Indigenous Earth Community Podcast

What happens when the first fresh fish your people have eaten for ten thousand years stops coming up the river? And what do you lose when an entire generation grows up never tasting it?

Cindy Wagner has lived on the Annette Island Reserve in Metlakatla, Alaska for 56 years, the only Native reserve in the state and the only one in the world sitting entirely on an island. Her husband Louie is known as the hooligan man. She is the Grease Lady. Together they have spent their lives on the Unuk River, teaching children, grandchildren and now great grandchildren how to live off the land.

In this episode, Cindy explains what the hooligan is and why people once called it the savior fish, lining up four blocks deep for eight hours to get a single bucket. She describes finding oil drums and pallets thirty miles up a river that only Canada sits above, watching two natural lakes fill with mine tailings until blood red water spills over the top with every rainfall, and losing the marbled blue glacier water where the best trout used to hold. She walks through what it takes to render pure hooligan grease, why the Unuk is the only river in Alaska closed to the very people whose inherent right it is to fish it, and what is coming next: a proposed tailings dam 780 feet tall, five thousand workers, fifty five years.

This is for anyone who wants to understand what a mine upstream actually does to the people downstream, told by someone who has watched it happen for a lifetime.

What You'll Discover:

Resources:

📚 Support This Podcast & Indigenous Youth Workshops: When you purchase books through our Indigenous Earth Bookshop, you directly support independent Indigenous booksellers AND fund our hands on workshops for Native youth worldwide. Every book purchase helps preserve traditional ecological knowledge for the next generation. 🌱

Connect with Indigenous Earth:

Topics: Unuk River, hooligan, eulachon, ooligan grease, Metlakatla, Annette Island Reserve, Southeast Alaska, transboundary mining, tailings dams, wild salmon, subsistence rights, Indigenous food sovereignty, SEITC, water protection

What happens when a place your people have prayed at for a thousand years becomes a uranium mining site? And what can one voice actually do to stop it?

Sumaya Quitugua, a young woman from the Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico and Chamorro from Guam, grew up at the Sky City, in traditional adobe homes on top of a mesa, where her grandfather taught her that we don't own the land or the water. We protect them. 

In this episode, Sumaya breaks down the fight for Chaco Canyon, a place protected by President Theodore Roosevelt over a century ago and named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, now targeted for uranium mining right up against its borders. She explains what's really at stake, what mining does to land and water that can never be undone, and how a seven-day public comment window turned into a hundred and fifty days because people refused to stay silent.

This is for anyone who's ever wondered whether speaking up actually changes anything, and anyone who wants to understand sacred land from the people who carry it.

What You'll Discover:

Resources:

📚 Support This Podcast & Indigenous Youth Workshops: When you purchase books through our Indigenous Earth Bookshop, you directly support independent Indigenous booksellers AND fund our hands-on workshops for Native youth worldwide. Every book purchase helps preserve traditional ecological knowledge for the next generation. 🌱

Connect with Indigenous Earth:

Topics: Chaco Canyon, uranium mining, sacred sites, Acoma Pueblo, Indigenous land rights, public lands, water protection, UNESCO World Heritage Site, environmental justice, tribal sovereignty, public comment, land conservation

Hey friends, it's been a while. Like many of you, we've been navigating a lot on the environmental and overall news front lately, so today I'm doing something a little different.

I think back to those early days kayaking with friends here in Florida, searching rivers for trash. Some days we'd arrive and the water was pristine. We almost felt bad, like we had nothing to do. My mentor smiled and said, "just enjoy it,  sometimes we need to remember why we do what we do."

That's what this episode is. No interviews, no talking. Just the sounds of the living world.

This nocturnal soundscape was recorded deep inside Kichwa tribal territory in the Ecuadorian Amazon by artist Rafael Diogo. Bats cutting through the dark, insects surging into something almost electric, a monkey rustling unseen branches, a distant howl, and underneath it all a stream threading through the night.

A beautiful reminder of what we're working for.

Big thank you to Rafael and our friends at Earth.fm — a nonprofit repository of over 1,200 pure, immersive natural soundscapes from around the world, recorded by the best artists. Based on empirical evidence as well as numerousrecent studies from all over the world, listening to natural soundscapes has a great positive impact on our wellbeing, and potentially on our respect for nature. However, these soundscapes are increasingly scarce as we humans continue to destroy the natural ecosystems which produce them. That's where Earth.fm comes in: as well as sharing a new natural soundscape every day, they're actively helping the community go out in nature more often and discover a deeper, more direct connection with the wonders around us. Visit www.earth.fm and download their app on Android or Apple devices.

Stay tuned! exciting interviews are lined up. And if you have questions or just want to say hello, it genuinely means a lot to hear from you. (send me some good vibes!)

Find me on Instagram @frankoscarweaver or email [email protected]

aguye! 

Feeling overwhelmed by climate change and disconnected from nature? What if the solutions we need have been here all along, in the wisdom our ancestors knew, in the plants growing in our backyards?

Laylalanai Gocobachi, a Pascua Yaqui woman and Unity Earth Ambassador, learned this from her grandfather who sent her into the Arizona desert with grocery bags to "shop" for dinner. He taught her the desert is like our pantry, and that Native people were the first scientists.

Today, Laylalanai shows us how to bridge traditional wisdom and modern science. You'll learn how she combines climate data with elder observations about disappearing plants, and why the Earth is constantly speaking to us, through snakes climbing trees before floods, through plants receding, we just need to remember how to listen.

This is for anyone who's felt like one person can't make a difference, anyone searching for hope in these challenging times.

What You'll Discover:

Resources:

📚 Support This Podcast & Indigenous Youth Workshops: When you purchase books through our Indigenous Earth Bookshop, you directly support independent Indigenous booksellers AND fund our hands-on workshops for Native youth worldwide. Every book purchase helps preserve traditional ecological knowledge for the next generation. 🌱

Connect with Indigenous Earth:

Music Credit: "Pascola Dance - Mamna Cialim (Green Spinach)" performed by Musicians and Singers from Old Pascua Village, Tucson and Rio Yaqui, Sonora from the album Yaqui Ritual and Festive Music (Canyon Records, 2002). Published by DMG Arizona Music/Public Domain.

Topics: Traditional ecological knowledge, intergenerational learning, Yaqui culture, climate assessment, Indigenous youth leadership, desert wisdom, water sovereignty, environmental science, knowledge braiding, listening to Earth

Want a green career but worried you'll have to compromise your values? Andrea Everett from the Pueblo of Ysleta del Sur shows there's another way.

Andrea shares how she turned her midnight business decision into MatriARC PROJECTion LLC, a drone and GIS mapping company that serves communities instead of extracting from them. She reveals why she turns down high-paying work that doesn't align with her Pueblo values, and how that actually attracts better opportunities.

You'll also hear the inspiring story of how a group of Pueblo women came together after Feast Day to reclaim their traditional farming roles. They secured land, built two hoop houses, and are now growing ancestral seeds: Hopi corn for ceremonies, Pueblo chiles, tobacco, and marigolds for Day of the Dead. Healing in community while creating a foundation for the next generation.

What You'll Discover:

Resources:

Connect:

Andrea Everett Story Maps.

https://borderlore.org/a-sacred-rivers-sovereignty/

indigenousearth.org

Topics: Green careers, GIS mapping, drone jobs, Indigenous agriculture, seed sovereignty, rematriation, traditional farming, values-based business, career advice for Native youth

Environmentalist face devastating burnout rates - 96% experience high or very high exhaustion levels from working on environmental issues. BIPOC communities bear this burden even more heavily, standing on the frontlines of climate destruction.

For this Earth Warrior Challenge we are looking on how Indigenous wisdom offers a powerful antidote: connecting with your environmental ancestors.

What You'll Experience:

The Connection Process:

Resources Referenced:

Special Thanks:

Connect with Indigenous Earth:

Topics: Climate burnout, ancestral connection, environmental activism sustainability, Indigenous wisdom practices, water divining, intergenerational environmental calling, BIPOC climate trauma, spiritual ecology, activist resilience

Join us as we return with Professor Susan (Sue) Chiblow, one of our most beloved guests whose wisdom bridges Indigenous science with academic research. As an Ojibwe professor and International Joint Commission commissioner, Sue reveals the right way to learn from Indigenous knowledge—without appropriation or harm.

Discover how to respectfully access traditional wisdom, trace your own ancestral stories, and apply Indigenous practices to solve environmental problems in your own community.

What You'll Experience:

Essential Reading Mentioned:

📚 Support This Podcast & Indigenous Youth Workshops: When you purchase the books Sue recommends through our Indigenous Earth Bookshop, you directly support independent Indigenous booksellers AND fund our hands-on workshops for Native youth worldwide. Every book purchase helps preserve traditional ecological knowledge for the next generation. 🌱

🎬 Watch Recommended: "The Americas Before Christopher Columbus" series on APTN - 10 episodes showing the incredible innovations of Indigenous peoples across the continent

Connect with Indigenous Earth:

"We're not trying to save the planet—the earth will be fine. We're trying to save ourselves and learn to be better humans." - Sue

Topics: Water protection, Indigenous science, chemical contamination, glyphosate, traditional ecological knowledge, displacement trauma, academic-Indigenous knowledge bridge, Ojibwe wisdom, environmental justice, intergenerational healing 

Join us as we journey to the Hawaiian Islands with Molly Mamaril, a powerful voice bridging Hawaiian wisdom with modern environmental and economic solutions. Born in Hawaii but raised in Minnesota's Hawaiian diaspora, Molly shares her transformative journey back to her ancestral home and reveals practical ways to apply the sacred values of aloha in your own life and community.

Discover how you can support local economies, restore damaged environments, and build stronger communities using time-tested Hawaiian principles of reciprocity and abundance. Learn why changing where you spend your money can be one of the most powerful actions you can take today.

🎧 Don't Miss Frank's Episode on Heartbeat Narratives!

Connect with Molly Mamaril:

📚 Support This Podcast & Native Youth Workshops: When you purchase books on Indigenous wisdom, and environmental restoration through Bookshop.org, a portion of your purchase directly supports this podcast and our workshops for Native youth across the globe. Your book purchases help us continue sharing Indigenous stories and empowering the next generation of Indigenous leaders. 🌱

Stay Connected:

"If we speak through our purchases, that is one really tangible thing that we can do to make a difference." - Molly Mamaril

Topics: Hawaiian culture, Indigenous reconnection, hula dance, ocean restoration, sustainable economics, aloha values, environmental conservation, cultural storytelling, diaspora experience, community resilience 🌺

Join us as we travel to the Caribbean rainforests of Costa Rica with Robert Mora, a proud Bribri community member and cultural guide. In this heartfelt conversation, Robert shares how the Bribri maintain their profound connection with water, healing traditions, and community rituals. Discover the spiritual significance of rivers and waterfalls, the sacred role of cacao ceremonies, and how shamanic practices provide healing for visitors from around the world.

Visit indigenousearth.org to watch exclusive footage of Robert playing traditional flute music by the "Awa" (medicine man/shaman) hut, and witness the powerful community-building Jala de Piedra ceremony where dozens gather to move ancient stones that will ground their food and medicine.

"The water brings me a lot of peace" - Robert Mora

Topics: Indigenous healing, Bribri culture, waterfall ceremonies, medicinal plants, cacao rituals, Costa Rica, environmental wisdom, community traditions

5 Ways to Honor Our Green Spaces with Watson Whitford

Episode Summary

In this powerful episode, Frank Oscar Weaver is joined by Watson Whitford (Wapanatak), co-president of UNITY and member of the Chippewa Cree tribe and Navajo Nation. Together, they explore five essential ways to be a mindful visitor in parks and natural places, weaving together traditional wisdom and practical guidance for honoring our green spaces.

The Five Ways to Honor Green Spaces

Notable Quotes

"We're a part of this circle of life. I'm no higher than a ladybug. I'm no higher than a buffalo. And we're all the same. We all come from the same place." - Watson Whitford

"I want this place to be beautiful. I want there to be clean water, clean air to breathe, to be healthy animals and healthy plants. Not just for my relatives that are here with us now, but for people that will be coming in the future that aren't even here yet." - Watson Whitford

"Our traditional ways of ceremony are good... we don't talk down about other people's way of religion or talk down about the way other people pray. You know, because we want to be uplifting. We want to help each other." - Watson Whitford

Special Offer

Visit indigenousearth.org to receive an exclusive video prayer from Watson Whitford, guiding you in practicing mindful visitation to green spaces.

Connect with Watson Whitford

Support UNITY

UNITY (United National Indian Tribal Youth) supports Indigenous youth leadership across the nation. Your donation helps:

Donate at: unityinc.org/donate

Stay Connected

Credits

This podcast acknowledges that many parks and natural areas are on ancestral Indigenous lands that have been stewarded by Native people for thousands of generations.

Topics: mindful visiting, indigenous lands, environmental stewardship, wildlife respect, ceremonial spaces, leave no trace, climate change, indigenous wisdom, nature connection, community engagement