Indigenous Earth Community Podcast

Frank Oscar Weaver
  • 4.7 (64)
  • Nature
  • Updated Monthly

Journey alongside Indigenous conservation heroes from around the world, as they share ancient wisdom for our modern environmental crisis. This podcast bridges traditional ecological knowledge with practical steps to turn eco-anxiety into meaningful action. On Indigenous Earth you’re not just a listener; you’re an active participant in a transformative mission to become true stewards of our planet. Unlike typical sustainability content that overwhelms, these episodes leave listeners feeling calmer and grounded while providing accessible ways to reconnect with nature. Indigenous Earth delivers upbeat yet honest conversations that remind us we don’t just live on this Earth—we are this Earth. Indigenous Earth Community Podcast is powered by Indigenous Earth INC, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to sharing Indigenous knowledge through storytelling to inspire action for a thriving planet.

  1. 11h ago

    Did Columbus Really Discover America? The Taíno Story and the Fight for Florida’s Sacred Places (with Robert Rosa)

    What does it mean to “discover” a place where people have lived for thousands of years? And who is protecting the sacred places and waters that are still here today? Robert Rosa is a Taíno leader and a member of the American Indian Movement who has spent years protecting Native burial sites and wild places across Florida. On this Indigenous Peoples’ Day, he takes us back to where the Taíno story begins: who they were, how they lived, how they traded all the way to Florida, and why so many words we use every day came from them. Then Robert explains why calling 1492 a “discovery” is so offensive, and corrects a myth about the Taíno that has been told for hundreds of years. Finally, we come home to Florida. Robert talks about his work using federal law to help the Seminole and Miccosukee protect burial sites from developers, and why Shingle Creek, the headwaters of the Everglades, matters for every person who drinks Florida’s water. This episode is for students, teachers, and anyone who wants the real story behind Columbus Day, and practical ways to protect the land where they live.   The history behind the holiday Columbus’s arrival in 1492 began one of the largest losses of human life in history. Through violence, forced labor in mines and fields, and new diseases, the Native population of the Caribbean fell by about 90 percent within a few generations. Spanish priest Bartolomé de las Casas, whom Robert mentions in this episode, wrote eyewitness accounts of the cruelty he saw. Still, the Taíno were never fully erased. As Robert shares, Taíno women carried the language, stories, and identity forward, and their descendants live on today in Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and across the diaspora.   What You’ll Discover: Where the Taíno came from, and the other Caribbean peoples who lived alongside them Why Taíno society was matriarchal, and how women kept the culture alive How the Taíno traded with Florida, using ocean currents historians said they couldn’t navigate Why the Taíno settled disputes with a ball game before going to war Taíno words you already use: hurricane, canoe, manatee, hammock, and more Why “you can’t discover something that’s been there for thousands of years” The myth that the Taíno thought the Spanish were gods, and what really happened How Robert uses NAGPRA to help Florida tribes protect burial sites and sacred objects Why building on Shingle Creek’s wetlands affects floods, sinkholes, springs, and drinking water How you can get involved, even if you’re not Native Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 1:18 Where the Taíno came from 3:59 Daily life in a Taíno village 8:35 Taíno words we use every day 11:21 What “discovery” looked like from the beach 13:55 The biggest myth about the Taíno 15:12 Protecting sacred sites in Florida 17:47 Shingle Creek and the headwaters of the Everglades 22:04 Robert’s advice: how to get involved Resources: Protect Florida’s land and water Protect Shingle Creek: [https://protectshinglecreek.com/ Friends of Split Oak Forest (Save Split Oak): https://friendsofsplitoak.org Friends of the Everglades, founded by Marjory Stoneman Douglas: https://www.everglades.org Florida Springs Council, a statewide coalition of springs groups: https://www.floridaspringscouncil.org Florida Springs Institute and their Springs 101 guide: https://floridasprings.org Learn about sacred sites and Native rights What is NAGPRA? The 1990 federal law that protects Native burials, funerary objects, and sacred items (National Park Service): https://www.nps.gov/subjects/archeology/napgra.htm Taíno: Native Heritage and Identity in the Caribbean (Smithsonian): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/culture-once-believed-extinct-flourishing-180970101 For teachers Native Knowledge 360°, free lessons from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian: https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360 The Taíno People of Boriken, a free classroom reading (Teaching for Change): https://www.teachingforchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Taino-Lesson-Reading1-2.pdf Young Friends of the Everglades and their Educators Exploration Kit: https://www.everglades.org This podcast was reviewed by Common Sense Media: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/podcast-reviews/indigenous-earth-community-podcast Classroom discussion questions: Robert says you can’t discover something that’s been there for thousands of years. What word would you use instead? Which Taíno words did you already know? Why do you think they survived? Why do you think the Taíno story was left out of so many history books? Where does the rain at your school go? Trace it as far as you can. A note for teachers and parents: this episode discusses colonization and genocide in age appropriate terms, suitable for middle school and up. 📚 Support This Podcast & Indigenous Youth Workshops: When you purchase books through our Indigenous Earth Bookshop, you directly support independent Indigenous booksellers AND fund our hands on workshops for Native youth worldwide. Every book purchase helps preserve traditional ecological knowledge for the next generation. 🌱 Connect with Indigenous Earth: Newsletter: https://www.indigenousearth.org/newsletter/ Topics: Taíno, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Columbus Day, Columbus myth, Caribbean history, Boriken, Puerto Rico, Taíno words, NAGPRA, sacred sites, Tequesta, Seminole, Miccosukee, Shingle Creek, Everglades, Split Oak Forest, Florida springs, Floridan aquifer, wetlands, teaching resources, Native American Heritage Month

  2. Sep 7

    Cindy Wagner: An Alaska Elder on the Unuk River, the Savior Fish, and the dangerous of the mines upstream

    What happens when the first fresh fish your people have eaten for ten thousand years stops coming up the river? And what do you lose when an entire generation grows up never tasting it? Cindy Wagner has lived on the Annette Island Reserve in Metlakatla, Alaska for 56 years, the only Native reserve in the state and the only one in the world sitting entirely on an island. Her husband Louie is known as the hooligan man. She is the Grease Lady. Together they have spent their lives on the Unuk River, teaching children, grandchildren and now great grandchildren how to live off the land. In this episode, Cindy explains what the hooligan is and why people once called it the savior fish, lining up four blocks deep for eight hours to get a single bucket. She describes finding oil drums and pallets thirty miles up a river that only Canada sits above, watching two natural lakes fill with mine tailings until blood red water spills over the top with every rainfall, and losing the marbled blue glacier water where the best trout used to hold. She walks through what it takes to render pure hooligan grease, why the Unuk is the only river in Alaska closed to the very people whose inherent right it is to fish it, and what is coming next: a proposed tailings dam 780 feet tall, five thousand workers, fifty five years. This is for anyone who wants to understand what a mine upstream actually does to the people downstream, told by someone who has watched it happen for a lifetime. What You'll Discover: Why the hooligan is called the savior fish, and what makes it different from salmon How hooligan send scouts ahead, and why Cindy believes they can never go extinct What abandoned mine tailings look like twenty years later in a temperate rainforest that gets 14 feet of rain a year How to render hooligan grease, and why it is treated like truffles What one five gallon bucket per household per year means for a community that is 90 percent Native Why a closed fishery costs more than food, and what happens when a generation never learns the work The connection Cindy draws between mining, the herring collapse, and the last wild salmon runs on the continent What she says the Canadian government has to do, and what listeners anywhere can do Resources: Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission (SEITC): https://www.seitc.org/ B.C. mining in the Unuk watershed, from Salmon Beyond Borders: https://salmonbeyondborders.org/bc-mining-unuk ICT reporting on the transboundary mining boom, featuring Cindy and Louie Wagner: https://ictnews.org/news/modern-day-gold-rush-mining-projects-opposed-by-alaska-tribes-get-boost-from-canada-british-columbia-and-first-nation/ 📚 Support This Podcast & Indigenous Youth Workshops: When you purchase books through our Indigenous Earth Bookshop, you directly support independent Indigenous booksellers AND fund our hands on workshops for Native youth worldwide. Every book purchase helps preserve traditional ecological knowledge for the next generation. 🌱 Connect with Indigenous Earth: Newsletter: https://www.indigenousearth.org/newsletter/ Topics: Unuk River, hooligan, eulachon, ooligan grease, Metlakatla, Annette Island Reserve, Southeast Alaska, transboundary mining, tailings dams, wild salmon, subsistence rights, Indigenous food sovereignty, SEITC, water protection

  3. Jun 21

    Chaco Canyon Uranium Mining: How a Sacred Site Is Being Fought For (with Sumaya Quitugua)

    What happens when a place your people have prayed at for a thousand years becomes a uranium mining site? And what can one voice actually do to stop it? Sumaya Quitugua, a young woman from the Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico and Chamorro from Guam, grew up at the Sky City, in traditional adobe homes on top of a mesa, where her grandfather taught her that we don't own the land or the water. We protect them.  In this episode, Sumaya breaks down the fight for Chaco Canyon, a place protected by President Theodore Roosevelt over a century ago and named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, now targeted for uranium mining right up against its borders. She explains what's really at stake, what mining does to land and water that can never be undone, and how a seven-day public comment window turned into a hundred and fifty days because people refused to stay silent. This is for anyone who's ever wondered whether speaking up actually changes anything, and anyone who wants to understand sacred land from the people who carry it.   What You'll Discover: What actually makes a place sacred, and why it's a feeling, not a spot on a map Why the "buffer zone" around Chaco matters as much as the site itself What uranium mining really does to water, air, and the people who live there How seven days of public comment became a hundred and fifty How to visit a sacred site with respect, including what to do and what to say Why choosing not to learn is choosing to be part of the problem   Resources: Follow Sumaya Quitugua on Instagram Learn about the threat to Chaco Culture National Historical Park (NPCA) Discover Chaco Canyon's dark skies, stargazing, and archaeology (National Geographic) 📚 Support This Podcast & Indigenous Youth Workshops: When you purchase books through our Indigenous Earth Bookshop, you directly support independent Indigenous booksellers AND fund our hands-on workshops for Native youth worldwide. Every book purchase helps preserve traditional ecological knowledge for the next generation. 🌱 Connect with Indigenous Earth: Newsletter: https://www.indigenousearth.org/newsletter/ Topics: Chaco Canyon, uranium mining, sacred sites, Acoma Pueblo, Indigenous land rights, public lands, water protection, UNESCO World Heritage Site, environmental justice, tribal sovereignty, public comment, land conservation PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

  4. May 11

    🎧 Soundscape | Amazon After Dark: A Night in Kichwa Territory, Ecuador

    Hey friends, it's been a while. Like many of you, we've been navigating a lot on the environmental and overall news front lately, so today I'm doing something a little different. I think back to those early days kayaking with friends here in Florida, searching rivers for trash. Some days we'd arrive and the water was pristine. We almost felt bad, like we had nothing to do. My mentor smiled and said, "just enjoy it,  sometimes we need to remember why we do what we do." That's what this episode is. No interviews, no talking. Just the sounds of the living world. This nocturnal soundscape was recorded deep inside Kichwa tribal territory in the Ecuadorian Amazon by artist Rafael Diogo. Bats cutting through the dark, insects surging into something almost electric, a monkey rustling unseen branches, a distant howl, and underneath it all a stream threading through the night. A beautiful reminder of what we're working for. Big thank you to Rafael and our friends at Earth.fm — a nonprofit repository of over 1,200 pure, immersive natural soundscapes from around the world, recorded by the best artists. Based on empirical evidence as well as numerousrecent studies from all over the world, listening to natural soundscapes has a great positive impact on our wellbeing, and potentially on our respect for nature. However, these soundscapes are increasingly scarce as we humans continue to destroy the natural ecosystems which produce them. That's where Earth.fm comes in: as well as sharing a new natural soundscape every day, they're actively helping the community go out in nature more often and discover a deeper, more direct connection with the wonders around us. Visit www.earth.fm and download their app on Android or Apple devices. Stay tuned! exciting interviews are lined up. And if you have questions or just want to say hello, it genuinely means a lot to hear from you. (send me some good vibes!) Find me on Instagram @frankoscarweaver or email connect@indigenousearth.org aguye!

  5. Jan 25

    Why Native People Were the First Scientists (And What That Means Today) with Laylalanai Gocobachi

    Feeling overwhelmed by climate change and disconnected from nature? What if the solutions we need have been here all along, in the wisdom our ancestors knew, in the plants growing in our backyards? Laylalanai Gocobachi, a Pascua Yaqui woman and Unity Earth Ambassador, learned this from her grandfather who sent her into the Arizona desert with grocery bags to "shop" for dinner. He taught her the desert is like our pantry, and that Native people were the first scientists. Today, Laylalanai shows us how to bridge traditional wisdom and modern science. You'll learn how she combines climate data with elder observations about disappearing plants, and why the Earth is constantly speaking to us, through snakes climbing trees before floods, through plants receding, we just need to remember how to listen. This is for anyone who's felt like one person can't make a difference, anyone searching for hope in these challenging times. What You'll Discover: How to start listening to what the Earth is trying to tell you (practical signs to observe) Why "water doesn't separate us, it connects us"—and what that means for your work The exact process for braiding Indigenous knowledge with Western science How to overcome imposter syndrome when you're the only one in the room Why showing up matters even when you doubt yourself Simple ways to reconnect with nature and find knowledge keepers in your community Resources: Follow Laylalanai Gocobachi on LinkedIn and Instagram Watch for her documentary on Planet Forward about traditional crops across the border 📚 Support This Podcast & Indigenous Youth Workshops: When you purchase books through our Indigenous Earth Bookshop, you directly support independent Indigenous booksellers AND fund our hands-on workshops for Native youth worldwide. Every book purchase helps preserve traditional ecological knowledge for the next generation. 🌱 Connect with Indigenous Earth: Workshops: https://www.indigenousearth.org/p/indigenous-earth-workshops/ Newsletter: https://www.indigenousearth.org/newsletter/ Music Credit: "Pascola Dance - Mamna Cialim (Green Spinach)" performed by Musicians and Singers from Old Pascua Village, Tucson and Rio Yaqui, Sonora from the album Yaqui Ritual and Festive Music (Canyon Records, 2002). Published by DMG Arizona Music/Public Domain. Topics: Traditional ecological knowledge, intergenerational learning, Yaqui culture, climate assessment, Indigenous youth leadership, desert wisdom, water sovereignty, environmental science, knowledge braiding, listening to Earth

  6. 10/19/2025

    How to Start an Environmental Career (Without Losing Your Values) with Andrea Everett

    Want a green career but worried you'll have to compromise your values? Andrea Everett from the Pueblo of Ysleta del Sur shows there's another way. Andrea shares how she turned her midnight business decision into MatriARC PROJECTion LLC, a drone and GIS mapping company that serves communities instead of extracting from them. She reveals why she turns down high-paying work that doesn't align with her Pueblo values, and how that actually attracts better opportunities. You'll also hear the inspiring story of how a group of Pueblo women came together after Feast Day to reclaim their traditional farming roles. They secured land, built two hoop houses, and are now growing ancestral seeds: Hopi corn for ceremonies, Pueblo chiles, tobacco, and marigolds for Day of the Dead. Healing in community while creating a foundation for the next generation. What You'll Discover: How to break into GIS and drone careers  Why staying true to your values attracts the right work Starting a business with just faith and a grant that showed up unexpectedly How youth learned to fly drones while connecting with sacred sites and elders Traditional farming techniques: three sisters planting, waffle gardens, soil preparation Why healing happens in community, not isolation The power of starting small, even a few plants in pots Resources: Books: Braiding Sweetgrass, Radical Cartographies, Muskogee Tools of Futurity Video: Native Cartography - Challenging Western Notions of Place Connect: Andrea Everett Story Maps. https://borderlore.org/a-sacred-rivers-sovereignty/ indigenousearth.org Topics: Green careers, GIS mapping, drone jobs, Indigenous agriculture, seed sovereignty, rematriation, traditional farming, values-based business, career advice for Native youth

  7. 08/25/2025

    How to Connect with Your Ancestors (And Why)

    Environmentalist face devastating burnout rates - 96% experience high or very high exhaustion levels from working on environmental issues. BIPOC communities bear this burden even more heavily, standing on the frontlines of climate destruction. For this Earth Warrior Challenge we are looking on how Indigenous wisdom offers a powerful antidote: connecting with your environmental ancestors. What You'll Experience: The exercise from Dr. Sue Bell Chiblow's Indigenous science class Why connecting with environmental guardians in your lineage sustains planet work across generations Why this practice transforms climate anxiety into ancestral strength The Connection Process: Identify family members who shaped your environmental calling - the bird watcher, the hiker, the gardener Interview relatives who knew them if they've passed on Learn their names and stories (names hold power) Honor them through daily practices and sacred space Spend time with them, experience nature together  Resources Referenced: NPR Article: "How to make an ancestral altar: A cross-cultural guide" Climate Burnout Research Report (96% statistic) Special Thanks: Frank's mother for sharing the water diviner grandfather story My awesome cousin Joenna for the English translation Dr. Susan Bell Chiblow for the Indigenous wisdom classroom practice Connect with Indigenous Earth: Website: indigenousearth.org Newsletter for more Earth Warrior Challenges Topics: Climate burnout, ancestral connection, environmental activism sustainability, Indigenous wisdom practices, water divining, intergenerational environmental calling, BIPOC climate trauma, spiritual ecology, activist resilience

  8. 08/05/2025

    How to Learn Indigenous Knowledge the Right Way (Dr. Susan (Sue) Chiblow)

    Join us as we return with Professor Susan (Sue) Chiblow, one of our most beloved guests whose wisdom bridges Indigenous science with academic research. As an Ojibwe professor and International Joint Commission commissioner, Sue reveals the right way to learn from Indigenous knowledge—without appropriation or harm. Discover how to respectfully access traditional wisdom, trace your own ancestral stories, and apply Indigenous practices to solve environmental problems in your own community. What You'll Experience: Sue's groundbreaking work fighting harmful herbicides like glyphosate in Canadian forests 🌲 Why Indigenous peoples aren't the only ones responsible for fixing environmental problems—it's all of us The powerful classroom exercise that helps students understand their own displacement stories How maple syrup, potatoes, and canoes are Indigenous innovations the world still uses today 🍁 Traditional water ceremonies that connect us to our universal origin story The difference between saving the planet (impossible) and saving ourselves (essential) Practical ways to honor the Indigenous peoples of the land you currently live on Why trees teach us better coexistence than most humans ever manage Essential Reading Mentioned: "Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence" by Gregory Cajete "Braiding Sweetgrass" by Robin Wall Kimmerer "Traditional Ecological Knowledge" (multiple authors) "Water Voices from Around the World" (2001) 📚 Support This Podcast & Indigenous Youth Workshops: When you purchase the books Sue recommends through our Indigenous Earth Bookshop, you directly support independent Indigenous booksellers AND fund our hands-on workshops for Native youth worldwide. Every book purchase helps preserve traditional ecological knowledge for the next generation. 🌱 🎬 Watch Recommended: "The Americas Before Christopher Columbus" series on APTN - 10 episodes showing the incredible innovations of Indigenous peoples across the continent Connect with Indigenous Earth: Workshops: https://www.indigenousearth.org/p/indigenous-earth-workshops/ Newsletter: https://www.indigenousearth.org/newsletter/ "We're not trying to save the planet—the earth will be fine. We're trying to save ourselves and learn to be better humans." - Sue Topics: Water protection, Indigenous science, chemical contamination, glyphosate, traditional ecological knowledge, displacement trauma, academic-Indigenous knowledge bridge, Ojibwe wisdom, environmental justice, intergenerational healing

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Journey alongside Indigenous conservation heroes from around the world, as they share ancient wisdom for our modern environmental crisis. This podcast bridges traditional ecological knowledge with practical steps to turn eco-anxiety into meaningful action. On Indigenous Earth you’re not just a listener; you’re an active participant in a transformative mission to become true stewards of our planet. Unlike typical sustainability content that overwhelms, these episodes leave listeners feeling calmer and grounded while providing accessible ways to reconnect with nature. Indigenous Earth delivers upbeat yet honest conversations that remind us we don’t just live on this Earth—we are this Earth. Indigenous Earth Community Podcast is powered by Indigenous Earth INC, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to sharing Indigenous knowledge through storytelling to inspire action for a thriving planet.

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