Living Earth Festival: Saving Sacred Spaces

Panel Discussion and Film Screenings

Across the country, sites sacred to Indigenous communities are at risk due to environmental changes, population growth, tourism, and natural resource extraction. As part of the museum’s Living Earth celebrations, several community members discuss their efforts to protect sites of cultural significance. Dr. Rosita Kaaháni Worl (Tlingit) talks about X’unáxi, or Indian Point, in Juneau, Alaska; Dr. LilikalaKame‘eleihiwa (Native Hawaiian) shares updates on Mauna Kea, Hawai‘i’s highest mountain; and Angelo Baca (Diné/Hopi) provides an update on the status of the restoration of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah.

In addition, four films will be screened. They feature stories about water management in protection of sacred sites and Indigenous peoples’ spiritual and cultural connections to land.

Shásh Jaa’: Bears Ears
(USA, 2016, 23 min.)
Director: Angelo Baca (Navajo/Hopi)

Water Flows Together
(USA, 2020, 11min.)
Directors: Palmer Morse , Taylor Graham, Matt Mikkelsen
Producer: Colleen Cooley ( Diné)

However Wide the Sky: Places of Power
(USA, 2021, 57 min.)
Director: David Aubrey
Associate Producer: Jhane Myers (Comanche/Blackfeet)

Into Americas Wild
(USA, 2020, 40 min.)
Director: Greg MacGillivray

Photo of Indian Point courtesy of Sealaska Heritage Institute