Indigenous Perspectives on Cycles of Collapse and Rebirth

Dahr Jamail talks with Dr. Lyla June Johnston and gains a far broader perspective on the polycrisis. Lyla June wonders why people are surprised that things have arrived at this point of collapse, given the inherent insatiability of the dominant system of extraction and growth, and the fact that Indigenous people have been issuing warnings for centuries. She also discusses rebirth, consequences of our actions, the creation of new paradigms, the Lakota view of selfishness as a mental illness, gardening our culture, healing, and ultimately, love.

Dr. Lyla June Johnston, of Navajo, Cheyenne, and European lineages, received her PhD from the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Indigenous Studies Program, with a focus on Indigenous land stewardship. She also has a degree in environmental anthropology, with honors, from Stanford University, and a degree in American Indian education, with distinction, from the University of New Mexico.