INHABITANTS

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 INHABITANTS: An Indigenous Perspective is a feature-length documentary that follows five North American tribes restoring their ancient relationships with the land while adapting to today's climate crisis. This film is a collaborative project between the tribes,  a Tribal Advisory Board, The Kalliopeia Foundation, The Namaste Foundation, The Social Good Fund, and Inhabit Films Productions.  

The film travels across diverse bioregions of North America, from deserts and coastlines, to forests, mountains, and prairies, highlighting the dramatic effects of climate change and stories of indigenous land stewardship practices, which continue to be resilient in the face of a changing climate. The film focuses on five stories: the return of prescribed fire practices by the Karuk Tribe in California; the restoration of buffalo on the Blackfeetreservation in Montana; sustained traditions of Hopi dryland farming in Arizona; sustainable forestry on the Menominee reservation in Wisconsin; and the revival of native Hawaiian food forests in Hawaii. 

Although these stories are not connected geographically, and only represent a small portion of the many diverse indigenous communities leading efforts to maintain their cultural practices and identity, they all share the common dimensions of "traditional knowledges." According to Guidelines for Considering Traditional Knowledges in Climate Change Initiatives,"[traditional knowledges] broadly refer to indigenous communities’ ways of knowing that both guide and result from their communities members’ close relationships with and responsibilities towards the landscapes, waterscapes, plants, and animals that are vital to the flourishing of indigenous cultures."

Citation: Climate and Traditional Knowledges Workgroup (CTKW). 2014. Guidelines for Considering Traditional Knowledges in Climate Change Initiatives. https://climatetkw.wordpress.com.