Audio

Sakej (James Ward) belongs to the wolf clan. He is Mi’kmaw (Mi’kmaq Nation) from the community of Esgenoopetitj (Burnt Church First Nation, New Brunswick). He is the father of nine children, four grandchildren. He resides in Shxw’owhamel First Nation, B.C. with his wife Melody Andrews and their children. He is a veteran of both the Canadian and American militaries. He finished his military career at the rank of Sergeant in an elite Airborne unit. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science with a specialization in International Relations and a Master’s of Arts Degree in Indigenous Governance. ...

Big NGOs—Greenpeace, 350.org, Avaaz, and so on—play an important role in maintaining capitalism and the status quo. These organizations protect the industrial economy and distract us from real solutions. By focusing on technological solutions (which destroy the planet, and are also lucrative industries for green businesspeople), divestment (which also represents a major investment opportunity, and which doesn’t actually slow or stop the burning of fossil fuels), and the commodification of nature through programs like REDD and the concept of “ecosystem services,” mainstream NGOs actually defend the economic system that is killing the planet. ...

George Wuerthner is the Ecological Projects Director for the Foundation for Deep Ecology. He is an ecologist and wildlands activist. He has published 38 books on environmental issues and natural history including such environmentally focused books as Welfare Ranching, Wildfire, Thrillcraft, Energy and most recently Protecting the Wild. Today we talk about beetles. The timber industry and the Forest Service portray beetles as a threat to forests, and as yet another reason forests must be cut down. Wuerthner discusses beetles as keystone species, important to forests, and to those who live in them. ...

Juliee de la Terre holds an MS from the Gaylord Nelson Institute for environmental studies at University of Wisconsin Madison. She has been an activist since she was a child helping her mother care for injured wildlife. She owned a chemical free landscaping business for almost two decades which emphasized removing lawns and restoring native plants. As an environmental consultant she assisted the Ho-Chunk Nation in efforts to design and implement an place based ecological immersion project on their land near Black River Falls with the intention of immersing young tribal members in nature while learning their language and culture. Recently, she assisted Ho-Chunk Tribal member William Greendeer in introducing the Rights of Nature into the Ho-Chunk constitution. She maintains her bog called “Sacred Water Sacred Land” about the sacredness of al things and also “Heart of the Ho-Chunk” with William Greendeer about Ho-Chunk culture and the environment. She is a professor of natural science at Viterbo University. ...