Bioneers: Revolution From the Heart of Nature The Nature of Language and the Language of Nature
Jan 7, 2026
Join Indigenous language champions Jeannette Armstrong and Rowen White as they explore the deep connections between language and nature. Jeannette shares how her land-based identity intertwines with the Ntsilch'in language, revealing its ethics and community ties. Rowen emphasizes the importance of seed-keeping, introducing the concept of a seed song that honors cyclical relationships with nature. They highlight the urgency of revitalizing endangered languages and the incredible role they play in preserving cultural memory and ecological wisdom.
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Language As Living Ecological Record
- Jeannette Armstrong frames language as an embodied record of place-specific knowledge and ecological intelligence.
- Tamihu and temhulah encode life, movement, and the living environment as integrated ethical systems.
A Name, A Lineage, A Severed Memory
- Rowen White shares her Mohawk name and lineage interrupted by residential schools.
- She reconnects as a seed keeper and apprentice to ancestral plant relatives for decades.
Learn Their Languages, Not Fit Yours
- Learn Indigenous languages to grasp relational time, kinship, and reciprocity with land.
- Stop forcing Indigenous peoples to fit colonial linguistic frameworks and instead learn their words and stories.