U.S ( NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM) : Unfence the Future.

 

 

 

		Friend, Next month we're hosting a free virtual symposium of panel discussions, poetry, short films, and a call to action. Held over two days, "Unfence the Future: Taking Down Fortress Conservation and Its Enduring Legacy" brings together a blockbuster lineup of community leaders, conservationists, historians, geographers, legal scholars, policy experts, poets, and activists working to dismantle the colonial logics, practices, and protocols embedded in institutions of federal law, historic preservation, and conservation. RSVP today, invite your friends, and join us on April 12-13! For the future, The Natural History Museum
		Unfence the Future : Taking Down Fortress Conservation and its Enduring Legacy A two-day virtual symposium of panel discussions, poetry, films, and a call to action. April 12 & 13, 2023 "My Cherokee grandfather Russell Porter Hester started college just before the Great Depression began. During the Depression, he sold his Indian allotment so that he could finish college. My mother tells a story that, while he was a student, he took a class where he was presented with this question on an exam: What was the most defining feature of the American West? He wrote a single word on the page, “fences,” and turned in his exam. Reportedly, he received an “A.” —Hester Dillon (Cherokee Nation) in "Unfencing the Future : Voices On How Indigenous and Non-Indigenous People and Organizations Can Work Together Toward Environmental and Conservation Goals"* Fences create artificial borders between places and mediate the relations between them—what goes in, what comes out, and under what conditions. Without the lines that fences inscribe, there would be no place for border police. Nor could lands be parceled up, claimed as property to be possessed or plundered. In the history of conservation, the logic of fencing was institutionalized in what critics call “fortress conservation,” a project of drawing boundaries between designated wilderness areas and their outsides, expelling perceived threats to ecological balance--from Indigenous Peoples, to predator species. In the process, habitats have been fragmented, and lifeworlds devastated. While the science of fortress conservation has been widely discredited, we continue to live in its world. Where did this model come from ? Where does it endure ? How is it encoded in current laws, policies, and institutional practices—and more broadly, in our ways of seeing, understanding, and relating to the land ? And what are activists, communities, and institutions doing to take it down ? Join community leaders, conservationists, legal scholars, geographers, historians, activists, and artists for a free online symposium dedicated to dismantling fortress conservation and its enduring legacy. A Red Natural History launch event, organized by The Natural History Museum. Co-sponsored by Survival International and the Center for the Humanities at CUNY Graduate Center. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12 2:00 pm – 5:30 pm EST / 11:00 am – 2:30 pm PST THURSDAY, APRIL 13 2:00 pm- 6:45 pm EST / 11:00 am – 3:45 pm PST This is a 2-day symposium taking place on Zoom--feel free to register for one or both days. *From “Unfencing the Future: Voices On How Indigenous and Non-Indigenous People and Organizations Can Work Together Toward Environmental and Conservation Goals”, by Hester Dillon (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
		Speakers (List in formation) Andrew Curley (Diné) – assistant professor in the School of Geography, Development, and Environment at the University of Arizona Ashley Dawson – professor of postcolonial studies at the Graduate Center, City University of New York and author of People’s Power: Reclaiming the Energy Commons Billy Fleming – land use planner, author, and Wilks Family Director of the Ian L. McHarg Center in the Weitzman School of Design Dina Gilio-Whitaker (Colville Confederated Tribes) – academic and author of As Long As Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice from Colonization to Standing Rock Jon Eagle Sr. (Lakota) – Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Judith LeBlanc (Caddo) – Executive Director, Native Organizers Alliance Julia Fay Bernal (Sandia Pueblo/Yuchi-Creek) – Executive Director, Pueblo Action Alliance Kai Bosworth – geographer and author of Pipeline Populism: Grassroots Environmentalism in the 21st Century Mark Tilsen (Oglala Lakota) – activist and poet Melissa K. Nelson (Anishnaabe/Métis/Norwegian) – Indigenous ecologist and President of Cultural Conservancy Natchee Blu Barnd – associate professor of Native American studies at Oregon State University and author of Native Space: Geographic Strategies to Unsettle Settler Colonialism Rosalyn LaPier (Blackfeeet/Métis) – award winning Indigenous writer, environmental historian, and ethnobotanist Rueben George (Tsleil-Waututh) – Sundance Chief and manager of Tsleil-Waututh Nation Sacred Trust Initiative Ruth Miller (Dena’ina Athabaskan) – artist, performer, and climate justice activist Dr. Wendsler Nosie Sr. (San Carlos Apache) – Founder of Apache Stronghold and former Chairman and Councilmember of the San Carlos Apache Tribe
		Times below are in EDT. DAY 1 – APRIL 12 2:00 – 2:30 pm: Opening poem and introduction 2:30 – 3:45 pm: Panel Discussion: Conservation by Dispossession 3:45 – 4 pm: Film: The Sacred Remains 4 – 5:15 pm: Panel Discussion: Indigenizing Conservation DAY 2 – APRIL 13 2 – 2:15 pm: Opening poem 2:15 – 3:30 pm: Panel Discussion: Exterminating Extraction 3:30 – 3:45 pm: Performance 3:45 – 5 pm: Panel Discussion: Defending the Sacred in Law and Policy 5:15 – 5:30 pm: Film: From the Ancestors to the Grandchildren 5:15 – 6:30: Panel Discussion: Unfencing the Future for the Storms to Come 6:30 – 6:45: Closing
		Thank you ! The Natural History Museum leverages the power of history, museums, monuments, and movements to change narratives, build alliances, educate the public and drive civic engagement in support of community-led movements for climate and environmental justice. Our programs are made possible thanks to support from 4Culture, ATALM, Chorus Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, Invoking the Pause, Myer Memorial Trust, National Geographic Foundation, NEH, Park Foundation, Resource Legacy Fund, and countless individuals. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution today! Your support goes a long way.