Events

Three leaders of traditional Bay Area territories will speak from the heart about historical and contemporary events that have left them landless and without federal recognition, the impact of this situation on their people, the work they are doing to reclaim culture and re-assert their claim to these lands, and why Indigenous presence matters as San Francisco emerges as one of the wealthiest cities on the planet and a hub for tech corporations and real estate speculation.

On Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2019, canoes representing tribes from as far North as Canada and as far West as Hawaii will converge on San Francisco Bay for a paddle around Alcatraz Island to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Occupation of Alcatraz and stand in solidarity for the water, the land, the air, and future generations.

Building on centuries of Indigenous knowledge about the sun’s power to give life, Indigenous communities across the continent are modeling a solar energy future that breaks from the profit motive. This panel considers green energy as a site for decolonization.

On one hand, the history of coal is a history of exploitation of both land and labor. On the other, it is the history of the struggle of workers to organize for dignified work, fair pay, and safe working conditions. How should the environmental movement relate to workers whose livelihoods are tied to fossil fuel extraction?

This animated film by artist Nick Crockett, built in a game engine, presents an alternative version of the 300 million year history of coal. Hovering between homage and parody, fantasy and documentary, cinema and simulation, it pitches labor history and natural history against the confused representations of Appalachia in popular culture today.