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TRANSCRIPT

Episode description

Healing is justice, but what does this look like in practice? Learn more about the importance of individual and community healing with 3 healing justice advocates: Meda DeWitt, Arlana Bennett, and Michelle Brass.

About Meda DeWitt

Meda’s Tlingit names are Tśa Tsée Naakw, Khaat kłaat, adopted Iñupiaq name is Tigigalook, and adopted Cree name is Boss Eagle Spirit Woman “Boss.” Her clan is Naanyaa.aayí and she is a child of the Kaach.aadi. Her family comes from Shtuxéen kwaan (now referred to as Wrangell, AK.) Meda’s lineage also comes from Oregon, Washington, and the BC/Yukon Territories. Currently she lives on Dena’ina lands in Anchorage, Alaska with her fiancé James “Chris” Paoli and their eight children. Meda’s work revolves around the personal credo “Leave a world that can support life and a culture worth living for.” Her work experience draws from her training as an Alaska Native traditional healer, traditional foods educator, and Healthy Native Communities capacity building facilitator.

About Arlana Redsky

Arlana Redsky is Anishinaabe and a member of the Shoal Lake 40 First Nation in northwestern Ontario. She is a Ph.D. student in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta, and a faculty member of the Summer Internship Program for Indigenous Peoples in Genomics (SING Canada). Arlana has received the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship for her dissertation research on the social, cultural, and political aspects of Chronic Wasting Disease management in Alberta, Canada. Her M.Sc. thesis, written in the Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology at the University of Alberta, focused on expert perceptions regarding cervid (deer, moose, elk, caribou) management in Alberta. Arlana’s current areas of research and specialization include wildlife disease management, wildlife conservation, Indigenous harvesting rights, posthumanist ecology, and historical-contemporary multi-species entanglements in the Colonialocene.

About Michelle Brass

Hi, I’m Michelle Brass, I am a writer, speaker, entrepreneur, and coach deeply committed to the health and well-being of Indigenous peoples and communities.

Currently, much of my work is focused on the areas of Indigenous food sovereignty and the impacts of climate change, Indigenous health and wellness, personal healing and transformation, and the empowerment of Indigenous women.

I’m the creator of the SHAWL Program, a program that trains members of Indigenous communities to become Sustainable Health And Wellness Leaders (and eventually SHAWL Certified Facilitators) and lead them to understand the direct relationship between the health and healing of women to the health and healing of Mother Earth, and vice versa.

I take a holistic approach in my life and work, incorporating all aspects of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health rooted in an Indigenous approach to community well-being.

I am also on the Steering Committee for Indigenous Climate Action, a national organization that inspires action for climate justice by supporting Indigenous communities to develop Indigenous-led solutions to climate change. We are tackling the most vital issues of our time and ensuring that Indigenous voices and knowledge are the forefront.

I am a proud member of the Yellow Quill First Nation (Saulteaux/Anishnaabe) and reside on Peepeekisis First Nation in Treaty Four Territory in Saskatchewan, Canada with my husband and son.

Connect with Michelle

MichelleBrass.com

Additional Resources

ICA Blog: Healing Justice: ICA’s New Pathway

Panel at the Indigenous Economics Conference on Healing Justice

Webinar: "Climate Crisis, Fragmentation & Collective Trauma" discussion with Eriel Deranger, Bayo Akomolafe, Angaangaq Angakkorsuaw and Gabor Mate

Book: My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies (Resmaa Menakem)