A new podcast from the Leelanau Conservancy aims to elevate Anishinaabeg voices in land conservation and stewardship through conversation.
The Indigenous Knowledges Project is part of the conservancy’s initiative to conduct land assessments with elders and culture carriers about the land and water, to co-create communications and engagement programming, and to form strong partnerships.
The conservancy published and shared the five episode podcast series in December, which was produced by Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians (GTB) member Mark Wilson of New Leonard Media, a Native American family-owned multimedia recording studio.
Wilson himself is active in his community and has a background in public service, previously serving two terms on the GTB tribal council. With a passion for environmental stewardship, Wilson said he aims to work with community-based organizations and local nonprofits. The podcast series project aligned with New Leonard Media’s values, Wilson said, and with his insight on some of the tribe’s historic reservations, he was able to help in many parts of the process.
“I was overjoyed with being able to work on a project like this and help,” Wilson said. “Capturing it and going through all of the editing process really gives me a chance to hear it again and again during the production of it… I’m somebody that feels like ‘a day with an elder is worth more than a month in college.’ So being about to sit down in that manner was very special to me. And that’s not to overlook the fact that these are folks I’ve known my whole life and really connect with and love and appreciate.”
Leelanau Conservancy Communications Director Claire Wood said Wilson was a natural choice to produce the series and as their liaison, explaining how the collaboration was a culmination of exploring ways to be better partners with the GTB.
In addition, GTB’s leadership in agriculture conservation has led to further partnerships. GTB is the lead partner of the Tribal Stream and Michigan Fruitbelt Collaborative, which is a part of the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, a partnerdriven approach to conservation that funds solutions to natural resource challenges on agricultural land from the Natural Resources Conservation Service. It’s the first “indigenous-led collaborative of its kind in the nation, and has brought over $20 million to the region.”
“We really wanted to learn more about traditional ecological knowledge and indigenous ways of doing things — really examine how we could better align with that work and make sure that we’re just better understanding the importance and signifi cance of indigenous people in this region,” Wood said. “The tribe is right next door to us, we are on land that is their land, so we spent a couple years really trying to build those relationships and explore what we could learn and really being open to that.”
For the limited podcast series, Wood said they chose to interview tribal members they previously worked with on other conservancy projects. GTB elder JoAnne Cook was featured in the first episode, “Nurturing the Eighth Fire,” where she shares her insights about the Anishinaabe creation story, the significance of the eighth fire, and the importance of reclaiming ancestral knowledge for future generations. Wood said Cook not only has done land visits to conservancy properties to help them understand what is of importance from an indigenous perspective, but she also did a training for conservancy staff years ago about looking at ways to ensure lands are open and welcoming for people from the tribe. Eva Petoskey, another GTB elder, was featured in the fifth episode, “co-creating with indigenous voices,” with Wood adding that she was previously contracted by the conservancy to help create a guidance document on how to work with tribal communities for non-native led organizations like themselves.
“It was more allowing each interviewee to just elevate the issues and topics that were important to their work,” she said. “It really is meant to help educate anyone who is interested in an indigenous perspective, especially related to land and water… but there will definitely be more educational pieces on this topic this year.”
Wilson was also engaged by the conservancy to help identify and connect with the diverse group of community members that could speak on subjects relevant to the podcast. Throughout the recording of each episode, Wilson said they wanted to be accommodating to the guests interviewed, so some of the audio portions were recorded on location outside of the studio. All of the accompanying videos with the podcast series were also shot on conservancy properties.
One of the biggest things Wilson says he hopes people take away from the series is their shared perspectives and values with the broader community.
“If we can bring attention to the areas that actually are our treaty’s reservations, I don’t think many people know that, so that’s really a big deal, especially in support for the tribe in ever setting the record straight for where our boundaries were and how those titles came to change hands,” Wilson said. “But also, people can see the value in preserving nature and why. We want folks to listen to and hear it and think about what impacts come from all of our actions. There’s a reason why we think about seven generations ahead. All of our actions have some consequence to it and we need to just be mindful of that as we try to grow and expand as people, as humans.”
To listen to the podcast, view videos, or learn more about the project, go to the conservancy’s website https://leelanaucons ervancy.org/indigenousknowledges.
