Building Relationships with Indigenous Nations for Indigenous-led Land and Water Stewardship Archive recording from 14 February 2024.
Join Heather Sauyaq Jean Gordon, Iñupiaq, as she shares her learning from the Inuit people in Greenland and the Ninilchik Village Tribe in Alaska. This talk addresses building relationships with Indigenous Nations for their leadership in nurturing and stewarding the land through Indigenous Knowledge. A report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services found lands nurtured by Indigenous Peoples experience less species and ecosystems decline than other areas, yet in Alaska, Indigenous perspectives are rarely included in management. Heather discusses current land ownership and management practices in Alaska and how these differ from Indigenous approaches. She also addresses why the Indigenous approach is so different and what policies and laws can change to make sure the waters and lands are healthy and able to support generations in the future.
Heather Sauyaq (Soy-uckh) Jean Gordon (she/her) is Iñupiaq and enrolled tribal member of the Nome Eskimo Community. She is the founder/principle consultant for Sauyaq Solutions, LLC working to support Indigenous Nations in self-determination through research, evaluation, and technical assistance. Heather previously worked at the Administration for Native Americans and consulted with other federal agencies, which included working on the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee Arctic Research Plan 2022-2026 and with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy on work around Indigenous Knowledge. Heather is currently a Native Children’s Research Exchange scholar, sits on the Board of Directors for the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States, and serves on the National Academy of Sciences committee on Co-Production of Environmental Knowledge, Methods, and Approaches. Heather holds a MS in Sociology and a PhD in Indigenous Studies with a concentration in Indigenous Sustainability