Please note, that event has been unfortunately cancelled!!!

In September, people will gather from around the world in Lenapehoking to address the climate crisis. As Indigenous Peoples, we will be there to protect Mother Earth and honor our ancestors. From representing our frontline fights on the ground, to holding Big Greens accountable, to fighting false climate solutions and embodying real solutions, to standing in solidarity with our brothers and sisters during this chaotic administration—it's more important than ever for us to make a presence. If you want to learn why we, as Indigenous Peoples, are at the forefront of climate struggles, please join IEN in this virtual community report back to hear from Indigenous Matriarchs and youth from Turtle Island about what is happening on the ground and how Indigenous leaders are organizing and mobilizing to advance the struggle for climate justice.

Moderated by: Talia Boyd

Sonny Ahkivgak
Julia Bernal

President Gloria Ilsxileé Stáng Burns (via Zoom)
Crystal Cavalier (via Zoom)
Krystal Curley
Waniya Locke

Maria Maybee
Janene Yazzie

Speakers:

Sonny Ahkivgak (she/her) is an Iñupiaq and Hispanic woman born on Dena’ina Ełnena, Anchorage, AK. Her grandparents and mother are from UtqiaGvik/Barrow, AK. Her father is from Jalisco, Mexico. She currently resides on Lower Tanana Dene lands, also known as Fairbanks, AK. As a staff member in of Native Movement, she is the Action & Advocacy Organizing Lead.

President Gloria Ilsxileé Stáng Burns is the Tribal President of the Ketchikan Indian Community (KIC) in Southeast Alaska. She has many years of service on the KIC Tribal Council and brings deep experience in governance, sovereignty, and community service. Gloria also serves as the Southeast Representative to the Alaska Federation of Natives and on the U.S. Department of Justice Tribal Nations Leadership Council, where she works to advance justice, healthcare, and protections for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People.

Crystal Cavalier is a Occaneechi-Saponi lands, born and raised in her tribal community, in the rural Piedmont region of North Carolina. She is the co-founder and Executive Director of 7 Directions of Service, alongside her partner, Jason Crazy Bear Keck. 7DS began as a fighting against the pipeline , and has grown into a regional grassroots mobilization platform and cultural revitalization.

Krystal Curley is a member of the Diné/Navajo Nation, from Chichiłtah, NM, dedicates her life and art to bringing awareness to indigenous issues such as economic exploitation, mental health, environmental racism, and intergenerational trauma. She is currently the Executive Director of Indigenous Lifeways—a non-profit dedicated to restoring the health and balance for all people and our environment by utilizing traditional knowledge and land-based practices.

Waniya Locke is from the Ahtna Dene, Dakota, Lakota, and Anishinaabe tribes. She currently resides on Standing Rock. Waniya is a mother of three and an Indigenous Birth Worker Advocate. She is a Lakota Language revitalization and reclamation advocate and core community organizer on Standing Rock on opposing Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) since 2016.

Janene Yazzie (she/her) is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. She works at NDN Collective as the Senior International Policy Strategist. Beginning from her community Tsé si’ áni, in Diné Bikéyah, she has worked on the intersections of climate change, water security, food security, energy development, and nation building with indigenous communities and indigenous-led organizations in the US, Canada, and Latin America.