Indigenous Cultures & Politics

Ferns carpet the ground beneath mid-sized trees. Mountains are visible in the background.

Fronds of Knowledge and Decolonial Fern Relations in the Sikkim Himalayas

Views of ferns are as abundant as the plants themselves. Drawing on Indigenous knowledge and a lifetime of close attention, Kalzang Dorjee Bhutia shows how ferns act as decolonial agents—and how they have long been shaped by the landscapes of empire …
An aerial view of Fordlandia

Cinco razões pelas quais o fracasso de Henry Ford no Brasil ainda importa hoje 

Neste guia rápido sobre o impacto duradouro de Henry Ford na Amazônia, o diretor de Beyond Fordlândia compartilha histórias pouco conhecidas de violência, poluição e ativismo que descobriu durante as filmagens do novo documentário …
In the foreground, rocks of a variety of colors cover a sandy patch of land. Behind it, a blue-green river flows. Across from the river, there is a steep, wooded hill.

Trans Joy and Indigenous Resistance on the River: A Conversation with Cleo Wölfle Hazard

Ellie Kincaid and M Hamilton Wilson talk with Cleo Wölfle Hazard about his recent book, Underflows: Queer Trans Ecologies and River Justice …
The Weedy Possibilities of Mother Mesquite

The Weedy Possibilities of Mother Mesquite

Erin Charpentier and Travis Neel consider the place of weeds in our world in their living, collaborative art installation of honey mesquite trees, The Mesquite Mile …
The Carceral Ecology of Alligator Alcatraz

The Carceral Ecology of Alligator Alcatraz

Aligator Alcatraz is both a continuation of the past and a harbinger of a dark future. Alexandra White explores the history of carceral ecology from plantations to this modern detention center and argues that in this era of climate collapse, land becomes a natural prison …
Photo collage of rice, fields, and cotton plants

Legados de las plantaciones

El Antropoceno da nombre al cambio ambiental provocado por la acción humana. El Plantacionoceno sitúa el colonialismo, el capitalismo y las jerarquías raciales persistentes en el centro de la conversación y se pregunta qué modos de resistencia, pasados y futuros, podrían surgir …
A group of Latina people sit in front of a mural of a Latina woman releasing a dove.

Cosmo-Visions of Truth After Violence: A Conversation with Abby Reyes and Carolina Sarmiento

Nicolás Felipe Rueda speaks with Abby Reyes and Carolina Sarmiento about Indigenous cosmologies, environmental justice, and Abby’s new memoir, Truth Demands: A Memoir of Murder, Oil Wars, and the Rise of Climate Justice …
Police and protestors stand off at Turtle Island

Guerreros de Drones: El Arte de la Vigilancia y la Resistencia en Standing Rock

Como parte del movimiento de los Protectores del Agua contra el oleoducto Dakota Access, los Guerreros de Drones utilizan la fotografía con drones como una forma de protesta. Una exposición curada por Adrienne Keene y Gregory Hitch destaca su trabajo …
A tall block of ice, some cloudy, some relatively clear.

The Colonial Politics of Arctic Landscapes: A Conversation with Jen Rose Smith

Jen Rose Smith speaks with Hi’ilei Julia Hobart about her new book, Ice Geographies: The Colonial Politics of Race and Indigeneity in the Arctic. They discuss the racial and colonial politics of the arctic and the political stakes of writing about Alaska as an Eyak scholar …
Many tree trunks covered in moss. Green vegetation is visible at the bottom of the image.

Plants By Any Other Name

What’s in a name? Knowledge, power, and history, Jens Benöhr, Constanza López, and Kara Lena Virik argue. The scientific names of plants root botanical knowledge in colonial relationships. To decolonize ecology, we must embrace the pluriverse of knowing, naming, and living with the world …
Acacia trees form a line at the edge of the Tambass wetland. Tufts of grass poke out of the water.

The Queer Ecologies of the Tambass Wetlands

Richard Watts, Maureen Ryan, and Danny Hoffman wade through the queer ecology and relations that characterize the Tambass wetlands, shaped as they are by precarity, impermanence, and survivance …
Bearing Colonialism in Japanese Popular Culture

Bearing Colonialism in Japanese Popular Culture

Benjamin Chin-Hung Kao looks beyond the often-cutesy appearance of bears in Japanese popular culture to discover their role in the country’s violent colonial history and present …