Indigenous

Scientists and Iñupiaq hunters have been counting bowhead whales passing by the northernmost American town, Utqiagvik, for the past two months. It is part of an effort to evaluate the health of the whale population up north – and support subsistence in the area.

Rooted Waters is a film that highlights the work of a camp to connect Indigenous and Hispanic youth with the environment and showcases the natural beauty of Indigenous lands in New Mexico.

In its first six months, Our Living Lands has covered everything from the impact of climate change on ice in the Arctic to Indigenous cultural burning practices in California. For this special episode, Host Antonia Gonzales spoke with Producer Daniel Spaulding about some of Our Living Lands' highlights over the last six months.

In the Arctic, temperatures are rising nearly four times faster than the rest of the world. For Indigenous people in the Arctic, these shifts can be life-changing. How are they adapting to these changes?

The Tanka Fund is an Indigenous led-nonprofit organization based in South Dakota that works with Indigenous ranchers across the country to return buffalo to their lands. This practice is important not just to the various tribes, but also for the environment.

Choctaw citizen and filmmaker Colleen Thurston explores how Indigenous communities have been impacted by natural resource extraction and displacement in her new documentary Drowned Land, which is about the continued fight to safeguard Oklahoma's Kiamichi River.

Invasive species are among the biggest drivers of biodiversity losses around the world. They’re also increasingly affecting tribal lands, and climate change is making it worse.

In the Western U.S., extreme wildfires are damaging tribal lands. Climate change has only made the situation more dire. That’s why the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California is working to reintroduce intentional, cultural fire. These are once-banned burning practices they use to restore the health of their forests and plants.

Rising seas are forcing Indigenous communities to move. Higher temperatures are causing drought and loss of traditional foods. Michael Charles, a Navajo professor at Cornell University, is trying to quantify the impact of climate change on Indigenous life in North America. Our Living Lands producer Daniel Spaulding spoke to Charles about his work.

Horse Creek is the last known free-flowing groundwater stream in Laramie County, meaning it’s fed by an underground aquifer rather than snowmelt. Its waters also weave through the history of the area. Students from two high schools on the Wind River Reservation and the University of Wyoming School of Law took a trip there to connect with the land.