On Healing Indigenous Landscapes through Indigenous Science

Despite the undeniable fact that Indigenous communities are among the most affected by climate devastation, Indigenous science is very rarely found in mainstream environmental policy or discourse. While holistic land, water, and forest management practices born from a millennia of Indigenous knowledge systems have much to teach all of us, Indigenous science has long been ignored, otherized, or perceived as "soft"-the product of a systematic, centuries-long campaign of racism, colonialism, extractive capitalism, and delegitimization.

Jessica Hernandez (Maya Ch'orti' and Zapotec), environmental scientist and founder of environmental agency Pina Soul, introduces and contextualizes Indigenous environmental knowledge and proposes a vision of land stewardship that heals rather than displaces and generates rather than destroys. She breaks down the failures of western-defined conservatism and shares alternatives-citing the restoration work of urban Indigenous people in Seattle, her family's fight against ecoterrorism in Latin America, and holistic land management approaches of Indigenous groups across the continent.

In Dr. Hernandez's latest book, Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes through Indigenous Science, she breaks down why western conservationism isn't working and offers Indigenous models informed by case studies, personal stories, and family histories that center the voices of Latin American women and land protectors.

Join Dr. Hernandez in a conversation about her life and work and explore how to stop the eco-colonialism ravaging Indigenous lands to restore our relationship with Earth to one of harmony and respect.

Free, suggested donation of $10.