All Panels and Roundtables

In this lecture, DinĂ© geographer Andrew Curley and NHM Research Director Steve Lyons introduce the theory and practice of “red natural history,” asking how, as the combative antithesis to the imperialist tradition of natural history, “red natural history” can orient us to the ongoing resource wars on the Colorado River, arguably the most colonized river in North America—as well as the struggles playing out over its future.

This lecture was presented at Dutch artist Jonas Staal’s Climate Propagandas Congregation at BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht on December 15, 2024.

“What Comes After the Wilderness Act,” a virtual roundtable exploring how we should understand the Wilderness Act on its 60th anniversary—a moment both of Indigenous resurgence and a rising far right. Bringing together historians, legal experts, and impacted community members, this roundtable explores a range of issues around the Wilderness Act, from the settler-colonial ideology undergirding its definition of “wilderness,” to the question of how this historic legislation might be revised or rewritten to serve the movement for land rematriation.

SPEAKERS

*Rosalyn LaPier (Blackfeet/MĂ©tis), Professor of History at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Red Natural History Fellow

*Heather Whiteman Runs Him (Apsaalooke/Crow), Director of the Tribal Justice Clinic and Associate Clinical Professor, University of Arizona Rogers College of Law

*Christen Falcon (Amskapi Piikani/Blackfeet), Blackfeet gatherer/hunter, Traditional Diet/Land Tenure Research Coordinator for Piikani Lodge Health Institute, and co-owner of Backpacker’s Ferry

*Karl Jacoby, Allan Nevins Professor of American History at Columbia University

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Held on September 25, 2024, this event was organized by Rosalyn LaPier as part of Natural History for a World in Crisis, a programming series organized by the 2023-2025 cohort of Red Natural History Fellows with The Natural History Museum. Made possible with support from the Henry Luce Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundations and 4Culture.

“Aquifer Defenders: Learning from Waadookawaad Amikwag,” an event exploring how Indigenous knowledge and Western science can be mobilized to halt the destruction caused by pipelines, stop future projects, and protect the land and water for future generations––in Minnesota and beyond. Highlighting the work of Waadookawaad Amikwag (“Those Who Help Beaver”), a diverse community group of water protectors, scientists, drone pilots, field monitors, and grassroots organizers that is gathering and interpreting evidence of environmental destruction from the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline, expanded in 2021 after a decade of Native-led resistance, this Zoom Webinar explores the group’s their troubling findings, including aquifer breaches, lack of tribal consultations, and inadequate state regulation enforcement.

SPEAKERS

* Victoria M.L. McMillen (Migizi Clan, Anishinaabeg Nagachiwaanong): Cultural and traditional Ecological knowledge carrier, volunteer with Waadookawaad Amikwag

* Jami Gaither: Metallurgical engineer and founding member of Waadookawaad Amikwag

* Jeff Broberg: Geologist and founding member of Minnesota Well Owners Organization (MNWOO) and Waadookawaad Amikwag

* Kai Bosworth: Critical Geographer and Red Natural History Fellow

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Held on August 1, 2024, this webinar was curated by Kai Bosworth as part of “Natural History for a World in Crisis,” a virtual programming series organized by Red Natural History Fellows with The Natural History Museum. Made possible with support from the Henry Luce Foundation, Hewlett Foundation and 4Culture.

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Check out resources and other material from Wadookawaad Amikwag on the group’s website: https://waadookawaadamikwag.org

“Resisting the Global Land Grab,” is a virtual event exploring how histories of colonialism, apartheid and uneven development have set the terms for today’s “solutions” to ecological crisis, engaging not only the common conditions of oppression faced by Indigenous communities across the world, but also the solidarities they are forging in their shared struggle against neocolonial conservation—and for Land Back. With Speakers Krystal Two Bulls (Oglala Lakota/Cheyenne), Executive Director of Honor the Earth; Nnimmo Bassey, Nigerian architect, environmental activist, author, poet, and Director of the environmental think tank Health of Mother Earth Foundation; and Ashley Dawson, Distinguished Professor of Postcolonial Studies at the Graduate Center, City University of New York and the College of Staten Island and Red Natural History Fellow.

This panel brought together frontline communities, including Indigenous elders from the Pacific Northwest and environmental justice advocates from rural Appalachia and the Gulf South. Drawing on intergenerational knowledge and the lived experience of struggle, speakers shined a spotlight on the costs, public health impacts, and environmental damage caused by extractive and fossil fuel-based energy initiatives. They also addressed the power of people around the world to come together around truly clean energy solutions — solutions that contribute to the regeneration of the air, land, and water, and to the flourishing of communities that have been sacrifice zones for decades and longer.

Moderator * Beka Economopoulos, The Natural History Museum, Pacific Northwest

Speakers

* Rueben George, Sacred Trust Initiative, Tsleil-Waututh Nation

* Yvette Arellano, Fenceline Watch, Texas/Gulf Coast

* Germaine Patterson, Women for a Healthy Environment, Pittsburgh/Mon Valley, PA

* Heaven Sensky, Center for Coalfield Justice, Washington County, PA

* Gillian Graber, Protect PT, Westmoreland/Allegheny County, PA

Roundtable co-organized by @BreatheProject and @The Natural History Museum at @Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens Pittsburgh, PA Thursday, September 22, 2022