At the request of the Mamos, the spiritual guides of the Sierra Nevada, please share this message far and wide. From the mist-shrouded peaks of Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, I’m witnessing an unprecedented gathering of Indigenous leaders and environmental defenders who have come together from five continents to protect a river sacred to […]

The Kunagua Network in the mountains south of Bogotá hosted the 17th edition of this gathering, a Colombian version of the Vision Council, this time with the purpose of preserving and regenerating the Colombian paramos. Text by José Aristizábal G. with editions from Tracy Barnett and Angélica Almazán. SUMAPAZ, COLOMBIA — On the cool, rolling […]

By Tracy L. Barnett and Angélica AlmazánWith collaboration by Noelle Romero and Martín Buen Viaje Alberto Ruz Buenfil, the inspiration for The Esperanza Project* and many other initiatives to create the better world we know is possible, passed away on Dec. 7, 2023, after a courageous three-year “transit through the Tropic of Cancer” as he […]

Cheryl Angel, Sicangu Lakota Water and Land Protector, community activist and great-grandmother, was the first person in the lineup for Earth Sky Woman Tami Brunk’s EcoSapien Speaker Series. Because we never had a chance to delve deep into those wonderful interviews, we are going to be sharing some very special ones with you this year, […]

Last year was a tough one, on many counts. A pandemic that wouldn’t let go; devastating heat waves, wildfires, storms and floods around the globe; spiraling inflation and economic hardship; the war in Ukraine, with heavy worldwide impacts. Sometimes it was hard to see the silver lining.  But behind the headlines, good things were happening […]

Luix Saldaña has been the artistic pillar of the Vision Council – Guardians of the Earth almost since its inception; he is the magician and convoker who brings together the creative community space and performance series that is the Art and Culture Council during each week-long transformational event.

Liora Adler is a visionary social actionist, educator, facilitator, mentor, event organizer and dancer. Raised during the ’60s social movements in the US, she came to understand that protest alone was inadequate for making substantive societal changes. Consequently, throughout the ’70’s and ’80s she explored supportive community building that provided both for physical needs and the basic human need for belonging.

There’s nothing like a talk between sisters — especially sisters with a common vision and dream — to inspire action. This talk with Earth Sky Woman Tami Brunk, the astrologer, dream nurturer and world-changer who is my fourth of seven sisters, was just the first of a whole series of inspiring conversations with eco-elders, indigenous […]

For those of you who joined us this weekend for the epic Call of the Turtle Mini Vision Council, and indeed for any of the brilliant EcoSapiens who shared their stories and insights with us during the monthlong Restoring Sacred Culture in the Americas Convergence, we are so grateful to you. You, in fact, are […]

Since the turn of the century humans have been building communities structured on technological and industrial practices that are steadily destroying the ecosystems that support life on this planet.  “Retrotopia”** is an alternative vision that supports the re-emergence of sustainable community living focused on ecosystem regeneration and restoration. Register HERE to join us for this weekend’s lineup […]

The Call of the Turtle, a Mini Vision Council Sun. Aug 7, gives a small taste of this south-of-the-border phenomenon that has transformed lives and communities throughout the continent.

Today’s guest on the EcoSapien Speaker Series: Diana Leafe Christian, author of Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities, and Finding Community: How to Join an Ecovillage or Intentional Community. She speaks at ecovillage and cohousing conferences, offers consultations, and leads workshops and online internationally.

This monumental monthlong convergence features conversations with indigenous visionaries and activists, eco-elders in the fields of bioregionalism, ecovillage design, permaculture, earth-regeneration and humans we see as helping us connect to our animist roots while restoring elements of sacred culture. 

We are currently living through a time of accelerated environmental collapse. What is the role of indigenous people in reversing and preventing this collapse? Is it possible to prevent further damage and begin a process of Earth restoration?   Join us for the latest conversation in a six-week journey into Indigenous Ecology, where Voices of Amerikua […]

The Esperanza Project, with the collaboration of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, Mongabay, The One Foundation and the SGE Foundation, has released a groundbreaking new bilingual transmedia series called Cosmology & Pandemic: What We Can Learn from Indigenous Responses to the Current Health Crisis. A joint project of the award-winning filmmaker and journalist duo […]

It’s been a year since we launched our Patreon site on Earth Day 2020. “Esperanza is the Antidote,” it was called, and it was launched in the early weeks of the Covid-19 pandemic with a campaign to support our special hope-based approach to journalism.  It was not a good time for a campaign of this […]

We recently sat down (at a distance) for an interview with Paola Stefani, producer of the movie Huicholes: The Last Peyote Guardians. Together with the director of the film, Hernán Vilchez, and with the collaboration of the protagonist, Wixárika Mara’akame or spiritual leader José “Katira” Ramírez, and with the approval of the authorities of two […]

For those of us who cherish the wellbeing of life on Earth, for those of us who love and long for peace, for those who envision a future that lifts up the peoples of our millenary cultures and all cultures, we celebrate as we enter an era of new possibilities. In the US, we are […]

“There’s nothing to celebrate.” It’s a common refrain every Columbus Day.  The anniversary of October 12 comes and goes and it seems as if things have only gotten progressively worse for Indigenous peoples since the day Christopher Columbus first stepped foot on Native American land.   There’s nothing to celebrate about the 212 documented assassinations of […]

Flor Kot Hansen and Caren Beilin are two women whose lives have been upended by the side effects of the copper IUD, a birth control device whose impact around the world has been enormous and has received little media attention. And they are each, in their own way, trying to do something about it. Flor […]

“It’s mind blowing to us that 3,770 people registered for this event and more than 40,000 joined us online for the panel discussion,” said film co-director Clement Guerra. “This event connected us from North to South in a powerful and historic collective moment for the climate justice struggle.”

As we work to prevent the spread of COVID-19, environmental racism is presenting a deadly parallel threat for Indigenous peoples across North and South America who continue to defend their lands and waters, protecting their territories from extraction and the pandemic. Meanwhile, the climate crisis has not paused as we battle racialized violence and COVID-19. On […]

UPDATE: María Ros’ Inner Ecology Master Class was an intimate look at an innovative, earth-based approach to self care. We share the video below, and invite you to join us for our weekly series. The next class is Saturday, June 13, at 11 am PDT/1 pm CDT/2pm EDT. Maria, who is a permaculture designer as […]

UPDATE: Zoom Into the Huichol Center was a huge success with thousands joining from across the globe as Founder Susana Valadez and her team reported live from the Center’s remote headquarters in Mexico’s Western Sierra Madre. Susana shared with us the ways in which Covid-19 is transforming the continued operation of the Huichol Center, an […]