For The Wild

This week, the U.S. Department of the Interior formally opened up Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling, an unprecedented decision that threatens Gwich’in lifeways and sacred lands, while exacerbating both climate and extinction crises. In recognition of this, we are choosing to re-air our critically relevant conversation with Faith Gemmill and Princess Lucaj, originally aired in September of 2016. The fight to protect these life giving ground has been going on for decades and will continue to do so as the first leases to drill for oil and gas could be sold by the end of this year. As the decision to open up 1.57 million acres of the refuge’s coastal plain was only formalized this week, protectors of place are rallying to stop this move, and so we are asking you to remain vigilant for calls to action over the coming months.Faith Gemmill is a Pit River/ Wintu and Neets’aii Gwich’in Athabascan earth defender from Arctic Village, Alaska. She is a part of REDOIL (Resisting Environmental Destruction on Indigenous Lands) and has worked on behalf of the Gwich’in Nation for over a decade as a representative, public spokesperson and Gwich’in Steering Committee staff to address the potential human health and cultural impacts of proposed oil development in the birthplace and nursery of the Porcupine Caribou Herd in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Princess Daazhraii Johnson/Princess Lucaj is Neets’aii Gwich’in and her family is from Arctic Village, Alaska. Johnson is the former Executive Director for the Gwich’in Steering Committee and is a founding member of the Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition. She also has experience working on climate adaptation for tribes through her on-going work with the Cold Climate Housing Research Center. Johnson received a B.A. in International Relations from The George Washington University and a Masters in Education at the University of Alaska Anchorage with a focus on Environmental and Science Education. She has been a member of the SAG-AFTRA Native American Committee since 2007 and also serves on the Board of Dancing with the Spirit, a program that promotes spiritual wellness through music. In 2015 Johnson was appointed by President Obama to serve on the Board of Trustees for the Institute of American Indian Arts. She is based in Alaska and is currently creative producing an animated series for the WGBH that will premiere on PBS in 2019.. Music by Willie Dunn, Teahawk (ft. Redhawk Woman), Beau, and Kate Wolf. Visit our website at forthewild.world for the full episode description, references and action points.Support the show

Anayvette shares the inspiration and impact of the Radical Monarchs, who exemplify the difference between service and justice, the importance of bringing youth into social justice movements at an early age and what we can learn about sustainability, self-care, and avoiding burn out culture by creating with young ones in mind.Support the show

Jahawi Bertolli takes us underwater to learn about Kenya’s coastal ecosystems and biodiversity, including a tremendous seafaring culture and folklore as well as changing seascapes due to warming waters, overexploitation, and pollution. Jahawi shares how the importance of community-based conservation, traditional ecological knowledge in East Africa, and how storytelling can be a conduit...Support the show

Through eras of colonization and acculturation, we’ve seen the consolidation of seeds into a handful of corporations and the production of a soulless industrial food landscape. Rowen White shares her thoughts on Indigenous food sovereignty, seed restoration as rematriation, and what it means to bring seed relatives home. Support the show

In this heartening encore episode of For The Wild, initially recorded in November of 2015, we speak to all-around inspiration, legendary artist, educator and political activist, Buffy Sainte-Marie. Buffy shares with us her story and how we can authentically grow our creativity in contemporary times. Almost 50 years after the release of her album It’s My Way!, Buffy remains an indomitable artist...Support the show

Lama Rod Owens supports us in navigating the changing of worlds we are experiencing. In recognizing these moments of great turning - our work is to tend to our grief and massage our trauma, as tumultuous as it may be. Rather than running away from the unknown or the uncomfortable, Lama Rod reminds us that it is through experiencing hardship that we develop an emotional buoyancy and resilience....Support the show

Anjali shares how in order to truly support liberatory work and movements, we must unlearn. Beginning with how and where we should source or knowledge, we discuss the problem with passive consumption, the pervasiveness of miseducation, and the academic-industrial complex. Anjali shares how we can create community-based spaces that cultivate knowledge and honesty. Support the show

In conversation with Jackie Wang, we explore the pervasiveness of debt, our temporal and spatial understandings of prisons, and the technological dimensions of surveillance and incarceration. We discuss how we can resist the accession of predictive policing and what digital carceral infrastructure can reveal about the state’s growing surveillance apparatus.Support the show

Leah Penniman guides us through an adaptation of a Haitian prayer from her maternal lineage that honors the forces of nature and our ancestors. Leah’s gracious offering invites us to open ourselves to the elements of the Earth that shape our lives. Together we practice reverence and gratitude for the gifts that surround us and give us our strength, health and nourishment. Support the show

Mariame Kaba joins us for an expansive conversation on Transformative Justice, community accountability, criminalization of survivors, and freedom on the horizon. When we engage with these issues and shape our actions out of a commitment to removing violence at its core, we are working to transform our world...Support the show