Indigenous geography could change how we relate to the Earth
The vision
“Native people are still here regardless of what the settler colonial state might try and say. You can uplift and amplify that ongoing relationship with the land here and now.”
— Niiyokamigaabaw Deondre Smiles, PhD
The spotlight
Climate change is a world-ending problem: Flooding, fires, hurricanes, and heat are threatening life and land, and could render parts of the planet uninhabitable. But when Niiyokamigaabaw Deondre Smiles gives their students advice on what to do about it, one of the things they recommend is to simply go for a walk. Smiles is an assistant professor of geography at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, and a leader in the field of Indigenous geography. They are a citizen of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibewe, and they research how Indigenous people have cultivated relationships with the land that are ceremonial, …