Speaker: James Rattling Leaf and Gwen Bridge | Air Date: July 27, 2023 | Run Time: 51 mins | Season 4
Cover art by John Jairo Valencia
TEK Warriors use ethical space to indigenize ecology
Join Lakota leader James Rattling Leaf, a global Indigenous consultant, and Gwen Bridge, a Cree First Nations environmental leader, together with Native ecologist and host Melissa Nelson, in a conversation about the importance of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). In this episode, we learn about their work with Tribes and First Nations in the US and Canada and how they are elevating TEK in academia, research, and government. They specifically discuss the growing movement of TEK within the Ecological Society of America (ESA), the world’s largest community of professional ecologists. From the ethical space framework and Canadian policies supporting the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in land management regimes, such as prescribed fire, to discussing tribally specific climate strategies during these extreme times, Gwen, James, and Melissa provide a concrete case study of Indigenous ecologists ethically and respectfully including TEK in a major ecological society of Western trained scientists and promoting Native ways of knowing through intergenerational Indigenous leadership. Ultimately, we encourage everyone to explore ethical space and learn about Indigenous policies to create more reciprocal collaborations between Indigenous and Western sciences. Join the TEK Section movement in ESA and support these strategies throughout the world.
“Ethical space is a wonderful framework for providing the container, if you will, the space to be able to deeply explore the assumptions we’re bringing into the conversations we’re having between different worldviews. So the opportunity within ethical space is to, as my mentor in the space, Reg Crowshoe says, is to, deeply understand what needs to be understood from the other’s perspective and then create something new from that understanding.
Part of this work is on that individual commitment level to allow yourself to be transformed through your understanding, and then the creativity to be able to create something new.”
About James Rattling Leaf, Sr.
James Rattling Leaf is a global Indigenous Consultant and Principal of the Wolakota Lab, LLC who serves as a guide and inspiration to organizations to work more effectively with Indigenous Peoples for a more equitable world. He has over 25 years’ working with the US federal government, higher education institutions and non-profits to develop and maintain effective working relationships with federally and non-federally recognized American Indian tribes, tribal colleges and universities and tribal communities. He specializes in developing programs that utilize the interface between Indigenous people’s traditional knowledge and western science. He sees a greater vision of human knowledge that incorporates the many insights of human cultures and provides a context for our better understanding of the planet.
About Gwen Bridge
Gwen is a member of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation and has been working for over 20 years with First Nations, all levels of government, and the private and non profit sectors, across North America, developing relationships and strategies that advance reconciliation. Gwen has been negotiating initiatives and advising on strategy and policy that recognize and implement Indigenous Knowledge, such as in the proposed South Okanagan Similkameen National Park Reserve. Gwen has also recently been advising the BC government on how to better consider indigenous knowledge in collaborative land use planning and forestry related climate change considerations. Support to local governments include developing strategies and principles for becoming “Cities of Reconciliation”, and advising on climate change policy and economic development engagement strategies. Indigenous led conservation focuses recently include the smelqmix Protected Area and caribou habitat conservation advancement in the territory of the Okanagan Nation Alliance. Advancing an understanding of the ecological, economic and equity based partnership mechanisms to support our collective reconciliation agenda through training is a recent focus. Other clients include First Nations and First Nation organizations, Parks Canada, US National Parks Service, National Geographic Society, other non profits, regional and municipal governments including Metro Vancouver, other consulting firms, the University of Washington, Blue Quills University, BC Ministries of: Environment, Indigenous Relationships and Reconciliation, Forests, and Land, Water and Resource Stewardship.
Gwen is an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Forestry at UBC. Gwen has a Master of Science in Forest Hydrology from the University of Alberta.
Additional Resources
ESA TEK Section Twitter handle: @esa_tek
ESA TEK Section Webinars online
Melissa, James, Gwen, and TEK team in Montreal, Canada, 2022
CREDITS
Host/Writer/Director: Melissa Nelson
Producers: Mateo Hinojosa, Sara Moncada, Raven Marshall
Audio Engineering: Colin Farish
Audio Recording: Melissa Nelson, Raven Marshall, Alexis Stanley
Episode cover artwork: John Jairo Valencia
Original Soundscapes and Songs
Soundscapes and Music Composed and Produced by Colin Farish
Listen to more of Colin’s music at colinfarish.com
Song credits
Theme song “Life” by Colin Farish
From the the album Colin Farish: “Curious Species”
Featuring:
Piano: Colin Farish
percussion: Peter Medlam
bass: Chas Thompson
Featuring:
piano, guitar, percussion, synths, samples, and flutes: Colin Farish
voice: Capomo
piano: Jasnam Daya Singh
cello quartet: Fog Town Four
violin: Jeremy Cohen
guitar: Christen Konopka
flute & percussion: Jhaffur Kahn
beat-boxing, drums: Cameron Campbell
Featuring:
“Plants of the Sea, Ka Uluwehi O Ke Kai”
ukulele: Del Medina
voice: Linda Low
percussion: Colin Farish