stories
Articles
![Members of the Rapa Nui community welcome attendees at the screening of their film - "Te Pito o Te Henua" or the “The Navel of the World" - during the Festival of Pacific Arts & Culture in June. Photo by Dan Lin, Nia Tero](https://www.wayfinderscircle.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/EG7A5952_16x9-300x169.jpg)
Rapa Nui Celebrates and Shares Beautiful Rich Culture at FestPAC Wayfinders Circle Film Screening
At the FestPAC in Hawai’i in June, members of the Rapa Nui delegation welcomed attendees to a preview of their films.
![Members of the Dayak Iban group in the Sungai Utik community, where they live in a longhouse that serves as a space for collective decision-making.](https://www.wayfinderscircle.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/sungai_utik_16x9-300x169.png)
‘The Land is Our Mother’: The Sungai Utik’s Resistance to Extractive Industries in Indonesia
Through customary law and collective decision-making, an Indigenous community protected an estimated 1.31 million metric tons of forest-based carbon.
![The “Origins: Celebrating Indigenous Peoples' Arts, Spirituality and Cultural Expressions to Strengthen Intergenerational Transmission" event united Indigenous youth and elders from around the world in Lenapehoking territory, also known as New York. Photo by Linda Dutan (Cañari) / Nia Tero](https://www.wayfinderscircle.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/DSF5031-300x193.jpg)
Joint Wayfinders Circle and WUISP event celebrates Indigenous spiritual and cultural continuity at the UNPFII
In a gathering at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York City, the
Wayfinders Circle and the World Union of Indigenous Spiritual Practitioners (WUISP) held an event spotlighting the importance and beauty of knowledge transmission from Indigenous elders to future generations.
![Sungai Utik](https://www.wayfinderscircle.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/1-6-300x200.jpg)
Seedcast Episode Featuring Sungai Utik’s Indigenous Peoples Earns an Honorable Mention at the 2024 Webby Awards
Nia Tero’s podcast episode tells the story of how the Dayak Iban People won a fight for their forest in Indonesia through the perspective of a young Indigenous filmmaker.
![Rapa Nui](https://www.wayfinderscircle.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/10-6-300x177.jpg)
How Ancestral Indigenous Wisdom Guides the Rapa Nui’s Response to Global Challenges
Self-governance is leading the way forward for a Pacific Island community that is vulnerable to climate change.
![Assistant Director Gina Milanovich (Cahuilla, Cupeno)](https://www.wayfinderscircle.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Assistant-Director-Gina-Milanovich-Cahuilla-Cupeno-300x225.jpg)
Tuhaymani’chi Pal Waniqa Film Festival Screenings
In the film from the Wayfinders Circle, water and culture bring together a father and daughter as they fight to protect their Indigenous homelands in Southern California.
![The workshop supported by Nia Tero was led by Indigenous technicians from Fundación Kara Solar in Achuar language. Photo: Kara Solar Foundation.](https://www.wayfinderscircle.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/PHOTO2_The_workshop_supported_by_Nia_Tero_was_led_by_Indigenous_technicians_from_Fundacion_Kara_Solar_in_Achuar_language.-Photo_Kara_Solar_Foundation_16x9-300x169.png)
Indigenous-Led Workshop Kicks Off Internet Installations for Achuar Communities in the Amazon
The Kara Solar Foundation trained four Achuar communities in Ecuador to increase connectivity and strengthen Indigenous guardianship.
![Rosemary Nabulwad and Conrad Maralngurra (Warkkeden Land Management, Australia) introduce the Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area during the 15th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal. Photo: David Rotschild.](https://www.wayfinderscircle.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/PXL_20221209_211656732_16x9-300x169.jpg)
Wayfinders’ Self-governance Systems are Key to Protecting the World’s Biodiversity by 2030
Indigenous traditional knowledge and care for land make indispensable contributions to the Global Biodiversity Framework.
![Dean speech at the first in-person global gathering of the Wayfinders Circle in Achuar territory,](https://www.wayfinderscircle.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/1809_Dean-Speech-300x169.jpg)
A Circle of Wisdom and Hope
Members of the Wayfinders Circle embraced shared values and forged spiritual connections to tackle collective challenges in first in-person global meeting.
![Lauren Monroe Jr speaking during the Wayfinders Circle Gathering on Blackfeet Territory Montana with Chief Mountain in the background](https://www.wayfinderscircle.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Lauren_Monroe_Jr_speaking_during_the_Wayfinders_Circle_Gathering_on_Blackfeet_Territory_Montana_with_Chief_Mountain_in_the_background_16x9-min-300x169.png)
The Blackfoot Confederacy Hosts Members of the Wayfinders Circle
In August of 2023, members of the Wayfinders Circle were hosted graciously by the Blackfoot Confederacy on Blackfeet territory in Montana, USA.
![View of the Blackfeet Ceremonial Summer Camp 2023](https://www.wayfinderscircle.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/View-of-the-Blackfeet-Ceremonial-Summer-Camp-2023-300x167.jpg)
Reconnecting with the Sacred: A Visit to the Blackfeet Ceremonial Summer Camp
From July 19-25, 2023, Nia Tero’s Blackfeet Nation partners held their annual summer circle camp outside Browning, Montana. It is an important time of the year when the Blackfeet Nation comes together to renew their sacred connections to the world.
Podcasts
![](https://www.wayfinderscircle.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Tyson_Chief_Mountain_16x9-300x169.jpg)
The Sacred Essence of Blackfoot Culture
In this episode, you will spend time with a group of people from the Blackfoot Confederacy and will learn about Blackfoot Culture. Listen now!
![Film Directors of Tuhaymanichi Pal Waniqa in the Mojave Desert California](https://www.wayfinderscircle.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Tuhaymanichi_Pal_Waniqa_in_the_Mojave_Desert_Seedcast_16x9-300x169.png)
Tuhaymani’chi Pal Waniqa (The Water Flows Always) in the Mojave Desert
For this episode of Seedcast, let’s meet in the Mojave Desert in a spot where we can gaze upon Mamápukaiv, also known as the Old Woman Mountains.
![Sungai Utik Indonesian Land Seedcast episode 16x9](https://www.wayfinderscircle.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Sungai_Utik_Indonesian_Land_Seedcast_episode_16x9-min-300x169.png)
The Omen Birds Still Sing in Sungai Utik
“The land is our mother. The forest is our father. And the river is our blood.” Today we share a story of an Indigenous people who fought for their forest.
![Gabbra people loading camel.](https://www.wayfinderscircle.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/loading-camel__PhotoCourtesyOfTheWayfindersCircle-16x9-1-300x169.jpeg)
Meet the Gabbra People of East Africa Pt 2: How Connection to Creator, Moon, Stars, Earth, Sun, and More Guide Gabbra Knowledge
In the second episode in our two-part Gabbra series, hear songs of celebration and how the Gabbra people stay in close and constant dialogue with each other, exchanging ancestral wisdom as they pass on their traditions and revitalize their knowledge.
![Shifting during wet season](https://www.wayfinderscircle.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/shifting_during_wet_season_16x9-300x169.jpg)
Meet the Gabbra People of East Africa Pt 1: How Traditional Knowledge Saw the Gabbra People Through Colonization and Climate Crisis
In this Seedcast episode – the first of two parts – hear songs, stories, and sounds of the lands the nomadic Gabbra people of eastern Africa shepherd, and how they share traditional knowledge from generation to generation.
![view of boats used to transport the tourists and natives](https://www.wayfinderscircle.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Seedcast_KaraSolar_Tapiatpia_Hana_Begovic-16x9-1-300x169.jpeg)
The Boat of Dreams: How the Achuar Embraced Solar Power
The Achuar people living in the rainforests of Ecuadorian Amazon are stewards of land that holds some of the richest biodiversity in the world. They rely heavily on river transportation, and have been on a journey to reduce use of gas-powered boats. Listen now!
Films
![](https://www.wayfinderscircle.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/thumbnail_Indai-Apai-Darah_trailer-300x169.jpg)
Indai Apai Darah (in Bahasa)
Dalam film ketiga dari seri yang menyoroti Masyarakat Adat dari Wayfinders Circle Initiative, seorang gadis muda yang tumbuh di hutan Adat Kalimantan Tengah menelusuri hubungan leluhurnya untuk mendapatkan pemberian sebuah cerita – perjuangan orang-orangnya pada tahun 1973 dalam menjaga tanah mereka dari deforestasi besar-besaran.
![](https://www.wayfinderscircle.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/thumbnail_Indai-Apai-Darah_trailer-300x169.jpg)
Indai Apai Darah
In the third film of a series highlighting Indigenous Peoples from the Wayfinders Circle initiative, a young girl growing up in the Indigenous-held forests of central Borneo follows ancient connections to earn the gift of a story – her People’s 1973 fight to preserve their lands amid rampant deforestation.
![](https://www.wayfinderscircle.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Chemehuevi_Organic_Farm_Tour-300x225.jpg)
Tuhaymani’chi Pal Waniqa (The Water Flows Always) in the Mojave Desert
Tuhaymani’chi Pal Waniqa (The Water Flows Always) follows a Cahuilla, Cupeño father and daughter attempting to reconnect in a journey through their Indigenous roots in the ancient springs of the Mojave Desert. Presented by The Wayfinders Circle alliance.
Events
![](https://www.wayfinderscircle.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Origins-event-300x227.png)
Twenty-third session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Special Event
The Kara Solar Foundation trained four Achuar communities in Ecuador to increase connectivity and strengthen Indigenous guardianship.