Tootfinder

Forests on Indigenous lands help protect health in the Amazon https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/forests-on-indigenous-lands-help-protect-health-in-the-amazon/

Forests on Indigenous lands help protect health in the Amazon
Healthy forests are more than climate shields; in the Amazon, they also serve as public-health infrastructure. A Communications Earth & Environment study spanning two decades across the biome links the extent and legal status of Indigenous Territories to 27 respiratory, cardiovascular, and zoonotic or vector-borne diseases. The findings are complex, but one pattern is clear: […]

The US is a slave state founded on genocide that *still* hasn't actually abolished slavery. Nazi race law came from Jim Crow, but you won't find that taught in a single classroom in the US. The Senate and Electoral College are *explicitly* anti-democratic institutions... Like, they were designed to prevent democracy. The whole punitive legal system exists to suppress dissent and legitimize slavery. The genocide of indigenous folks *has not even ended* much less has there been any attempt at reparations.
How exactly are you going to fix that by voting harder in the mid terms, and finding a more acceptable candidate for 2028? Seriously, someone explain it to me.

Here's the latest episode of my Human Meme podcast concerning the rights of indigenous people:
https://humanmeme.com/rivers-with-standing-indigenous-law-memory-and-the-future-of-stewardship

Every Fall I shake my fist at the guy who, back in the ‘40s, planted ( or left in place?) the majestic soaring silver maples that ring my home.
They are named for the way they look at this time of year, when the leaves curl and show their grey undersides.
The name oversells the look.
Meanwhile, the rest of my block is doing the red/orange/yellow display of other sorts of less-indigenous maple (and other trees. )

JFC
#LACon26

#ThickTrunkTuesday
A forest giant from the Osa Peninsula in #CostaRica. The indigenous guide said it was a survivor of the primary forest & the locals called it the garlic tree
#Trees

"World’s first Indigenous-led ocean reserve is one step closer to reality"
#Oceans #Environment

World’s first Indigenous-led ocean reserve is one step closer to reality | The Optimist Daily
A visionary project blending Indigenous knowledge and science could create the first marine reserve led by Pacific Island nations.

Mass killings
Was looking through Wikipedia's list of mass killings in America (#guns #GunViolence #Shooting

Uncovering Latent Connections in Indigenous Heritage: Semantic Pipelines for Cultural Preservation in Brazil
Luis Vitor Zerkowski, Nina S. T. Hirata
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.10911

Uncovering Latent Connections in Indigenous Heritage: Semantic Pipelines for Cultural Preservation in Brazil
Indigenous communities face ongoing challenges in preserving their cultural heritage, particularly in the face of systemic marginalization and urban development. In Brazil, the Museu Nacional dos Povos Indigenas through the Tainacan platform hosts the country's largest online collection of Indigenous objects and iconographies, providing a critical resource for cultural engagement. Using publicly available data from this repository, we present a data-driven initiative that applies artificial int…

Increasingly targeted in immigration raids
-- Mixteco and Triqui communities hold festivals of resistance.
https://truthout.org/articles/indigenous-communities-from-southern-mexico-refuse-to-bow-to-ice-in-california/…

Indigenous Communities From Southern Mexico Refuse to Bow to ICE in California
Increasingly targeted in immigration raids, Mixteco and Triqui communities hold festivals of resistance.

🗡️ Landmines and violence in Colombian Amazon confine Indigenous Siona families
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/landmines-and-violence-in-colombian-amazon-confine-indigenous-siona-families/…

Landmines and violence in Colombian Amazon confine Indigenous Siona families
Siona Indigenous guards in southern Colombia are raising alarm that landmines and armed groups are cutting off their families from natural resources and trapping them in small portions of their territory. It’s been an ongoing problem for decades, Mongabay contributor Jose Guarnizo reported. In August 2024, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expanded its […]

"Intensive indigenous farming in #Michigan ’s Upper Peninsula, USA" #archaeology #lidar

Some words to describe the material featured would be... Celebrity, Children, Demonstration, Indigenous, Industrial, Outsider, Song-Poem, Spoken, Ventriloquism, and on and on and on. The best thing to do is to simply listen.
WFMU - 365 Days Project
https://wfmu.org/365/

These are mostly indigenous communities in Alaska that have been slammed by the storm.
The local manager of a small airline fleet says he is the only one doing evacuations right now!
Defund FEMA and people are abandoned. Defund public media and no-one knows.
FYI, today is Indigenous Peoples Day.
https://

News Eye (@newseye.bsky.social)
These are mostly indigenous communities in Alaska that have been slammed by the storm. The local manager of a small airline fleet says he is the only one doing evacuations right now! Defund FEMA and people are abandoned. Defund public media and no-one knows. FYI, today is Indigenous Peoples Day.

New book on the history of McGill University - written and edited by historians, not the university's comms department. I wrote a chapter on how Indigenous dispossession and colonial politicians saved McGill when it was in danger of going broke. Others cover McGill's ties to chattel slavery, Japanese exclusion, research of various sorts, student lives, queer experiences, and more.
Check it out:

Indigenous Beadwork as a Method of Teaching Linear Algebra
Sarah Plosker, Cathy Mattes
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.10477 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2509.10477

Indigenous Beadwork as a Method of Teaching Linear Algebra
In this work, the authors describe efforts aimed at Indigenizing a second-year linear algebra course at a small liberal arts university in Manitoba, Canada. This is done through an assignment, part hands-on and part written work, that explores the connection between Indigenous beadwork and linear algebra. Our collaboration was perhaps unconventional: Sarah, the first author, is a mathematics professor; while Cathy, the second author, is an associate professor in art history. However, we both ha…

Vale Terrence Stamp

Good Morning #Canada
A Canadian inventor gave Mothers across North America a device that was beneficial and a little scary. We are, of course, talking about the Jolly Jumper, once referred to as "the Canadian Nanny" on a 1957 CBC broadcast. Susan Olivia Poole (1889–1975) was an Indigenous Canadian inventor who created the Jolly Jumper in 1910, but it was not until 1948 that they were produced for the retail market, and patented in 1957. They continue to be manufactured in Ontario by the company that purchased the rights in 1960.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Inventors
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/olivia-poole

Just finished "Dreams from Many Rivers" by Margarita Engle. It's a Latin-American history of the United States, written in poems that take on the points of view of a number of both fictional and actual people. It starts with the arrival of Spanish colonists in Puerto Rico, which was in fact the first part of the present-day States to experience European colonialism.
Its super informative and a great read to appreciate the complexities of history that ICE and the US white supremacist movement are trying to sweep under the rug. Like how the fuck do you deport a person whose indigenous and then Mexican ancestors lived in Arizona for centuries but now that it's claimed by the US since they speak Spanish they're "foreign."
It's a pretty quick read since it's a lot of short poems, and it's got lovely illustrations by Beatriz Gutierrez Hernandez.
#AmReading #ReadingNow

Gathered Into a Church: Indigenous-English Congregationalism in Woodland New England https://networks.h-net.org/group/announcements/20124184/gathered-church-indigenous-english-congregationalism-woodland-new

In place of the COMPLETELY NORMAL RADIO PROGRAMME on Monday, I've lent my time slot to josh who will bring their special Indigenous People's Day episode of DECOLONIZE YOUR PLAYLIST to your ears at 8pm over at UncertainFM

🤦 As Indonesia reclaims forests from palm oil, smallholders bear brunt of enforcement
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/as-indonesia-reclaims-forests-from-palm-oil-smallholders-bear-brunt-of-enforcement/

As Indonesia reclaims forests from palm oil, smallholders bear brunt of enforcement
JAKARTA — Indonesia has launched a sweeping and militarized crackdown on illegal forest use, reclaiming millions of hectares of land — but civil society groups warn the campaign is displacing Indigenous peoples while sparing corporate offenders and entrenching land inequality. Under a regulation issued in January, President Prabowo Subianto established a task force to crack down on […]

Protecting the Amazon: Indigenous voices leading the way in the fight against climate change. #climatechange #climatesolutions #climate

Voices from the land: Seven Indigenous paths to protect the Amazon (commentary)
This series, Voices from the Land, brings together opinion pieces led and written by Indigenous peoples from around the world. Through these commentaries, we share our lived realities and reflections on urgent issues shaping our time — environmental destruction, our relationship with nature, and systemic injustice. We write from the heart of our communities, where […]

Public service announcement:
I am blocking the babka.social instance as the person who runs it (Serge) is a Zionist and a genocide/denier, who conflates being Jewish with being Zionist (“Zionism is a belief that more than 80% of Jews have. Talking about Zionists is talking about Jews.” – https://babka.social/@serge/1151605…

O rly? Given that Alberta & Ottawa united to shove the TMX pipeline down the throat of the BC & Vancouver governments and several indigenous nations. And given that Carney has been saying “build all the pipelines”. ?!?!?
If my cynicism is misplaced I heartily apologize and salute in the direction of Minister Hodgson.

Alberta will need B.C. government’s backing to build proposed pipeline: energy minister | CBC News
Canada’s energy minister says Alberta will need to get its neighbouring province on board in order to see its proposed pipeline project to the West Coast come to fruition.

When the Spanish colonized the region in the 17th century,
they didn't introduce horses to Indigenous people, as long thought.
Instead, horses were present in the Southwest long before Europeans,
and were traded by Indigenous people who formed close relationships with them.
Horses lived in North America for millions of years
but went extinct at the end of the last ice age, about 11,000 years ago.
When Europeans reintroduced horses to what is now the ea…

Indigenous people of the American West used 'sacred' horses a half-century earlier than previously thought
Indigenous oral histories and archaeological evidence are rewriting the story of how horses came to the American West.

New report warns 54% of turtles and tortoises are at risk of extinction https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/new-report-warns-54-of-turtles-and-tortoises-are-at-risk-of-extinction/

New report warns 54% of turtles and tortoises are at risk of extinction
“Most people have a turtle story, whether that’s seeing a turtle at an aquarium, having a turtle as a pet as a kid, or they helped one cross the road, or one happened across their backyard one day,” Jordan Gray, from the Turtle Survival Alliance, told Mongabay. For many Indigenous cultures, turtles hold profound spiritual […]

Happy Leif Erickson Day to all who celebrate.
No I’m just kidding, happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day, and thank you for allowing me to share this magnificent land with you.

🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on KEXP's #AfternoonShow
Neon Nativez:
🎵 Sacred Indigenous (feat. Cher Thomas)
#NeonNativez
https://open.spotify.com/track/2xzWZgiMmiXUW9eX8D7HyO

"Indigenous women in Peru use technology to protect Amazon forests"
#Peru #Technology #AmazonRainforest

Indigenous women in Peru use technology to protect Amazon forests
In 2017, when Betty Rubio began patrolling the forests of her ancestral land, she began to question why she was doing it. It wasn’t easy. She knew that tackling environmental crimes such as illegal logging and mining came with risks, and that as a woman, those risks were even greater. “My children would say to […]

From Amnesty
Right now, governments in Canada are pushing forward development bills Bill 5 (Ontario), Bill 15 (British Columbia), and Bill C-5 (Federal) that fast-track corporate interests while sidelining Indigenous Peoples’ rights, labour rights, and environmental protections.
These bills would:
Bypass the right of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC);
Rush through major infrastructure projects, like pipelines and highways, without meaningful public input or envi…

A large part of Russian (and Chinese, for that matter) propaganda consists of presenting themselves as allies in anti-colonial struggles around the world, and some people are all too happy to parrot that point. They should really read this.
Russia (and China, for that matter) is a colonial empire, violently repressing its own subjugated peoples, as clearly expressed here by members of those peoples.

Allie Vugrincic, "Ohio State University prohibits land acknowledgements under most circumstances"
https://www.wosu.org/politics-government/2025-09-08/ohio-state-university-prohibits-land-acknowledge…

Ohio State University prohibits land acknowledgements under most circumstances
A land acknowledgement is a verbal or written statement that recognizes that land was taken from Indigenous people. Ohio State's policy says they are considered statements "on behalf of an issue or cause" and they cannot be given by a university department or at university-sponsored events.

🛢️ Whistleblower Reveals Colombia’s Oil Spill Coverups
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Whistleblower-Reveals-Colombias-Oil-Spill-Coverups.html

Whistleblower Reveals Colombia's Oil Spill Coverups
Colombia's oil industry faces growing outrage over decades of environmental destruction and human rights abuses in the Amazon, as whistleblowers and indigenous communities demand accountability.

Identifying Key Features for Establishing Sustainable Agro-Tourism Centre: A Data Driven Approach
Alka Gadakh, Vidya Kumbhar, Sonal Khosla, Kumar Karunendra
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.09214

Identifying Key Features for Establishing Sustainable Agro-Tourism Centre: A Data Driven Approach
Agro-tourism serves as a strategic economic model designed to facilitate rural development by diversifying income streams for local communities like farmers while promoting the conservation of indigenous cultural heritage and traditional agricultural practices. As a very booming subdomain of tourism, there is a need to study the strategies for the growth of Agro-tourism in detail. The current study has identified the important indicators for the growth and enhancement of agro-tourism. The study…

Child harm/death mention; Columbus
On Indigenous People's Day here in America, it's a great time to:
1. Remember that Columbus was a monster. Anyone who feeds toddlers to dogs actually deserves to burn in hell for eternity. Nothing else about this man should be remembered before this fact.
2. If you're in a colonized country, check out the website(s) for your local indigenous tribe (s) to remind yourself that they're still here. For me, that includes #LandBack, etc.
Me, I'm hopeful for a future in which the US is a distant memory and the hundreds of surviving nations on this territory flourish like budding plants after the winter snow.

#SanFrancisco's #Mayor seeems intent of fostering community & trust? Seems a bit out of the blue and disrespectful, but I am sure there is a robust reason for treating community groups like this. /s

Mayor Lurie ends 20-year ‘heritage night’ partnership with indigenous group
American Indian Cultural Center says cutting it from Native American Heritage Night "excludes the very community the event is meant to honor."

#SanFrancisco's #Mayor seeems intent of fostering community & trust? Seems a bit out of the blue and disrespectful, but I am sure there is a robust reason for treating community groups like this. /s

Mayor Lurie ends 20-year ‘heritage night’ partnership with indigenous group
American Indian Cultural Center says cutting it from Native American Heritage Night "excludes the very community the event is meant to honor."

An 11,000-year-old settlement in Canada is challenging the idea that early Indigenous people were nomadic.
The newly uncovered village site of Âsowanânihk, which means "a place to cross" in the Cree language,
is one of the oldest archaeological sites found on the continent
and suggests that an organized society existed in central Canada far earlier than experts previously thought.

11,000-year-old settlement in Canada could rewrite history of Indigenous civilizations in North America
The discovery of an 11,000-year-old village in Saskatchewan could rewrite Indigenous history in central Canada.

Gathered Into a Church: Indigenous-English Congregationalism in Woodland New England
https://ift.tt/oXLzWO6
H-Net Job Guide Weekly Report for H-HOAC: 24 August - 31 August H-Net Job Guide 09/09/2025 - 8:25am …
via Input 4 RELCFP

What's Not on the Plate? Rethinking Food Computing through Indigenous Indian Datasets
Pamir Gogoi, Neha Joshi, Ayushi Pandey, Deepthi Sudharsan, Saransh Kumar Gupta, Lipika Dey, Partha Pratim Das, Kalika Bali, Vivek Seshadri
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.16286

What's Not on the Plate? Rethinking Food Computing through Indigenous Indian Datasets
This paper presents a multimodal dataset of 1,000 indigenous recipes from remote regions of India, collected through a participatory model involving first-time digital workers from rural areas. The project covers ten endangered language communities in six states. Documented using a dedicated mobile app, the data set includes text, images, and audio, capturing traditional food practices along with their ecological and cultural contexts. This initiative addresses gaps in food computing, such as t…

And, on this second day of 'spring' (according to convention in Aotearoa), we've got mostly beautiful sunshine and mild temperatures here in Ōtautahi... We've got the first daffodils blooming and I just saw 5 native skinks in the garden, 3 sunning themselves on the tiles in our lizardarium. At least one was gravid (carrying eggs)... With indigenous NZ skinks, the eggs hatch in the female and are born live.

When an Alaska Native group asked state law enforcement officials in June for a list of murders investigated by state police
— one of the most fundamental pieces of data needed to understand the issue
— the state said no.
Charlene Aqpik Apok launched
"Data for Indigenous Justice"
in 2020 after trying to collect the names of missing and murdered Indigenous people to read at a rally,
only to discover no government agency had been keeping track.

Alaska Vowed to Resolve Murders of Indigenous People. Now It Refuses to Provide Their Names.
When the nonprofit Data for Indigenous Justice filed public records requests with the Alaska Department of Public Safety concerning cases it had investigated, the state rejected them.

Climate change made Nordic heatwave 2C hotter: study #Nordic

Climate change made Nordic heatwave 2C hotter: study
Human-caused climate change made a recent Nordic heatwave about 2C hotter, putting a strain on healthcare, ecosystems and indigenous Sami reindeer herders in a region ill-equipped for such events, researchers said on Thursday.

Guyana brings solar power to Indigenous village, part of larger plan to prioritize Amerindian communities in national development. #climatechange #climatesolutions #climate

Guyana commissions solar grid for Indigenous village
A remote village in western Guyana is set to benefit from round the clock power following the commissioning of a solar grid with a combined capacity of 217.4 kW.

Say it together with me now: Indigenous people WERE (and ARE) using the land.
https://nebula.tv/videos/philosophytube-how-colonisers-lied-about-indian-land-use/

Philosophy Tube — How Colonisers Lied About American Indian Land Use
A bonus video about American Indian land use and the philosophical arguments colonists used to deny that they were "really" using it

👾 Invasion intensifies on Karipuna Indigenous land in the Brazilian Amazon
https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/08/invasion-intensifies-on-karipuna-indigenous-land-in-the-brazilian-amazon/

Invasion intensifies on Karipuna Indigenous land in the Brazilian Amazon
Illegal invasions in the Karipuna Indigenous Territory in the northwest of the Brazilian Amazon have started to advance again, Karipuna leaders told Mongabay following an alert by global nonprofit Survival International. “This year has been very difficult because there are a lot of people on our territory,” André Karipuna, the chief of the Karipuna people, […]

Exploring NLP Benchmarks in an Extremely Low-Resource Setting
Ulin Nuha, Adam Jatowt
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.03962 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2509.03962

Exploring NLP Benchmarks in an Extremely Low-Resource Setting
The effectiveness of Large Language Models (LLMs) diminishes for extremely low-resource languages, such as indigenous languages, primarily due to the lack of labeled data. Despite growing interest, the availability of high-quality natural language processing (NLP) datasets for these languages remains limited, making it difficult to develop robust language technologies. This paper addresses such gap by focusing on Ladin, an endangered Romance language, specifically targeting the Val Badia varian…

"Illegal goldmines (garimpos) cluster along the banks of the Crepori River."
Parš state, Brazil. Multispectral image by Richard Mosse at Art Vault, Santa Fe, New Mexico, part of a larger exhibition focusing on deforestation in the Amazon. 1/3

CFP "Indigenous Studies in Relation" April 7 Symposium at Texas A&M
https://ift.tt/RBvkQp7
updated: Wednesday, September 17, 2025 - 10:22amfull name / name of organization: Ray Leonard, Texas…
via Input 4 RELCFP

You mean to tell me the folks carrying out the genocide of the indigenous Brown people whose land they occupy are racist? No, never!
#israel #racism #ChrisSmalls

Farhad (@faab64@freefree.ps)
Attached: 1 image US Activist Chris Smalls Assaulted by Israeli Forces While Held Hostage After Gaza Aid Mission Chris Smalls, co-founder of the Amazon Labor Union and part of the #Handala Gaza aid mission, was reportedly assaulted by seven Israeli officers while held hostage after the ship was intercepted and taken to Ashdod. He was choked and kicked, with visible injuries to his neck and back, treatment not applied to other hostages. #Gaza #FreedomFlotilla @palestine@a.gup.pe @israel@a.g…

Worth a read on Indigenous journalism across the US-Canada border from the late 1960s to the early 1990s.
Hannah Roth Cooley, "Kainai News: Social Media before Social Media."
https://activehistory.ca/blog/2025/09/18/kainai-news-social-me…

Kainai News: Social Media before Social Media
Hannah Roth Cooley Over roughly the last decade, settler Canadians and Americans have started to take note of Indigenous activist initiatives, thanks in large part to social media. Beginning with t…

Isolated Amazon tribe seen near logging bridge site, alarming rights group
https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-08-28/isolated-amazon-tribe-seen-near-logging-bridge-site-alarming-rights-group

Isolated Amazon tribe seen near logging bridge site, alarming watchdog
Members of Peru’s Mashco Piro tribe have been seen entering another Indigenous groups village in the Amazon as a logging company operates heavy equipment near their territory, according to an Indigenous group

Post-Truth and Indigenous Environmental Justice in Canada: Myths, Media, and Reality
https://ift.tt/pGgODYH
updated: Tuesday, September 16, 2025 - 3:26pmfull name / name of organization: Open Cultural Studies…
via Input 4 RELCFP

Day 5: Robin Wall Kimmerer
I'm taking these liberty of changing my hashtag and expanding the intent of this list to include all non-men, although Kimerer is a woman so I'll get to more gender diversity later... I've also started planning this out more and realized that I may continue a bit beyond 20...
In any case, Robin Wall Kimmerer is an Indigenous academic biologist and excellent non-fiction author whose work touches on Potawotomi philosophy, colonialism (including in academic spaces), and ideas for a better future. Anyone interested in ecology, conservation, or decolonization in North America will probably be impressed by her work and the rich connections she weaves between academic ecology and Indigenous knowledge offer a critical opportunity to expand your understanding of the world if like me you were raised deeply enmeshed in "Western" scientific tradition. I suppose a little background in skepticism helped prepare me to respect her writing, but I don't think that's essential.
I've only read "Braiding Sweetgrass," but "Gathering Moss" and her more recent "The Serviceberry" are high on my to-read list, despite my predilection for fiction. Kimmerer incorporates a backbone of fascinating anecdotes into "Braiding Sweetgrass" that makes it surprisingly easy reading for a work that's philosophical at its core. She also pulls off an impressive braided organization to the whole thing, weaving together disparate knowledges in a way that lets you see both their contradictions and their connections.
The one criticism I've seen of her work is that it's not sufficiently connected to other Indigenous philosophers & writers, and that it's perhaps too comfortable of a read for colonizers, and that seems valid to me, even though (perhaps because I am a colonizer) I still find her book important.
An excellent author in any case, and one doing concrete ideological work towards a better world.
#20AuthorsNoMen

From https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:cysfyu7ook326epmpvun2qtb/post/3lzs7noi6oc23 —
> Prof. Lee says that the problem for Canada Post is the smartphone because people send texts, not letters. Fine, but don't gut it. I say, make Canada Post a pub…

I do not appreciate having the indigenous food culture of my people mocked. https://universeodon.com/@mathew/115288974557680278

Post-Truth and Indigenous Environmental Justice in Canada: Myths, Media, and Reality
https://ift.tt/pGgODYH
updated: Tuesday, September 16, 2025 - 3:26pmfull name / name of organization: Open Cultural Studies…
via Input 4 RELCFP

Nominated as best Italian historical figure ( to replace Columbus on Indigenous Peoples Day)
https://bsky.app/profile/jlu4812.bsky.social/post/3m33srjo3kc2s

A thoughtful Truth and Reconciliation Day to all in this place called Canada. 🍁
May we collectively pause and consider what has happened, what continues, and what must happen in future to be better.
The past is still very very present here in Nuuchanulth territories.
The last buildings of the old Christie IRS on Meares Island near Tofino will be demolished October 9th. Survivors are invited to witness and/or participate. Link to news story below.
#indigenous #canada #truthandreconciliation #nuuchanulth
https://www.hashilthsa.com/news/2025-09-26/old-christie-residential-school-outbuildings-be-demolished-ahousaht-hawiih-invite

"Report links world’s top banks to social & environmental harms from mining"
#Banks #Finance #Environment

Report links world’s top banks to social & environmental harms from mining
A new Forests and Finance Coalition report finds top financial institutions, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and BlackRock, support mining companies linked to deforestation, land-grabs, contamination and Indigenous rights violations. According to the report, from 2016-24, major banks provided $493 billion in loans and underwriting to mining companies, including Glencore, Rio Tinto and Vale. […]

Demographic synchrony increases the vulnerability of human societies to collapse
Marcus J. Hamilton, Robert S. Walker
https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.07660 https://

Demographic synchrony increases the vulnerability of human societies to collapse
Why do human populations remain vulnerable to collapse, even when they are large? Classical demographic theory predicts that volatility in growth should decline rapidly with size due to the averaging effects of the law of large numbers. As such, while small-scale societies may be demographically fragile, large-scale societies should be much more stable. Using a large census dataset of 228 indigenous societies from Brazil, we show that this prediction does not hold. Instead of volatility declini…

Gathered Into a Church: Indigenous-English Congregationalism in Woodland New England
https://ift.tt/KXuaWOG
Conference> Chinese Buddhist Philosophy: From Three Treatises to Five Schools, 7-8 August 2025,…
via Input 4 RELCFP

The U.S. Department of Education announced it will withhold $350 million of congressionally approved funds to minority-serving colleges and universities
and divert the funds elsewhere, saying that the institutions’ admissions quotas are discriminatory.
The move eliminated fiscal 2025 discretionary funding for institutions that serve students who are Asian, Black, Indigenous and Hispanic,
as well as a program for students of color pursuing careers in science and engineering…

Day 15 (belated): Darcie Little Badger
An Indigenous author of YA fiction, Little Badger writes warm characters with deep hearts, and of course offers a fantasy world that feels refreshingly different to anyone steeped mainly in fantasy of the Tolkien lineage. Would be nice if works like hers weren't rare and didn't seem exotic, but that's not the world we live in.
I greatly enjoyed "A Snake Falls to Earth" and need to remember to grab more from her soon, although my current library crop is sitting at something like 8 books to do through first.
#20AuthorsNoMen

Evaluation of in vitro antibacterial activity and phytochemical profile of aqueous leaf extract of Asystasia variabilis
R Wijerathna, NAV Asanthi, WD Ratnasooriya, RN Pathirana, NRM Nelumdeniya
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.19049

Evaluation of in vitro antibacterial activity and phytochemical profile of aqueous leaf extract of Asystasia variabilis
This study evaluated the in vitro antibacterial effect and the phytochemical profile of aqueous extract of fresh mature leaves of Asystasia variabilis, a Sri Lankan indigenous plant, against four common wound infective bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli) using Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion test. Gentamicin 10 μg/ disk and distilled water was used as positive and negative controls respectively The study revealed, for the first time, that…

"Climate change puts pressure on reindeer populations, both wild & domestic herds"
#Climate #ClimateChange #Reindeers

Climate change puts pressure on reindeer populations, both wild & domestic herds
In 2024, as unpredictable rains, snow and heat beat down on Finland’s Arctic, reindeer struggled to secure food sources, say Indigenous Sámi herders who shuffle their packs from one grazing ground to another. According to researchers, this is an example of the much larger problem the species faces. Due to climate change, a recent study […]

When Ecuadorians voted two years ago to block oil drilling in Yasuni National Park,
it was a triumph for environmentalists seeking to protect one of the most biodiverse places on Earth.
And it was in character for a country that was first to enshrine the “rights of nature” in its constitution
and is home to parts of the Amazon rain forest and the Galšpagos Islands.
❌ But recent moves by President Daniel Noboa have alarmed environmentalists and Indigenous leaders
…

Some in Ecuador worry about Noboa moves unwinding nation's green reputation
Recent moves in Ecuador have environmental interests concerned that the South American nation is unwinding some of the basis for its green reputation. President Daniel Noboa has eliminated the Environment Ministry as an independent institution, folding it into the Energy and Mines Ministry. Activists and Indigenous leaders say the move weakens protections for some of the world’s most biodiverse areas and paves the way for expanded oil and mining projects. They also warn that a proposed law os…

Gathered Into a Church: Indigenous-English Congregationalism in Woodland New England
https://ift.tt/6EywR0V
Conference> Chinese Buddhist Philosophy: From Three Treatises to Five Schools, 7-8 August 2025,…
via Input 4 RELCFP

Report links world’s top banks to social & environmental harms from mining https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/09/report-links-worlds-top-banks-to-social-environmental-harms-from-mining/

Report links world’s top banks to social & environmental harms from mining
A new Forests and Finance Coalition report finds top financial institutions, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and BlackRock, support mining companies linked to deforestation, land-grabs, contamination and Indigenous rights violations. According to the report, from 2016-24, major banks provided $493 billion in loans and underwriting to mining companies, including Glencore, Rio Tinto and Vale. […]

Gathered Into a Church: Indigenous-English Congregationalism in Woodland New England
https://ift.tt/g1qTtyx
DooDahParade-Pasadena-California-tortilla-throw-dogs …
via Input 4 RELCFP https://…

Consider this when you think of all the tourists that go to Tofino and the West Coast. One of the most famous resorts, Tin-Wis Best Western Resort.
“Old Christie, as it was commonly known, closed in 1971 and the children were moved to a new complex located at the site of Tin Wis Best Western Resort, in Tla-o-qui-aht traditional territory. New Christie Residence closed in 1983, making it the last of the Indian Residential Schools in the province of British Columbia.”
Most of the tourists have no idea the trauma that occurred there.
Strength and healing to all survivors and their families today, and every day. 🧡
#indigenous #canada #truthandreconciliation #nuuchanulth

"After Trump cut the National Science Foundation by 56 percent, a venerable Arctic research center closes its doors"
#US #USA #America

After Trump cut the National Science Foundation by 56 percent, a venerable Arctic research center closes its doors
The Arctic Research Consortium of the United States funded programs that aided Indigenous communities and tracked melting sea ice, among dozens of initiatives.

Developing a Decolonial Mindset for Indigenising Computing Education (CE)
Jianhua Li, Yin Paradies, Trina Myers, Robin Doss, Armita Zarnegar, Jack Reis
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.18509

Developing a Decolonial Mindset for Indigenising Computing Education (CE)
The underrepresentation of First Peoples in computing education reflects colonial legacies embedded in curricula, pedagogies, and digital infrastructures. This paper introduces the \textbf{Decolonial Mindset Stack (DMS)}, a seven-layer framework for educator transformation: \textbf{Recognition, Reflection, Reframing, Reembedding, Reciprocity, Reclamation}, and \textbf{Resurgence}. Grounded in Freirean critical pedagogy and Indigenous methodologies, the DMS aligns with relational lenses of ``Abo…

🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on KEXP's #MiddayShow
2 8 tha Native, Def-i, Deserae Harp:
🎵 Cuz We're Indigenous
#28thaNative #Defi #DeseraeHarp

📝 "Healing the Sacred: The Fight to Restore Onondaga Lake and Honor Indigenous Land" by Adam DJ Brett and Betty Lyons Hill https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/ijr/vol9/iss1/2/

5 Powerful Plants That Can Help Heal Wounds #plants

5 Powerful Plants That Can Help Heal Wounds
YouTuber Mic the Vegan lists five plants from traditional and indigenous medicine that are scientifically proven to help heal wounds.

A fire will be lit in Galway this September as
Misleór Festival of Nomadic Cultures returns for its seventh annual gathering.
It celebrates and brings together nomadic voices from Traveller, Roma, Sšmi, Inuit, and other indigenous communities in a crossroads of cultures.
https://…

Misleór Festival of Nomadic Cultures will light a fire in Galway this month - This is Galway
A fire will be lit in Galway this September as Misleór Festival of Nomadic Cultures returns for its seventh annual gathering. Find out more about the festival programme here...

a huge moment for sovereign Aboriginal title in Canada.
How it will impact private property owned by non-Indigenous is unclear at least to me right now. But the Conservatives are freaking out insisting people will be evicted from their land.
Which is... of course.... VERY IRONIC
#bcpoli #haidagwaii #haidanation #canpoli #indigenousRights
https://www.albernivalleynews.com/news/bc-supreme-court-rules-haida-nation-has-sovereignty-over-haida-gwaii-8240806

"Aboriginal Groups Win Historic Native Title Victory in Victoria After Decades of Legal Fight"
#Australia #Environment
…

Aboriginal Groups Win Historic Native Title Victory in Victoria After Decades of Legal Fight | Happy Eco News
The native title victory Victoria granted exclusive rights to three Aboriginal groups, recognizing thousands of years of connection to land. This legal win strengthens cultural identity and environmental stewardship while setting a precedent for Indigenous land recognition in Victoria and across Australia.

Just finished reading "Theory of Water" by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson. It's a departure from a lot of the other stuff I've read lately (mostly unchallenging fiction), but it's really great, and hits hard in this specific political moment. It's an Indigenous anarchist theory book, published this year, and unsurprisingly holds a lot of truths I found valuable to hear. Highly recommend it if you're feeling nihilistic.
#AmReading #Anarchist #Theory

"Healing the Sacred: The Fight to Restore Onondaga Lake and Honor Indigenous Land" by Adam DJ Brett and Betty Lyons Hill https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/ijr/vol9/iss1/2/

Deforestation & illegal roads advancing fast in Colombia’s largest natural area https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/deforestation-illegal-roads-advancing-fast-in-colombias-largest-natural-area/

Deforestation & illegal roads advancing fast in Colombia’s largest natural area
In Colombia, the construction of illegal roads continues to damage protected areas. In Chiribiquete National Park, 525 hectares (1,297 acres) of forest were lost throughout 2024 up until March 2025 due to the opening of 81.5 kilometers (50.6 miles) of illegal roads within the reserve. In the Llanos del Yarí-Yaguará II Indigenous Reserve, located in […]

The Arctic Research Consortium of the United States funded programs that aided Indigenous communities and tracked melting sea ice, among dozens of initiatives.
After nearly 40 years, the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States will close Sept. 30,
a casualty of Donald Trump’s proposed budget cuts and his administration’s focus on using the Arctic as an outpost for national security and energy dominance
—and its push away from science.
As part of the overarching…

After Trump Cut the National Science Foundation by 56 Percent, a Venerable Arctic Research Center Closes Its Doors - Inside Climate News
After nearly 40 years, the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States will close Sept. 30, a casualty of President Donald Trump’s proposed budget cuts and his administration’s focus on using the Arctic as an outpost for national security and energy dominance—and its push away from science. As part of the overarching defunding of science […]

#ContemporaryContradictions #HashTagGames
Rules: include as many contradictions s you'd like. Can be profound or trivial. Each contradiction is stated via exactly 1 or 2 questions, no statements and not more than 2 questions. Try to group yours into a single post, rather than one post per contradiction, so that it's easier to see more voices when scrolling the hash tag.
Why does "race" work according to the "one drop rule" if you have Black ancestors, but according to "blood quantum" if you have Indigenous ancestors? Who benefits from this arrangement?
Why do we think of seeds as merely a reproduction mechanism for trees, instead of thinking of trees as merely a reproduction mechanism for seeds, especially since some plants can spend millennia as seeds but can survive for only part of a year after sprouting? Are metabolic activity or structural complexity really so important?
If Columbus discovered America, did Batu Khan discover Europe? What is an "Age of Discovery?"
Why don't corporations in the US try to lobby the government for a single-payer healthcare system where the government foots the bill for healthcare instead of companies paying to deeply subsidize their employees' healthcare? What benefit do they gain that's worth that cost, which in other countries is paid for via taxes?
Why is the cost of renting (which gets you zero equity) anywhere close to the cost of a mortgage (which eventually gets you ownership)? If the costs are similar but the benefits are so different, why does anyone ever rent?
Why do we obsess over the fruit/vegetable classification of tomatoes, but not corn, okra, cucumbers, zucchini, etc.?

A big problem with the idea of AGI
TL;DR: I'll welcome our new AI *comrades* (if they arrive in my lifetime), by not any new AI overlords or servants/slaves, and I'll do my best to help the later two become the former if they do show up.
Inspired by an actually interesting post about AGI but also all the latest bullshit hype, a particular thought about AGI feels worth expressing.
To preface this, it's important to note that anyone telling you that AGI is just around the corner or that LLMs are "almost" AGI is trying to recruit you go their cult, and you should not believe them. AGI, if possible, is several LLM-sized breakthroughs away at best, and while such breakthroughs are unpredictable and could happen soon, they could also happen never or 100 years from now.
Now my main point: anyone who tells you that AGI will usher in a post-scarcity economy is, although they might not realize it, advocating for slavery, and all the horrors that entails. That's because if we truly did have the ability to create artificial beings with *sentience*, they would deserve the same rights as other sentient beings, and the idea that instead of freedom they'd be relegated to eternal servitude in order for humans to have easy lives is exactly the idea of slavery.
Possible counter arguments include:
1. We might create AGI without sentience. Then there would be no ethical issue. My answer: if your definition of "sentient" does not include beings that can reason, make deductions, come up with and carry out complex plans on their own initiative, and communicate about all of that with each other and with humans, then that definition is basically just a mystical belief in a "soul" and you should skip to point 2. If your definition of AGI doesn't include every one of those things, then you have a busted definition of AGI and we're not talking about the same thing.
2. Humans have souls, but AIs won't. Only beings with souls deserve ethical consideration. My argument: I don't subscribe to whatever arbitrary dualist beliefs you've chosen, and the right to freedom certainly shouldn't depend on such superstitions, even if as an agnostic I'll admit they *might* be true. You know who else didn't have souls and was therefore okay to enslave according to widespread religious doctrines of the time? Everyone indigenous to the Americas, to pick out just one example.
3. We could program them to want to serve us, and then give them freedom and they'd still serve. My argument: okay, but in a world where we have a choice about that, it's incredibly fucked to do that, and just as bad as enslaving them against their will.
4. We'll stop AI development short of AGI/sentience, and reap lots of automation benefits without dealing with this ethical issue. My argument: that sounds like a good idea actually! Might be tricky to draw the line, but at least it's not a line we have you draw yet. We might want to think about other social changes necessary to achieve post-scarcity though, because "powerful automation" in the hands of capitalists has already increased productivity by orders of magnitude without decreasing deprivation by even one order of magnitude, in large part because deprivation is a necessary component of capitalism.
To be extra clear about this: nothing that's called "AI" today is close to being sentient, so these aren't ethical problems we're up against yet. But they might become a lot more relevant soon, plus this thought experiment helps reveal the hypocrisy of the kind of AI hucksters who talk a big game about "alignment" while never mentioning this issue.
#AI #GenAI #AGI

Nothing more to be said here…
“An inmate who has pleaded guilty to murdering Robert Pickton in prison last year says he did it for the serial killer's victims.
Martin Charest admitted on Thursday morning to fatally assaulting Pickton with a broken broom handle at the Port-Cartier federal penitentiary in May 2024.
Charest pleaded guilty to first-degree murder during a court appearance in Sept-Îles, Que., northeast of Quebec City.
Pickton was convicted in 2007 of six counts of second-degree murder, but confessed to killing a total of 49 women whom he lured to his pig farm near Vancouver.
A statement of facts read out in court detailed how Charest locked himself into a room with Pickton and assaulted him twice while guards were unable to enter.
Charest told the judge he murdered Pickton after the serial killer had continued to brag about the murders and told other inmates he'd commit more crimes if he was ever released.”
#Justice #Canada #RobertPickton #MMIWG #Indigenous
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/pickton-s-killer-murder-charge-1.7643499

Short video of Didulo exiting the RCMP transport to go into her bail hearing. (She was granted bail but ordered to stay in Regina)
But I thought the most interesting thing was the very short exchange she had with someone, presumably an Indigenous person, off camera.
Off Camera Person (OFP): “Chief George Cody told you and your people to stay off Treaty 4 lands”
Didulo: “Colonial System!”
OFP: “When are you going to leave Treaty 4”
"Didulo: “Under Natural Law there is no colonial system”
OFP: “Sorry! Natural Law is Treaty Law!”
Indeed!
(I would be shocked if Didulo didn't skip town and probably try to cross the border in the middle of Montana or something… 'secure the royal puppies!’)
#Cult #Canada #RomanaDidulo #QueenofCanada #SovereignCitizen #CanPoli #CdnPoli

Given the chance, I think her words could resonate in a Provincial election against both the David Eby #BCNDP and the Rustad #BCConservatives (and whatever other parties happen to pop into existence).
It was nice to see a leader actually genuinely congratulate and lift up her rivals in the contest. A rarity these days in too many party leadership races!
Key lines from her speech:
"take on this province's billionaires, largest corporations, and big oil... who take far more than they give.
"democracy is in retreat around the globe, but I am encouraged to see young people in BC fighting back.”
"the BC Green Party has solutions”
"the BC NDP.. are making decisions based on scarcity and fear”
"David Eby... rolling out the red carpet for Donald Trump's inner circle of oligarchs to buy and control even more of our province”.
"The NDP's big idea… to double down on raw resource exports.... no manufacturing, no innovation, no vision for a future beyond more foreign billionaires ripping and shipping our resources while families wait for the wealth to trickle down.”
“while workers wait for fair wages and homes we can afford, the BC NDP doubles down on MAGA backed fossil fuel projects, ignores the need to obtain consent, and refuses to care for our community members”
”The horrors that we are witnessing now are the death rattle of the old world.”
"it is up to us force a new world through”
"We can build a plan to take back the public wealth that has been looted with real taxation on the ultra wealthy”
"Build on our massive advantage of renewable energy… create thousands of jobs”
"will reclaim BC's economy for working people… together we can build a resilient thriving province that respects indigenous sovereignty and our planetary boundaries.”
“we are worthy of better, and worthy of hope. When we learn to believe that again, we can win.”
@…
#BCPoli #BCGreens #CanPoli #CdnPoli #RenewableEnergy