Description
Indigenous People have been an integral part of ensuring that ecosystems and natural resources are healthy and sustainable. In return for their stewardship, the land and the biodiversity of the places that Native people call home have produced irreplaceable healing mechanisms, medicines, nutrients, materials for successful lifeways, and lessons about how all living things have a purpose and belong just where they are.  
However, colonization has removed Indigenous People not only from these ecosystems but from decision making roles about how human society should be interacting with natural resources. Historically, Tribal principles and values have not been prioritized or considered in land management policy and academic settings. Indigenous Knowledge, which has developed over thousands of years of people living in close and reciprocal relationships with their immediate environment, has routinely been devalued, ignored, and precluded equal consideration in land management planning as western science. By failing to assess landscape health with the breadth of Indigenous Knowledge systems, we have been unable to create holistic and sustainable management practices that transcend political borders. In the instances where Indigenous People are consulted and involved in caretaking and decision making over their homelands and resources, ecosystems are better restored and thriving  
Now more than ever, Native people and Tribal Nations are learning from their ancestors and tackling the systematic legal and academic barriers that bar them from full involvement in land management decisions and acquisitions. They are increasingly involved in public land administration, establishing co-management and stewardship agreements with governmental agencies across the country. Tribes are pushing policies that advocate for land return, recognize Indigenous rights, and mandate the use of Indigenous Knowledge in land planning processes. They are exercising their sovereignty to implement legal rights of nature on their own homelands and establishing legal barriers to extractive industries. Their growing achievements show us that empowering humanity’s connection to nature strengthens our collective resolve to care for the Earth.  
This panel will include voices from across Indigenous lands and communities to share how evolving LANDBACK projects, Tribal land management principles, and community-led stewardship provides a path for us to consider the holistic healing of an ecosystem. The panelists will discuss how advocacy for the land stretches from studying our smallest plant relatives to testifying in the biggest halls of political power. By sharing their expertise, these leaders in Indian Country will demonstrate how we can all work together to utilize our skills in order to create innovative solutions that benefit all of our relations. 
Presenter Bios
Jamie Gomez
Glacier Bay National Park
Jamie spear-headed the development of the land management plan after the Glacier Bay, many years after it was designated into National Monument Status. The Tlingit and Haida are in their third year of land management and Jamie would like to share processes and best practices for developing the strategic plan and engaging in future agreements like this.
Elizabeth Paige
Native American Land Conservancy Stewardship
Elizabeth Paige is a desert naturalist, cultural educator, and member of the Torres Martinez Band of Cahuilla Indians, who has extensive experience in public conservation lands management, volunteer organization, and restoration of Indigenous ecosystems. Currently the Education and Stewardship Program Manager for the Native American Land Conservancy, her team manages seven preserves in California and provides educational programs and community outreach focused on Indigenous Land Management, collaborative restoration with local and state agencies, and reconnecting Native people with their cultural landscapes.
Jonathon Freeman
Native Roots Network
Jonathan is a co-founder of Native Roots Network (NRN), a nonprofit organization based in Shasta County, CA that serves as a hub for community members to come together in efforts around youth leadership development, cultural exchanges, traditional and contemporary Native arts, ceremonial run delegations and community wellness projects. NRN weaves learnings about New Economies into their work to collaborate, educate and invigorate the possibilities to build strong networks that serve our local and regional community. They’ve coined the term, “Acornomics,” an Indigenous knowledge-informed and valued centered holistic economic development strategy to build, foster, and support a healthy, resilient, empowered community and landscape. NRN uses these philosophies to move forward the Be•le Bo•m Land Back Initiative and has successfully secured two culturally and historically significant properties, including 4.5-acres on 299E and 1,209-acres (former ranch)—returning these lands to Native stewardship. The 11-month restoration and development has been a remarkable journey.
Shaliyah Ben
Native American Arts Center at Idyllwild Arts Academy
Shaliyah Ben (Diné) is a lecturer, educator, and advocate of American Indian arts and culture and originally hails from Shiprock, New New Mexico on the Navajo Nation where her family still practices traditional farming methods in the San Juan River Valley. Prior to joining Idyllwild Arts as the Executive Director of the Native American Arts Center, she worked at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, AZ. During her 20-year tenure at the Heard, she held multiple roles in both the Education and Curatorial Departments, and also served as the Director of Public Programming. Shaliyah's work focuses on the confluence of Indigenous ways of knowing alongside western modes of education and scholarship. Traversing this field with both worlds in mind she has successfully set in place initiatives at Idyllwild Arts Academy, the Summer Program and Native American Arts Center that support Indigenous pedagogies and creativity. Shaliyah has a BA in French, and certificates in both Arabic Language and Islamic Studies from Arizona State University.
DateFriday, February 6
