed her to “democratize” her research in a way that is more empowering and reflexive of her community. As she explains, her experiences as a curator for the exhibition Emu Sky and her work as an artist and researcher for the exhibition Ngaratya are examples of how we can use art to mobilize Indigenous knowledge and make it widely accessible. Zena’s love for the land inspires her art and curatorial practices. We hope you enjoy this conversation about the audacity of Indigenous art and artists.

This podcast is created by the Archipelagos of Indigenous-led Resurgence for Planetary Health research collective. You can find out more about our research on our website: https://indigenousplanetaryhealth.ca/. We receive funding for this podcast from the Impact Chair in Transformative Governance for Planetary Health at the University of Victoria and from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. We receive production support fromShow more...

2 weeks ago

47 minutes 59 seconds

Indigenous Planetary Health Podcast

EP 40: Co-creating transformative art from Turtle Island to Palestine with Smokii Sumac and Zaynab Mohammed

This powerful episode explores art as a practice of resistance, healing, and connection across lands and lineages. Guest hosts Kathryn Stone and Brenda Jimenez are joined by guests Smokii Sumac, a Ktunaxa Two-Spirit poet, artist, storyteller, and playwright, and Zaynab Mohammed, a storyteller, poet, playwright and artist of Lebanese, Iraqi, and Palestinian ancestry. This episode explores how colonial violence extends beyond people to target land, plants, and ancestral knowledge. In this episode, they discuss the political, cultural, and symbolic significance of olive trees in Palestine and their cultivation as a form of Indigenous resistance, survival, and storytelling. For both Smokii and Zaynab, art plays a key role in Indigenous-led resurgence and Indigenous planetary health movements. They share how they honor their ancestral teachings in a mural they created together called Our Grandmothers’ Garden. Smokii discusses their journey in finding meaningful ways to stand in solidarity with Palestine while living on Turtle Island. Zaynab offers reflections from her time in Lebanon to illustrate a beautiful portrait of her family’s relationship with the land there. Stay tuned until the end for a special surprise from Smokii and Zaynab!

Smokii Sumac and Zaynab Mohammed will be on a BC book tour throughout the month of October. They will be reading and discussing their books Born Sacred: Poems for Palestine and Are you Listening? Weaving a Tapestry From Pain into Beauty.

This podcast is created by the Archipelagos of Indigenous-led Resurgence for Planetary Health research collective. You can find out more about our research on our website: https://indigenousplanetaryhealth.ca/. We receive funding for this podcast from the Impact Chair in Transformative Governance for Planetary Health at the University of Victoria and from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. We receive production support from Cited Media.

4 weeks ago

52 minutes 19 seconds

Indigenous Planetary Health Podcast

EP 39 From Stories on the Trapline to Protocols in Playhouses: Indigenous Resurgence through the Performing Arts with Reneltta Arluk

In this episode, Heather sits down with Reneltta Arluk, a performing arts artist and Indigenous arts advocate and leader. We get to hear beautiful stories from Reneltta of growing up on the trapline in the Northwest Territories and how this allowed for her creativity and imagination to flourish. Realizing that the stories she’d grown up around can last generations, Reneltta created Akpik Theatre, a place to foster and grow Northern Indigenous stories. Her performing arts practice invites us, as listeners, into the importance of recognizing specific protocols embedded in Indigenous stories, lands, and relationships to community and place. In other words, stories must be held properly, and there can be no storytelling of a place without relationship to place.

Reneltta Arluk, D.Litt., is Inuvialuk, Gwich’in and Denesuline, Cree from the Northwest Territories. Akpik Theatre is a northern focused Indigenous theatre company that adheres to its namesake, the cloudberry, striving to flourish in the northern climate it reflects. Reneltta recently received an honorary doctorate from University of Alberta for her continual contributions to the decolonization of cultural institutions that has led to a fundamental shift in indigenous settler relations.

This podcast is created by the Impact Chair in Transformative Governance for Planetary Health at the University of Victoria, with production support from Cited Media. We receive additional support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research You can find us at https://indigenousplanetaryhealth.ca/

1 month ago

55 minutes 5 seconds

Indigenous Planetary Health Podcast

EP 38: Curation as Ceremonial Political Practice, a conversation with Léuli Eshrāghi

Join Hōkū in this episode as she sits down with Léuli Eshrāghi, Curator of Indigenous Practices at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. For Léuli, this role goes beyond curating Indigenous art; the shift to practice is a form of enacting relationality with and respect for lands, peoples, and communities. Parts of Léuli’s work, such as correcting records, labels, racist tropes, and interpretations of acquired Indigenous art, might not make headlines but are deeply important to ensuring the museum is responsive to Indigenous nations and their vision for their futures. Hōkū and Lēul’s conversation digs into the politics of Indigenous curation, the importance of ceremony in this work, and the role of Indigenous language in Léuli’s art practice and work as a curator.

Léuli Eshrāghi belongs to the Sāmoan clans Seumanutafa and Tautua, and the Persian diaspora, and lives and works in Montréal, Québec, Canada. Their practice prioritizes Indigenous, Black and Asian art and design, sensual and spoken languages, and ceremonial-political practices. On their website, you can find more information about their artistic contributions and writing, including the book Hōkū mentioned in this episode, Indigenous Aesthetics and Knowledges for the Great Ocean Renaissance.

This podcast is created by the Impact Chair in Transformative Governance for Planetary Health at the University of Victoria, with production support from Cited Media. We receive additional support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research You can find us at https://indigenousplanetaryhealth.ca/

1 month ago

43 minutes 47 seconds

Indigenous Planetary Health Podcast

EP 37: Go! Go! Stop! Land-based Wellness with Sandra Martin Harris

We are back from our summer break! Before we get started, stop! Take a deep breath in … and … out. Pause. Where is the sun in the territory you’re on now? Where is the moon? Observe and connect. In this episode, Heather is joined by Wet’suwet’en PhD candidate Sandra Martin Harris, who urges us to slow down, check in with the land, and connect with our bodies regularly for health and wellbeing. We also hear about Sandra’s involvement with The Planetary Health Learning Garden, a place of connection. It is a collaboration between the Public Health Association of British Columbia, the University of Northern British Columbia, and the Rural and Remote Doctors of British Columbia, to foster land-based wellness and connection between health and environmental workforces. As Sandra tells us, we need to be in relation to one another to understand that our wellness is deeply connected to the wellbeing of the land, the waters, the mountains, the trees, and all beings. When there’s more connection, there’s more resilience, especially during difficult times of burn-out, climate change, and limited staff.

Sandra Martin Harris is from the Wet’suwet’en Nation of the Laksilyu, Little Frog Clan and is a member of the Witset First Nation. She is a PhD candidate at the University of Northern British Columbia in the Natural Resources and Environmental Studies Graduate Program, and a member of the LEAPH team. Sandra is an Indigenous community developer and an Indigenous Focusing Complex Trauma (IFOT) practitioner. As a facilitator and planning mentor, she shares body centered and land-based ways to find a pathway and grow through complex trauma/toxic stress.

This podcast is created by the Impact Chair in Transformative Governance for Planetary Health at the University of Victoria, with production support from Cited Media. We receive additional support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research You can find us at https://indigenousplanetaryhealth.ca/

2 months ago

34 minutes 4 seconds

Indigenous Planetary Health Podcast

Replay: Slugs and frogs, the underdogs of planetary health with Sarah Jim

Summer break continues, and art meets planetary health in a replayed episode with Sarah Jim. Through her paintings, Sarah reminds us of small but mighty relations.

One of the key values of our collective is prioritizing the importance of art to an Indigenous worldview. In this episode, Hoku and Heather sat down with Sarah Jim who is a visual artist from the village of Tseycum in W̱SÁNEĆ. As a muralist, her art practice reflects the lessons she’s learned from Coast Salish mentors and from her land-based work at PEPÁḴEṈ HÁUTW, where she worked at the time of the original recording. She also talks about how art allows her to educate others about the role of the small ones – the slugs, frogs, bees, bugs, flowering plants, and medicinal plants –in planetary health.

This podcast is created by the Impact Chair in Transformative Governance for Planetary Health at the University of Victoria, with production support from Cited Media. We receive additional support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. You can find us at https://indigenousplanetaryhealth.ca/

2 months ago

41 minutes 13 seconds

Indigenous Planetary Health Podcast

Replay: Supporting Indigenous health through governance and stewarding the land and waters with Dr. Shannon Waters

Continuing with our summer break, let’s revisit an old episode with Dr. Shannon Waters. As a physician frustrated with a health system focused on sickness, Shannon talks about what keeps us well.

In this episode, Heather and Carey Newman sit down with Dr. Shannon Waters to talk about how stewarding Indigenous lands and waters in a good way is essential for human health, specifically the health and wellbeing of Indigenous peoples. Speaking from her cultural context, Shannon asserts that human health requires Hul’q’umi’num Peoples to have authority over health, education, the environment, water, salmon, and cedar. This means Hul’q’umi’num Peoples need to be at the table so that they can make decisions about 100% of their territories, not just the 15% that is on the table in treaty discussions. As a Western trained physician, the tools Dr. Waters was provided with were ineffective band-aids for addressing Indigenous wellness. Dr. Waters is the newly appointed “Deputy Provincial Health Officer, Planetary and Water health” for British Columbia. She approaches her work as looking after relatives grounded in an intimacy of connection that is critical to promoting and creating the foundation for health of the environment and ourselves.

Dr. Shannon Waters’ maternal roots are Hul’qumi’num (part of a larger First Nations group referred to as Coast Salish). She is a member of Stz’uminus First Nation with many family ties to Cowichan Tribes/Quw’utsun. Her paternal roots are Hungarian, Swedish and Scottish. Shannon completed her specialty training in Public Health and Preventive Medicine. She has worked in this field federally, provincially and at First Nations organizations. Shannon was honored to have come full circle and work in her home territory as the local Medical Health Officer with Island Health. Her priorities in her work were connection to the environment, mental wellness, and maternal/child/family health. In 2024 Dr. Waters has become the first ever Deputy Provincial Health Officer, Planetary and Water Health in the province of BC.

This podcast is created by the Impact Chair in Transformative Governance for Planetary Health at the University of Victoria, with production support from Cited Media. We receive additional support from the Show more...

3 months ago

45 minutes 48 seconds

Indigenous Planetary Health Podcast

Replay: Centering the Earth in Indigenous Planetary Health with Dr. Nicole Redvers

Co-hosts Heather and Hōkū are taking a break this summer, so journey back with us to listen to the first ever guest on the Indigenous Planetary Health Podcast, Dr. Nicole Redvers. As a global leader in planetary health science, education, and advocacy, Nicole talks about centering the earth in Indigenous planetary health.

Planetary health has emerged as a new ‘science’ in academic circles. It is touted as a framework that reimagines a path forward through the current climate crisis. But contrary to what you might have read or heard, the concepts behind planetary health are not new at all, at least not from the perspective of Indigenous worldviews. In this episode, Heather sits down with Dr. Nicole Redvers, a member of the Deninu K’ue First Nation to talk about Indigenous planetary health and how she came to be doing this work. They are joined by, guest host, Melissa Quenelle, who shares some of her thoughts on Indigenous planetary health from a Kainai perspective.

This podcast is created by the Impact Chair in Transformative Governance for Planetary Health at the University of Victoria, with production support from Cited Media. We receive additional support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research You can find us at https://indigenousplanetaryhealth.ca/

3 months ago

47 minutes 57 seconds

Indigenous Planetary Health Podcast

EP 36: When the Pine Needles Fall, a discussion with Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel

In this episode, Heather and Hoku speak with Katsi’tsakwas (Ellen Gabriel) about her recently published memoir, When the Pine Needles Fall: Indigenous Acts of Resistance (co-authored with Sean Carleton). Ellen is an activist and artist, and known worldwide for her role as the official spokesperson for the Longhouse during the 78-day Siege of Kanehsatà:ke in 1990 brought on by Oka, Quebec when the municipality initiated the disturbance of a sacred burial to make way for… a golf course parking lot. The book is a powerful blend of personal narrative and political analysis about the “Crisis that was caused by Oka.” Over the past 35 years, Ellen has remained a vital voice in the ongoing fight for Indigenous sovereignty, gender justice, language and land revitalization, and climate resilience. Her unique blend of art, activism, and diplomacy continues to inspire and mobilize both Indigenous and non‑Indigenous communities alike.

Ellen Gabriel is a Kanien’kéha:ka activist and artist from Kanehsatà:ke. In 1990 she graduated from Concordia University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, and she is a recent graduate from the New York Film Academy in documentary film making. In recognition of her 35 years of activism and artistic work, she was recently awarded the 38th Grand Prix from The Conseil des arts de Montréal. Ellen is the first Indigenous recipient. This year, she and co-author, Sean Carleton also won the Errol Sharpe Annual Book Award from the Society for Socialist Studies, the Canadian Historical Association’s Indigenous History Book Prize, and the Wilson Book Prize from the Wilson Institute for Canadian History.

This podcast is created by the Impact Chair in Transformative Governance for Planetary Health at the University of Victoria, with production support from Cited Media. We receive additional support from the Show more...

4 months ago

45 minutes 27 seconds

Indigenous Planetary Health Podcast

EP 35: Indigenous Philosophies and Staying Curious for Planetary Health with Dr. Shandin Pete

Indigenous science and western science may not be so different after all. Dr. Shandin Pete joins Heather and Hōkū to talk about Indigenous philosophy, observational science, and hydrology. By combining stories, belief structures, and traditions with mathematical and hydrological understandings of water, Shandin explains how Indigenous observational methods and ways of doing things are not so different from the scientific method. In other words, the “thinking of the past crosses over into scientific traditions of today,” he says. If we can understand more about the past, we can repurpose traditions and beliefs to fit within the constructs of today. We can use science, or as Shandin terms it, ‘geoscientific ethnography,’ to do this. We also receive a helpful teaching on those dreaded but important academic terms: axiology, ontology, and epistemology.

From Nłq̓alqʷ (“Place of the thick trees”, Arlee, Montana), Shandin Pete is from the Bitterroot Band of Salish in Montana and Diné from Beshbihtoh Valley in Arizona. He is an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia in the Department of Earth Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences. Dr. Pete is a hydrogeologist and science educator with interest in Indigenous research methodologies, geoscientific ethnography, Indigenous astronomy, social-political tribal structures, culturally congruent instructional strategies, and Indigenous science philosophies. He is also host of his own podcast, Tribal Research Specialist, which he describes as “creating a think tank podcast for scholars in Tribal communities.” Check it out!

This podcast is created by the Impact Chair in Transformative Governance for Planetary Health at the University of Victoria, with production support from Cited Media. We receive additional support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research You can find us at https://indigenousplanetaryhealth.ca/

4 months ago

43 minutes 58 seconds

Indigenous Planetary Health Podcast

EP 34: Remembering Haunani-Kay Trask with Noelani Goodyear- -Ka’ōpua

If you don’t know who Haunani-Kay Trask is, or what the Hawaiian sovereignty movement is about, this episode is for you! Hōkū sits down with longtime friend Noelani Goodyear-Ka’ōpua to learn about Haunani-Kay Trask’s work and life, and everything Noelani and colleagues are doing to honour Kumu Haunani-Kay’s legacy as speaker, activist, thinker, and writer. As Noelani tells us, Haunani-Kay Trask was a steadfast advocate for Hawaiian sovereignty within a larger critique of imperialism and colonialism, globally. Her work was influenced by political movements in the sixties and seventies such as the Black Power movement, the radical feminist movement, the anti-war movement, and the Native American movement.

Haunani-Kay Trask is more than her iconic speech at the ‘Iolani Palace in 1993. In this episode, we hear from Noelani about her political activism through her work with Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘Ohana, a grassroots organization dedicated to the island of Kaho‘olawe and the principles of Aloha ‘Āina throughout Hawai‘i, as well as her scholarly experiences and contributions, and Noelani’s connection to her. Holding memories and storytelling of fearless leaders like Kumu Haunani-Kay are of upmost importance in today’s political climate.

Dr. Noelani Goodyear-Ka’ōpua is a professor at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa in political science. Her work champions Hawaiian culture-based education, and she uses her role as a scholar to amplify women who have been the backbone of the Hawaiian sovereignty movement in the book Nā Wāhine Koa. She has also published, A Nation Rising, with co-editors, Ikaika Hussey and Erin Kahuawaikaʻala Wright.

This podcast is created by the Impact Chair in Transformative Governance for Planetary Health at the University of Victoria, with production support from Cited Media. We receive additional support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research You can find ...

5 months ago

51 minutes 19 seconds

Indigenous Planetary Health Podcast

EP 33: Etuaptmumk (Two-Eyed Seeing) with Mi’kmaw Elder Albert Marshall

n this episode, Heather is joined by one of her many mentors, esteemed Mi’kmaw Elder Albert Marshall, who brought forward the concept of Etuaptmumk (Two-Eyed Seeing). Etuaptmumk is a framework that emphasizes the importance of multiple perspectives and the value of integrating diverse knowledge systems. We learn so much from Albert in this episode on the importance of knowing who you are, where you come from, and where you’re going. We are also introduced to two new concepts: Msit No’kmaq, which tells us that we are all interconnected relations with responsibilities to care for and honour all beings, and Netuklimk, which is a reminder that every action we take must involve our best effort to be in harmony with nature. As Elder Albert says, “nature has rights, and humans have responsibilities.”

In this episode Heather and Elder Albert chat about the irony of education – it has caused so much harm (i.e., Indian Residential Schools in so-called Canada) and yet it is important for Indigenous liberation. Specifically, Elder Albert describes the value of land-based learning as the classroom and for educators to weave Indigenous and Western knowledge systems together. While this work is critical for Indigenous children to thrive, it is also essential for the health and wellbeing of the land, other-than-human relatives, and one another. This episode offers hope for how we coexist and walk forward together in this one world, mutually respecting the unique perspectives that each person brings forward.

Albert Marshall is from the Moose Clan of the Mi’kmaw Nation and lives in the community of Eskasoni in Unama’ki (or Cape Breton, Nova Scotia). Albert is a fluent Mi’kmaw speaker. He and his late wife, Elder Murdena Marshall, have six children and many grandchildren and great grandchildren. In addition to co-authoring several scholarly publications, receiving many honorary doctorates, and working on education, resurgence, and environmental stewardship, Elder Albert Marshall has also co-authored a children’s book Walking Together. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada.

This podcast is created by the Impact Chair in Transformative Governance for Planetary Health at the University of Victoria, with production support from Cited Media. We receive additional support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research You can find us at Show more...

5 months ago

25 minutes 39 seconds

Indigenous Planetary Health Podcast

EP 32: Reconcili-ACTION in language and plants with Dominique James

Indigenous languages are action oriented to their core. Heather and Hōkū join SENĆOŦEN language specialist and land steward Dominique James for a conversation about language, native plants, and what it means to engage in reconciliACTION. A child of SÁNEĆĆ land, we hear about Dominique’s experiences with the SENĆOŦEN Survival School, what it means to SENĆOŦEN-ize, and how language shapes the ways we can interact with the land. Dominique shares how she is helping the Habitat Acquistion Trust (HAT) “see how she sees.” A key part of seeing as she sees is sharing language because Indigenous knowledge, culture, worldviews, and teachings are grounded in SENĆOŦEN. We also hear about Dominque’s work with SatinFlower Nurseries, an organization that grows native plants from seeds and helps people explore and learn about native species that support ecosystem health. For Dominique, reconciliACTION is about taking the steps towards healing and decolonization through active allyship. She wants to strengthen all her relationships with anyone who is willing to learn, with the hopes and dreams of beginning a new journey together.

Dominique James is a W̱SÁNEĆ Land Steward and SENĆOŦEN (Sen-chah-then) Language Specialist at the Habitat Acquisition Trust on Vancouver Island and works for SatinFlower Nurseries. She is a passionate SENĆOŦEN speaker, having worked at the LÁU,WELṈEW̱ Tribal School in the SENĆOŦEN immersion program.

This podcast is created by the Impact Chair in Transformative Governance for Planetary Health at the University of Victoria, with production support from Cited Media. We receive additional support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research You can find us at https://indigenousplanetaryhealth.ca/

6 months ago

46 minutes 39 seconds

Indigenous Planetary Health Podcast

EP 31: Kairangahou: Weaving Māori Knowledge with Helen Moewaka-Barnes

In this episode, Heather and Melissa Quesnelle chat with leading Māori health researcher Dr. Helen Moewaka Barnes about her pathway to becoming a health researcher and how she approaches her work. For Helen, being introduced to academic research through community directed projects meant she has always approached her work with Māori communities at the center. She describes feeling uncomfortable describing her work as research but rather describes her work as Kairangahou: a person who engages in the process of weaving. In this episode, Helen describes how kairangahou is distinct from Kaupapa Māori and how both are essential for the work she does. Her life story and approach demonstrate how kairangahou decenters the researcher, while honoring the knowledge itself and following where it directs you. For Helen, kairangahou is the process of building upon the knowledge, sciences, wisdom of past generations as she and her partners engage in producing new knowledge. Helen also provides us with clarity about what Kaupapa Māori is and is not as she continues to resist colonial structures by refusing to define, delineate, or differentiate Māori concepts and ways of being. Indeed, she challenges listeners to reflect on Western science: What is Western science? Does it exist? Why are Western scientists not asked to define, differentiate, and explain the origins of Western science while Māori are frequently asked these questions? Helen and her colleagues push forward, grounded in who they are and refuse to be compared to Western standards. To illustrate this point Helen shares two research projects with us: one focused on Māori birthing practices, a project co-created with her daughter, and the other focused on her understanding of climate change from a Māori perspective. In both cases, Helen stresses that unless we shift our collective perspective from focusing on problems and instead focus on whanau (extended family relations) and listen to the agency of the natural world these ‘problems’ will persist.

Dr. Helen Moewaka Barnes is a professor at Massey University in Auckland, Aotearoa (Or New Zealand), where she is Co-Director of the SHORE and Whariki Research Center. The centre hosts both multidisciplinary research groups working in a Treaty of Waitangi partnership model to produce research that improves health and wellbeing in Aotearoa and beyond.

This podcast is created by the Impact Chair in Transformative Governance for Planetary Health at the University of Victoria, with production support from Cited Media. We receive additional support from the Show more...

6 months ago

49 minutes

Indigenous Planetary Health Podcast

Ep 30: “I was meant to do this!” A conversation with Simon Brascoupé

In this episode, Heather chats with longtime friend and colleague Simon Brascoupé. Simon has a lifetime of Indigenous advocacy to share with us, including the origins of Earth Summit (92’), the tensions between environmental movements and Indigenous peoples over the years, and his current role with the Archipelagos of Indigenous-led Resurgence for Planetary Health project. He tells us stories of beavers, bears, and chickadees because these more-than-human kin have much to teach us about how to live well in place. Simon describes the principals and importance of community and land-based art and advises Indigenous youth to “feel your feet on the ground” and work at the community level. He also gives us hope by noting how there’s increasing recognition that Indigenous knowledge, practices, and customs must be given equal footing alongside scientific approaches.

Simon Brascoupé is Anishinabe/Haudenosaunee – Bear Clan, and a member of Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation, Maniwaki, Quebec. He is an artist who practices community-based or community-engaged public art and also holds positions at both Carleton University and Trent University.

This podcast is created by the Impact Chair in Transformative Governance for Planetary Health at the University of Victoria, with production support from Cited Media. We receive additional support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research You can find us at https://indigenousplanetaryhealth.ca/

7 months ago

50 minutes 7 seconds

Indigenous Planetary Health Podcast

Ep 29: Getting dirty: A conversation with Dr. Melissa Nelson

In this episode, Hōkū sits down with Dr. Melissa Nelson to discuss love, gender, and sustainable futures, all through the lens of ecology, or as she puts it, the study of complex interrelationships. We hear about Melissa’s work on rematriation as a returning to lands, homes, bodies, spirits, and Indigenous women’s leadership. Resurgence, although interrelated with rematriation, focuses on Indigenous power, survivance, affirming cultural instructions from within, and new futures, knowledges, and expressions of Indigeneity. Melissa’s work is intertribal and fosters a sense of Indigenous internationalism, focused on exchange of tools, stories, songs, seeds, and knowledge, honoring the Indigeneity of many different peoples. They also discuss Melissa’s very popular essay, “Getting Dirty: The Eco-Eroticism of Women in Indigenous Women’s Oral Literatures.” and share stories about the eco-erotic and messy grey zones where we transgress the human-nature divide.

Dr. Melissa Nelson is an ecologist, writer, editor, media-maker, and Native scholar-activist. She is Anishinaabe, Cree, Métis, Norwegian, and an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. Melissa is also a professor of Indigenous sustainability at Arizona State University. She’s a co-founder of the Cultural Conservancy and author of numerous articles and books. Her work is dedicated to Indigenous rights and revitalization, Native science and biocultural diversity, ecological ethics and sustainability, and the renewal and celebration of community health and cultural arts.

This podcast is created by the Impact Chair in Transformative Governance for Planetary Health at the University of Victoria, with production support from Cited Media. We receive additional support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research You can find us at https://indigenousplanetaryhealth.ca/

7 months ago

52 minutes 12 seconds

Indigenous Planetary Health Podcast

EP 28: IndigiQueer Cosmologies in Planetary Health with Lewis Williams and Jordan Ramnarine

Despite the proliferation of climate justice debates, equity considerations remain predominantly western, human centric, and exclusionary. Further, IndigiQueer impacts and perspectives continue to be marginalized, although as we hear from our guests, there is power in the margins. In this episode, Hōkū and Heather talk with Dr. Lewis Williams and Jordan Ramnarine who contend that IndigiQueer people have unique strengths, roles, and responsibilities in Indigenous Resurgence and for visioning otherwise realities to colonialism and hetero-patriarchy. For Lewis and Jordan, an assertion of IndigiQueer cosmologies is a refusal of the hierarchal, patriarchal logic of domination that causes ecological devastation. In this sense, the resurgence of Two Spirit, queer, and non-binary subject positions and world views is more than cultural reclamation; it is “an eco-political imperative!” IndigiQueer climate activism illuminates Indigenous cosmologies for all beings. We hear about how Kent Monkman and Joshua Whitehead are two artists making IndigiQueer content that simultaneously critiques hetero-normativity and colonialism while also opening space for otherwise realities to emerge.

Lewis Williams is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Environment at Western University and Founding Director of the Alliance for Intergenerational Resilience. Williams’ ancestors are of the people of Ngāi Te Rangi, Scotland, Wales, and Germany. Their work focuses on Indigenous feminisms and queer theory, critical cultural geographies, social-ecological resilience, and Indigenous and traditional systems of healing.

Jordan Ramnarine is a queer, first generation, Indo Caribbean Canadian settler. He works at 2 Spirits as an HIV/STBBI Navigator. As an MPH graduate from the University of Toronto, Jordan is passionate about amplifying and centering the voices of made-marginalized folks within justice efforts in all its forms.

This podcast is created by the Impact Chair in Transformative Governance for Planetary Health at the University of Victoria, with production support from Cited Media. We receive additional support from the ...

8 months ago

41 minutes 25 seconds

Indigenous Planetary Health Podcast

EP 27: Listening to the Ancestors with Dr. Tommy Happynook

Carey Newman joins Heather for this episode to chat with ḥapinyuuk (Tommy Happynook). Tommy is čačaac̓iiʕasʔatḥ from huuʕiiʔatḥ (Huu-ay-aht First Nations). He is both ḥaw̓iiḥ (a hereditary chief) and a researcher with the Archipelagoes project. In chatting with Tommy, we learn how he prioritizes community responsibilities and in doing so how it is beneficial to his work as a researcher at the University of Victoria, instead of at odds with it. It is this balance of community member and researcher that is so rare and yet so needed.

We hear, through story, how Tommy’s work intersects with the Seedling Project, which focuses on planting western red cedar seedlings on Vancouver Island. Where red cedar trees take around 600 years to mature, the project envisions future generations and how they may interact with planetary health. This episode reminds us that our actions are not stuck in the calendar day in front of us, and we can use reciprocal practices, like the seedling project, to look forward with hopefulness. In Tommy’s words, the project “is a generational act of reclamation, revitalization, and resurgence.”

Finally, we get to hear about the magic and importance of taking the time to slow down and listen in a world where busy schedules and the written word are prioritized. When we slow our pace, ancestors have a much easier time speaking, and we have a much easier time listening.

Dr. Tommy Happynook is nuučaan̓ułatḥ from Huu-ay-aht First Nations, from the house of čaačaaciiʔasatḥ. He is also an assistant professor at the University of Victoria. His work focuses on reclaiming nuučaan̓ułatḥ knowledge, teachings, language, culture, and identity throughout his family’s ḥaḥuułi (traditional territory). In his research, Tommy views the land, the natural world, the spirit world, not as objects of inquiry, but as non-human knowledge holders and teachers.

This podcast is created by the Impact Chair in Transformative Governance for Planetary Health at the University of Victoria, with production support from Cited Media. We receive additional support from the Show more...

8 months ago

43 minutes 48 seconds

Indigenous Planetary Health Podcast

EP 26:The Praxis of Indigenous Environmental Repossession: A conversation with Dr. Chantell Richmond and Dr. Renee Pualani Louis

Governments and international governmental organizations’ responses to global environmental crises are failing; Indigenous environmental repossession, where it’s happening, is working. In their book, Because This Land Is Who We Are, authors Chantelle Richmond, Renee Pualani Louis, and Brad Coombes explore distinct instances of Indigenous repossession in geographically diverse locales in Canada (Anishinaabe), Hawai’i (Kanaka Maoli) and Aotearoa (Māori).

In this episode, we are joined by Chantelle and Renee to talk about their very different, but mutually reinforcing case studies, and the insights they reveal for other Indigenous communities involved in environmental repossession (i.e., Indigenous Peoples reclaiming their territories and ways of life). We learn about the similarities and differences between repossession and resurgence and how upholding Indigenous responsibilities, placed based values and ontologies, and relational practices are key to healthy lands and peoples. We also hear about how the book was created and the ways relationships between authors were formed and maintained in a good way.

Chantelle Richmond is an Anishinaabe scholar at Western University, where she holds the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Health and Environment. She is also a professor in the Department of Geography and Environment with a joint appointment in the Indigenous Studies program. Chantelle’s work focuses on community-centred models of research that explore the intersection of Indigenous Peoples’ health and knowledge systems within the context of global environmental change.

Renee Pualani Louis is Kanaka ʻŌiwi from the Island of Hawaii. She is an Indigenous geographer and cartographer. Renee currently teaches at the Hawaii Community College and she works with a small community Hawaiʻi based group, Kū a Kanaka. She is passionate about storied place names and their role in Hawaiʻi cartographic expressions. She is also committed to increasing awareness of Indigenous perspectives of science and promoting Indigenous research sovereignty.

This podcast is created by the Impact Chair in Transformative Governance for Planetary Health at the University of Victoria, with production support from Cited Media. We receive additional support from the Show more...

9 months ago

57 minutes 4 seconds

Indigenous Planetary Health Podcast

EP25: No More Sacrifice Zones: A Conversation with Indigenous Climate Activist Eriel Tchekwie Deranger

In this episode, Heather and Hōkū sit down with winner of the 2024 Climate Breakthrough Award, Eriel Tchekwie Deranger, a a Dënesųłiné Indigenous rights and climate activist. Eriel was raised in relation with the ecosystems across so-called Alberta and Saskatchewan, where each part of the land is understood to be a relative. Eriel discusses how the white supremacist perspective that the earth is our dominion to conquer (using the ever-expanding tar sands in her home territory as an example) is a root cause of climate change. She describes how simply reducing greenhouse gases does not reconcile the ways in which human relationships with the natural world are out of balance. She argues that humanity needs a major shift in ideology.

Eriel focuses on strategic disruption to invest deeply in alternative climate solutions that exist outside of colonialism and capitalism. She plans to use funds from her Climate Breakthrough Award to collaborate with Indigenous Peoples from around the world to amplify how Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination are true climate mitigation strategies. This episode also addresses the symbiotic relationship between people and all of Creation as key to understanding the resiliency of ecosystems and the humans within it. Eriel challenges us to resist rhetorics and policies that reproduce notions of “sacrifice zones” and to embrace the ways in which humans are intimately, physiologically, and spiritually intertwined with nature, not external to it.

Eriel is Dënesųłiné and a member of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation. Eriel is also a co-founder and executive director of Indigenous Climate Action, an Indigenous led climate justice organization established by Indigenous women in so-called Canada.

This podcast is created by the Impact Chair in Transformative Governance for Planetary Health at the University of Victoria, with production support from Cited Media. We are supported by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. You can find us at the Show more...

9 months ago

55 minutes 31 seconds