An Earth Month Playlist: Documentaries Centering Indigenous Voices
Earth Day was created in 1970 as a way to support environmentalism and raise awareness of the ways in which we can prevent further environmental damage. Every year April 22 serves as a day to learn more and do more to be good stewards of the Earth. What better way to do that than to listen to Indigenous voices and learn from their traditions of caring for the land, air, and water.
In this collection of films and programs, Indigenous people share their environmental knowledge and experiences, whether it's about minimizing damage from wildfires, keeping water clean, preserving lands, or connecting with familial places and traditions. The key is listening to the original stewards of this little spot of Earth we call home.
One With the Whale
Premieres April 23rd on Independent Lens
Hunting whales is a matter of life or death for the residents of St. Lawrence. When a shy Alaska Native teen becomes the youngest person ever to harpoon a whale for his village, his family is blindsided by thousands of keyboard activists brutally attacking him online—without full perspective on the importance of the hunt to his community's well-being.
Land Back: The Indigenous Fight to Reclaim Stolen Lands
From KQED's Above the Noise:
Indigenous communities across the globe are experts at managing and protecting land. Is it time the U.S. finally returned STOLEN parklands back to them?
Add to Your WatchlistA Qayak to Carry Us
Sugpiat people come home to Kodiak Island to learn and build Indigenous knowledge near ancestral petroglyphs. Merging Indigenous knowledge with western science, Dr. Sven Haakanson and other Sugpiat people in Akhiok pass along the ingenuity of traditional knowledge in a living context to young Sugpiat while building a kayak from wood gathered on the treeless beaches of Cape Alitak.
Add to Your WatchlistClimate, Nature & Our Planet
Climate Change and Indigenous People
From Hot Mess:
As the world figures out how to live with a rapidly changing climate, traditional knowledge from indigenous cultures could help us understand just how things are transforming.
Add to Your WatchlistIndigenous Land Stewardship
From PBS SoCal:
This "Tending Nature" special features multiple perspectives and voices from Indigenous communities across California who are striving to keep the practices of their heritage alive. From coming-of-age rituals, seasonal food harvests, basket weaving and jewelry making, the documentary shares how traditional practices can be protected and maintained as a way of life for future generations.
Add to Your WatchlistWe Can't Stop Wildfires—But Here's How We Live With Them
From Weathered:
The 2020 fire season is devastating communities, forcing thousands to evacuate, and choking the air with smoke. In this episode of Weathered, scientists and Native leaders tell us what we can do to reduce the harm fires can cause through design, building materials, and listening to the land. We’ll even watch researchers burn a home in their lab to identify weak points and make them stronger.
Add to Your WatchlistDocumentaries about climate change around the world
Listening to Earth: Indigenous Wisdom and Climate Futures
From Cutline:
Hosted by NPR Science Friday’s Diana Montano, hear from a panel of Native environmental justice activists Eriel Deranger and Kyle Whyte on the climate knowledge that has existed in indigenous communities for generations, and the practical solutions that can spur a better collective attempt at caring for our planet.
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The Indigenous Garden Project at Olbrich Garden
From University Place:
Rita Peters, Facilitator of the Indigenous Garden, and Erin Presley, Horticulturist, at Olbrich Botanical Gardens highlight the development of the indigenous garden from planning to planting to harvesting foods important to the Midwestern indigenous culture.
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