our work
Durable conservation is interconnected
INDIGENOUS LED is comprised of five interconnected bodies of work
When we nurture one facet of an ecosystem, it feeds and strengthens other areas. We see this in the natural world, and we see this in social movements across history.
Science defines problems and solutions. Storytelling turns that into something that connects people to the issue and each other. Those relationships give us power to influence policy. Our ways of knowing rely on each other.
Relationship & Partnerships
Relationships are at the core of everything – especially at the core of community-centered social change. Our Indigenized approach to conservation includes a holistic, horizontal vision of leadership with firm roots of connection and communal choice. Our partnerships are at the heart of INDIGENOUS LED’s work – connections based in fierce love, caring reciprocation, and incisive strategy. We’ve built familial relationships with the InterTribal Buffalo Council, Blackfeet Nation, Continental Bison Restoration Working Group, and deep partnerships with media and funding entities, agencies, and NGOs.
Photo Credit: Louise Johns
Diplomacy & Policy
We are building a political movement alongside our partners to amplify the power of Indigenous-led conservation, uphold Tribal sovereignty, protect treaty rights, and care for our land and non-human relatives as they care for us. We also work to co-create and implement policies to restore ecological and cultural integrity across Turtle Island, or what is now known as North America.
Photo Credit: Louise Johns
Braided science
Our work is undergirded by science and we serve as a voice for evidence-based and measurable keystone conservation and management in North America. Like the roots of trees, our work is grounded in networks of ancestral knowledge and interconnected ecosystems of Indigenous wisdom and science, braided together with Western science.
Photo Credit: Louise Johns
Art & Story
Sharing the value of reciprocity and relationship through Indigenous storytelling, art, and language is a critical tool for realizing our vision of living in right, reciprocal relationship with the natural world. Through film, land-based programming, and in classrooms, we are amplifying Indigenous ways of knowing and stewardship,
Photo Credit: Louise Johns
Youth & Community Engagement
Seeing this work through will take many generations. Without our young people and communities of support, there will be no one to carry the work forward, no way to ensure the durability of impact. We offer programs centered in culture, science, and art to our youth. We support them in finding their voices and sharing the beauty that is in their hearts. We are so thankful for their wisdom and imagination.