Healing Turtle Island Panel 1: Resistance and Activism
Belfer Center Belfer Center
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 Published On Apr 13, 2022

Indigenous people - especially Indigenous youth - are leading the way on holding power to account on the climate crisis. From Standing Rock to Line 3, from the Guajajara to the Gidimt’en Checkpoint, a robust set of resistance strategies have emerged that center a healing perspective rooted in cultural values across hundreds of different indigenous communities.

Vic Hogg - MPP Candidate, Harvard Kennedy School
Vic Hogg is an enrolled citizen of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, and a Master of Public Policy student at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. They have a degree in Psychology from Yale University. For the last four years, they have designed and delivered leadership programs to strengthen marginalized communities' abilities to self-determine the solutions to their greatest issues, working with survivors of trafficking, high school youth, and neighborhood-based activists.

Jason Packineau - Interim Executive Director, Harvard University Native American Project
Jason Packineau is an enrolled citizen of the Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara) of North Dakota and is also from the Pueblo of Jemez and the Pueblo of Laguna. Prior to joining the HUNAP office, Jason helped build the Student Development Program for Native American students enrolled at the University of New Mexico's Health Sciences Center. During his time at the University of New Mexico he conducted outreach to tribal communities on behalf of the university and served as the Staff Advisor for two graduate Native American student groups.

Clayton Thomas-Müller - Senior Campaign Specialist at 350.org
Clayton Thomas-Müller is a member of the Treaty #6 based Mathias Colomb Cree Nation also known as Pukatawagan located in Northern Manitoba, Canada. Based in Winnipeg, Clayton is a senior campaign specialist with 350.org. Clayton is involved in many initiatives to support the building of an inclusive global movement for energy and climate justice. He serves on the board of the Bioneers and the Wildfire Project.

Brook Thompson - Native Scholar
Brook Thompson is a Yurok and Karuk Native American from Northern California. Currently, she is a master's student at Stanford University in the Environmental Engineering program, focusing on water resources and hydrology. In 2020, she graduated from Portland State University's Honors College with a degree in Civil Engineering and a minor in Political Science. Brook has been an intern for the City of Portland, Bureau of Environmental Services, The U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, West Yost Associates Engineering, Save California Salmon, and the California Water Resource Control Board. She is a Gates Millennium Scholar, UNITY 2020 25 Under 25 Recipient, and a 2017 Undergraduate AIGC Student of the Year Awardee among other honors.

Shilpa Joshi - MC/MPA Candidate, Harvard Kennedy School
Shilpa Joshi is an organizer and coalition builder. Prior to graduate school, she worked on local and national climate and immigration justice issues as a community organizer and lobbyist for 14 years. For the last four years, she was the Coalition Director for Renew Oregon, where she worked with progressive organizations, labor unions, and Tribes to advocate for comprehensive climate policy in Oregon. She also serves as the Board Chair for the National Queer Asian and Pacific Islander Alliance, the only national LGBT Asian advocacy organization in the United States.

Healing Turtle Island: Indigenous Leadership Through the Climate Crisis

Discussions of innovative approaches to the climate crisis held at Harvard Kennedy School rarely feature Indigenous approaches, and even fewer center Indigenous perspectives as the primary goal.

To that end, the Native and Indigenous Caucus at Harvard Kennedy School, in partnership with the Belfer Center's Arctic Initiative, held a day-long hybrid convening to highlight Indigenous leadership in addressing the climate crisis. The event brings together Indigenous leaders from across the globe to discuss the following:

How has the climate crisis uniquely affected Indigenous communities?

In what ways does an "Indigenous" approach to the climate crisis differ from non-Indigenous approaches? How does this differ across regions and communities?

What are examples of impactful activism by Indigenous writers, activists, government leaders, and youth? What can students and the broader HKS community learn from these examples?

Perspectives from the Arctic will be specifically featured in acknowledgment of the fact that Arctic Indigenous voices are often marginalized in broader climate conversations despite the crisis' disproportionate impact on Arctic communities. The event highlights Arctic communities' extensive resistance knowledge and long-running efforts spanning decades.

For more information: https://www.belfercenter.org/event/he...

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