Eli Enns On Indigenous Conservation and Bringing Balance Back
Conservationist Eli Enns’ voice exudes warmth, irony, and a nuanced historical awareness of what it is to live in Canada (from kanata, the Haudenosaunee word for “village”) and be Canadian today. This lively conversation, accented by personal stories from his West Coast Indigenous heritage, tackles the fine balance between rights, laws, and responsibilities when undertaking ethical stewardship of traditional lands and waters everywhere.
By viewing all inhabitants of present-day Canada as treaty people, Eli highlights the eternal invitation within “Hishuk-ish Tsa-wak,” or the Nuu-chah-nulth phrase describing the oneness of all living and non-living things. He explains to co-hosts Kai Chan (professor and Canada Research Chair at UBC) and Maia O’Donnell (UBC graduate in soil science and producer of the Small Planet Heroes podcast) that rising together means coming to terms with colonial history. The notion of inheritance far exceeds the legacy of trauma; reconciliation is paved with both humility and resistance; and respecting nature entails multi-dimensional healing work for individuals as well as the collective.
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Listen to Eli on the Emerging Environments podcast
Annotated Transcript, with Links
