Hi All,

I just finished my interview with Melissa K. Nelson (Turtle Mountain Chippewa) and was so thankful to have had the opportunity to learn more about the displacement and the true history of Indigenous people in this country.  Melissa is an ecologist, media-maker and scholar-activist. She is a professor of Indigenous Sustainability in the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University (ASU).

We had a great conversation about the work she is doing, both with The Cultural Conservancy and as a professor with her students. The Cultural Conservancy is a multi-generational organization working to re-connect Indigenous people with their sacred knowledge, land-based practices, and traditional foods.

We have all witnessed over this past year how the pandemic has effected communities of color, both indigenous, and black and brown in disproportionate numbers.  That is due to centuries of displacement, historical trauma, and poor health, due to lack of access to quality food and health care. On top of that, many low income people are living in small spaces, crowded with many people, which also adds to the exposure.

As our country grapples with passing a bill for Slavery Reparations, let’s not forget to include a bill for Reparations to Indigenous communities, whose land we stole and whose land we continue to desecrate with pipelines and fossil fuel extractions. If you feel moved to make a donation to the work Melissa is doing, you can make a donation on The Cultural Conservancy’s website. Thank you!

Please, if you missed our interview, it is an important topic to learn about and you can listen to it here:

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