All My Relations Podcast Healing The Land IS Healing Ourselves
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May 27, 2020 In this engaging discussion, Kim Smith, a Diné community organizer and activist, shares her profound insights on the connection between land healing and personal well-being. She recounts her over 1200-mile journey to the sacred mountains, emphasizing community-led restoration efforts. Kim highlights the impact of extractive industries on health within Navajo communities, advocating for environmental justice. Through her initiatives, she illustrates the power of storytelling and collective action in reclaiming ancestral ties and nurturing a sustainable future.
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Land-Body Interconnection
- Kim Smith links her autoimmune illness and pain to the brokenness of land and community from extractive industries.
- Reconnecting to sacred places and ceremony during the Nihígaal Bee Lina walk restored her spirit and guided healing work.
1,400-Mile Pilgrimage To Sacred Mountains
- Nihígaal Bee Lina walked over 1,400 miles in a year to the Diné sacred mountains, honoring ancestors by leaving in winter.
- The pilgrimage revealed environmental threats, awakened communities, and seeded ongoing organizing relationships.
The 'National Sacrifice Zone' Legacy
- Northern Navajo was designated a "national sacrifice zone," inviting decades of coal, gas, and industrial harms.
- That policy context explains entrenched pollution and why local communities face deep health and economic entanglement with industry.