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In celebration of Earth Day, we present a 1980 speech by John Trudell on revolution and loyalty to the earth.

Earth Day special: "Acts of war" w/ John Trudell

Can entheogenic plants help people access the intelligence in nature—the “mind of nature”—that we must learn to understand in order to supersede our ecologically destructive habits? Hosted by J.P. Harpignies, Bioneers Associate Producer. With: Jeffrey Bronfman, founding member of the União do Vegetal church of the United States; Paul Stamets, master mycologist; Katsi Cook, renowned Mohawk midwife and environmental activist.

Recorded Saturday, October 18, 2014 at the national Bioneers Summit Conference in San Rafael, California.

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Plant Sacraments and the Mind of Nature

In this episode, Yvonne Swan speaks about gender violence and Indigenous resistance.

In 1972, Yvonne Wanrow (now Yvonne Swan) shot a man who had tried to molest her son and neighbor’s son in Spokane, Washington. Her case became a rallying cry for Indigenous and feminist activists in the 1970s to highlight the intersections of colonialism, gender violence, and the injustices of the U.S. criminal system. The ensuing legal battle resulted in a landmark decision allowing for self-defense for survivors of domestic violence and marked the first time US courts acknowledged “the particular legal problems of women who defend themselves or their male children from male violence.” In this talk, Yvonne discusses the case and its legacy for Indigenous and her current work and advocacy.

A citizen of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation, Yvonne Swan is a longtime activist of the American Indian Movement.

Special thanks to Dan Berger for putting this talk together and the Simpson Center at the University of Washington for hosting. 

Music: Buffy Sainte-Marie, "Helpless"
Indigenous Womens Warrior Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4fLSvjsE_M

Gender Violence and Indigenous Resistance with Yvonne Swan

In Episode 29, Mohawk warrior Ellen Gabriel talks to us about the importance of protecting Kanehsatà:ke Mohawk Territory - from the "Oka stand-off in 1990" to the current land issues in the media this week. 

Ellen was chosen by the People of the Longhouse and her community of Kanehsatà:ke to be their spokesperson during the 1990 “Oka” Crisis; to protect the Pines from the expansion of a 9 hole golf course in “Oka” and the removal of Kanien’kehá:ka ancestors from their burial grounds. 

She has been involved in every part of this issue and she shares some powerful insights into this issue and larger issues facing our sovereign Indigenous Nations.  As mentioned in the podcast, here is the link to her blog entitled: Sovereign Voices 1:
https://sovereignvoices1.wordpress.com/

Note: The information contained in this podcast is not legal, financial or medical advice, nor should it be relied on as such.

If you would like more information about these issues, you can check out my website at www.pampalmater.com

If you would like to support my work, here is the link to my Patreon account:
www.patreon.com/pampalmater

(photo used with permission by Ellen Gabriel)

Ellen Gabriel on Defending Kanehsatà:ke Mohawk Territory

[Intro: 9:45]

In this episode, I speak with Sam Adler-Bell, freelance journalist and co-host of the Know Your Enemy podcast, “a leftist's guide to the conservative movement.” The subject of this interview is his article ‘Why White Supremacists Are Hooked on Green Living,’ published by The New Republic.

In this discussion with Sam, I ask him to elaborate on his research into the deeper connections between the roots of environmentalism and conservationism in the United States and rise of “eco-fascism” in our present time — an ideology expressed in the manifestos and stated intentions of white supremacist mass shooters in recent years, and in the rise of reactionary far right populism to refugee crises around the world. As Sam explains in his piece for The New Republic, the first thing we need to understand about this subject is that “most eco-fascists are sincere in their environmentalism,” and that the earliest forms of fascism in Europe were directly inspired by the earliest forms of environmentalism and conservationist efforts in the United States, as embodied in the projects of Teddy Rosevelt, John Muir, and Madison Grant (co-founders of the Sierra Club, 1892) with the formation of the National Parks Service in the United States. “These men shared an affinity for scientific racism. Roosevelt praised Grant’s 1916 white supremacist tome ‘The Passing of the Great Race, or The Racial Basis of European History’ as “a capital book.” Another fan, Adolf Hitler, wrote Grant a letter, calling the book his personal “bible.”” (http://bit.ly/2BgKsRG)

The point of this discussion with Sam is to understand, as leftists, how we can more fully engage with an often misunderstood but crucially important component of fascist ideology, currently manifesting as "eco-fascism" in contemporary discourse. The emergence, or reemergence, of an ecologically-conscious fascism does not come from a vacuum; it a direct response to the ecological and climate crises manifesting across the globe right now. Mass migrations and the inevitable sociopolitical responses (ultranationalism, xenophobia, the hyper-militarization of borders) is a part of this trend. We must learn to counter these trends and the dehumanizing narratives that allow space for them to grow (e.g. the Malthusian narrative of overpopulation as the main driver of these crises), and Sam and I discuss some of how that might be accomplished in this episode. 

Sam Adler-Bell is a writer and policy analyst in New York City. His work has appeared in The Intercept, Commonweal, The New Republic, In These Times, Jacobin and elsewhere. He is the cohost, with Matthew Sitman, of the podcast Know Your Enemy.


Episode Notes:

- Read ‘Why White Supremacists Are Hooked on Green Living’: http://bit.ly/2BgKsRG

- Subscribe and listen to Know Your Enemy: http://bit.ly/2VMmya9

- Learn more about Sam and his work: https://samadlerbell.com

- Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamAdlerBell

- The songs featured are “Canary Rhombus” and “Rubber Bands & Weight” by The Alchemist from the album Rapper’s Best Friend 5: An Instrumental Series. 

WEBSITE: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com

PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness

DONATE: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

DROP ME A LINE: Call (208) 918-2837 or http://bit.ly/LBWfiledrop

EVERYTHING ELSE: https://linktr.ee/patterns.of.behavior

#216 | The Armed Lifeboat: Eco-fascism & The Roots Of Conservationism In America w/ Sam Adler-Bell

[Intro: 7:13 | Book Pre-sale: http://bit.ly/ORBITgr]

In this episode, I speak with Indigenous elder, author, and teacher Stan Rushworth. We discuss Traditional Ecological Knowledge and his upcoming book project ’The Changing Earth: Indigenous Voices from Turtle Island,’ made in collaboration with journalist and author Dahr Jamail. Stan is featured in Ian MacKenzie's recently released short film ‘Prayer for the Earth: An Indigenous Response to These Times.’

Our planet is undergoing massive ecological, climatological, and cultural shifts, with the consequences of these crises playing out in the near and distant future. In our attempt to reattain a harmonious balance with the life systems of the planet, certain traditions of knowledge and wisdom come to the forefront, namely Indigenous or Traditional Ecological Knowledge. But what is attached to these traditional forms of knowledge is something that is often overlooked, whether on purpose or not: the hundreds of years of genocide that nearly erased Indigenous peoples from Turtle Island. This erasure is just as much physical and is it cultural and spiritual. For those that carry the values and perspectives of the dominant culture, to respectfully and humbly embrace traditional Indigenous knowledge, wisdom, and perspectives requires taking a hard look at the what has brought us collectively to this moment. This includes listening and full acknowledging Indigenous people and their history, including all the pain, sorrow, and beauty that comes with it. 

Stan Rushworth was born in 1944 and raised on the banks of the Stanislaus River in the East San Joaquin Valley in California by his grandfather, who was of Cherokee descent. He has taught Native American Literature at Cabrillo College, in Aptos, California for the last twenty-eight years, including similar work at the University of California, Santa Cruz as a lecturer, and worked for eighteen years at Cabrillo’s Watsonville Center teaching basic skills and critical thinking surrounding Indigenous peoples’ issues, including six years as Director/Instructor of the Puente Program, centered in the Chicano community. He authored 'Sam Woods: American Healing' (Station Hill Press, New York) in 1992, and 'Going to Water: The Journal of Beginning Rain' (Talking Leaves Press, Freedom, CA) in 2014. As a tenured faculty emeritus, he currently teaches Native American Literature at Cabrillo College, and works as an activist and advocate for Indigenous people as a teacher, writer and speaker. He is an enrolled citizen of the Chiricahua Apache Nation, and is also a member of the Santa Cruz Indian Council, where he is an Advising Cultural Elder. He is currently the Attending Elder (school year 19-20) for the American Indian Resource Center at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is married, with two sons and one grandson.


Episode Notes:

- Learn more about Stan and Dahr Jamail’s upcoming book ’The Changing Earth: Indigenous Voices from Turtle Island’: https://www.thechangingearth.net

- Support Stan and Dahr through their GoFundMe campaign: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-changing-earth

- Watch Ian MacKenzie’s short film ‘Prayer for the Earth: An Indigenous Response to These Times’: https://uplift.tv/2020/prayer-for-the-earth/

- Learn more about Stan and his work: http://stanrushworth.com

- The title card features a photo taken by Dahr Jamail, used with his permission. The sampled audio featured in this episode is from Ian MacKenzie’s short film, used with his permission. Learn more about Dahr and Ian’s work: http://www.dahrjamail.net / https://www.ianmack.com

WEBSITE: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com

PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness

DONATE: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

DROP ME A LINE: Call (208) 918-2837 or http://bit.ly/LBWfiledrop

EVERYTHING ELSE: https://linktr.ee/patterns.of.behavior

#245 | Prayer For The Earth: Traditional Knowledge & An Indigenous Response w/ Stan Rushworth

This is a segment of episode #245 of Last Born In The Wilderness “Prayer For The Earth: Traditional Knowledge & An Indigenous Response w/ Stan Rushworth.” Listen to the full episode: https://bit.ly/LBWrushworth

Learn more about Stan Rushworth and Dahr Jamail’s upcoming book ’The Changing Earth: Indigenous Voices from Turtle Island’ and support them through their GoFund Me: https://www.thechangingearth.net / https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-changing-earth

This is a segment of my interview with Indigenous elder, author, and teacher Stan Rushworth. We discuss Traditional Ecological Knowledge and his upcoming book project ’The Changing Earth: Indigenous Voices from Turtle Island,’ made in collaboration with journalist and author Dahr Jamail. Stan is featured in Ian MacKenzie's recently released short film ‘Prayer for the Earth: An Indigenous Response to These Times.’

Our planet is undergoing massive ecological, climatological, and cultural shifts, with the consequences of these crises playing out in the near and distant future. In our attempt to reattain a harmonious balance with the life systems of the planet, certain traditions of knowledge and wisdom come to the forefront, namely Indigenous or Traditional Ecological Knowledge. But what is attached to these traditional forms of knowledge is something that is often overlooked, whether on purpose or not: the hundreds of years of genocide that nearly erased Indigenous peoples from Turtle Island. This erasure is just as much physical and is it cultural and spiritual. For those that carry the values and perspectives of the dominant culture, to respectfully and humbly embrace traditional Indigenous knowledge, wisdom, and perspectives requires taking a hard look at the what has brought us collectively to this moment. This includes listening and full acknowledging Indigenous people and their history, including all the pain, sorrow, and beauty that comes with it. 

Stan Rushworth was born in 1944 and raised on the banks of the Stanislaus River in the East San Joaquin Valley in California by his grandfather, who was of Cherokee descent. He has taught Native American Literature at Cabrillo College, in Aptos, California for the last twenty-eight years, including similar work at the University of California, Santa Cruz as a lecturer, and worked for eighteen years at Cabrillo’s Watsonville Center teaching basic skills and critical thinking surrounding Indigenous peoples’ issues, including six years as Director/Instructor of the Puente Program, centered in the Chicano community. He authored 'Sam Woods: American Healing' (Station Hill Press, New York) in 1992, and 'Going to Water: The Journal of Beginning Rain' (Talking Leaves Press, Freedom, CA) in 2014. As a tenured faculty emeritus, he currently teaches Native American Literature at Cabrillo College, and works as an activist and advocate for Indigenous people as a teacher, writer and speaker. He is an enrolled citizen of the Chiricahua Apache Nation, and is also a member of the Santa Cruz Indian Council, where he is an Advising Cultural Elder. He is currently the Attending Elder (school year 19-20) for the American Indian Resource Center at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is married, with two sons and one grandson.

WEBSITE: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com

PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness

DONATE: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

DROP ME A LINE: Call (208) 918-2837 or http://bit.ly/LBWfiledrop

EVERYTHING ELSE: https://linktr.ee/patterns.of.behavior

Stan Rushworth: Predatory Nature & An Indigenous Response

The Red Nation is dedicated to the liberation of Indigenous peoples from colonialism. We do this through centering Indigenous agendas and struggles in direct action, advocacy, mobilization, and education.

Gender Violence and Indigenous Resistance with Yvonne Swan

The Red Nation Podcast