First Nations Participants

The Global Earth Repair Convergence honors and highlights the wisdom, knowledge, and leadership of Indigenous First Nations peoples from around the world. Below is the list of Indigenous presenters confirmed to participate in our event.

March 28 edition

[Please note, all these people deserve a long bio, but this is all I have time for in the moment.  Longer bios can be found for some of these people on our Presenters section.  Eventually we hope to do honor to all of you.  Send further bios to friendsofthetrees@yahoo.com  I have not been able to keep up with documenting everyone who is going to be involved.  Please let me know who needs to be added here. Let me know if you want to be removed from this list. Apologies for spelling errors.]

First Nations Participants

In Person

  • Ilarion (Kuuyux) Merculieff (Unangan, Bering Sea) Honored guest and Indigenous Coordinator for the 2019, 2022, and 2026 events. President of the Global Center for Indigenous Leadership and Lifeways.
  • Maritule, coming from Mexico, New Executive Director of the Global Center for Indigenous Leadership and Lifeways.
  • Lewis Cardinal is Woodland Cree from the Sucker Creek Cree First Nation in northern Alberta, Canada. Lewis will co-chair the Intertribal Leadership Council.
  • Paul Chiyokten Wagner, Saanich Nation, so-called Vancouver Island, Canada Founder of Protectors of the Salish Sea.
  • Tiffany Joseph, ŚW̱,XELOSELWET
  • Jeffrey Sterling, Jamestown S’Klallam
  • Vanessa Castle, Lower Elwha Klallam
  • Brenda Salgado, Mayan Toltec.
  • Rosalee Walz. Tribal Chairwoman of the Chemakum Tribe.
  • Naiome Krienke, Quinault and Chemakum. She spearheaded the building of the recently built Longhouse near Quilcene which will be the site of a field trip on May 7.
  • Robin Tekwelus Youngblood (Okanagan/Tsalagi) Shamanic practitioner, teacher, and author of Path of the White Wolf. Founder of Grandmothers Circle the Earth.
  • Indrayani Shaayi Ananda Hashimoto Her ancestors are Coastal Indigenous Tlingit, Haida, Aishihik, Japanese, mixed European. Working for the Convergence as Indigenous liaison.
  • Dan Nanamkin From the Chief Joseph Band Of Wallowa, Nez Perce, and Colville Confederated Tribes of Washington State.
  • Gene Tagaban is of the Takdeintaan clan, the Raven, Freshwater Sockeye clan from Hoonah, AK.
  • Margo Robbins comes from the traditional Yurok village of Morek, and is an enrolled member of the Yurok Tribe.
  • Tracker GinaMarie Rangel Quinone, is Chiricahua Apache, Ute Aztec and Pasquale Yaqui. The creator of the Internaitonal Indigenous Unity Flag
  • George Rueben is a Sun Dance Chief and member of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation. He is based in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He operates within his traditional territory, focusing on protecting the Burrard Inlet from the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and leading community
  • Freddie Lane, Lummi Nation.
  • Jewell James, Lummi Nation. Master Carver. to be confirmed
  • Free and Raven Borsey, Lummi Nation. The twin brothers, 29-year-olds, have been environmental advocates for years and recently received the 2025 Bullitt Prize from Washington Conservation.
  • Ric Escobedo. Wixárika. Currently living on the territory of the Wenatchi.
  • Randy Lewis, Wenatchi elder and storyteller
  • Sqwlcenqin Cody Saint, Tulamin, Chelan, Methow, Colville Confederated Tribes,
  • Aidoneus Åjjveålmáj is a Pite Sámi cultural carrier, ceremonial practitioner, and wilderness guide whose life’s work is devoted to living traditions, rites of passage, and relationship with land. As co-founder and Executive Director of WildWise School, he builds and leads programs that guide youth and adults through immersive education and practice grounded in Indigenous knowledge. His work spans Sápmi and relationships with Indigenous communities around the world, with a focus on ceremony, Indigenous rights, respectful protocol, and the realities of green colonialism. A teacher, speaker, and leader, he is known for bringing gravity, integrity, and clarity to the gatherings he serves. At Standing Rock, he co-founded Iktčé Wičháša Oyáte and served in the protection of water protectors, carrying that work forward through ongoing advocacy for Indigenous rights and the defense of land, lifeways, and living traditions.
  • Jay Bowen, tsi sq̓ʷal?alq̓ʷal. Upper Skagit Tribe, North Cascades, Washington. He requested we have a place at the Convergence dedicated to storytelling and so we will honor him by calling it the “Jay Bowen Place of Storytelling”.
  • Amanda Squiemphen-Yazzie, Warm Springs, Wasco, Navajo and Yakama,
  • Kara Briggs, Suak-Sauttle and Yakama descendent,
  • Linzie Crofoot, Indigenous Educator, Enrolled member of the Tlingit and Haida Tribes of Alaska from the Xutznoowu tribe, Deisheetaan clan and Colville Okanogan descendant.
  • Julian Matthews, Julian is enrolled Nimiipuu [Nez Perce], and is the Coordinator for a grassroots 501c3, Nimiipuu Protecting the Environment (NPE). Here's a link about NPE: Nimiipuu Protecting the Environment|Nez Perce|Lapwai.
  • Robert Arnold, Oglala Lakota (Pine Ridge Reservation) 20 years old. Running for governor of South Dakota. A great role model for Indigenous youth.
  • Ronnie, Cherokee and Choctaw. Friend of Cassandra. She is a filmmaker and will be on our GERC film crew at the event. Today, she mentioned her ancestors were with her.
  • Marc Gauthier (Upper Columbia Native Tribes) Wildlife Program Manager for the Spokane Tribe and co-creator of the film United By Water.
  • Ivan Looking Horse, Family of the White Buffalo Maiden Prophecies keepers,
  • Elain Mato Tamo Heca, South Dakota spiritual leader
  • Zen Silvermoon, Oceti Sakowin
  • Leona Onefeather
  • Megan Werpy, Co-Founder & Community Developer of the Black Hills Environmental Coalition
  • Jen Elyse, Indigi Golden Herbal Academy. Sustainable plants stewarding.
  • Joe Gonzales, Brown Berets.. North West territory Leadership protecting trees and water ..
  • Christopher Escobedo, Brown Berets, Rise Against Racism in Washington State.
  • Chenoa Egawa. Lummi and Jamestown S’Klallam, (to be confirmed)
  • Laura Price, Port Gamble S’Klallam Traditional Council, (to be confirmed)
  • Linda Yaya Wiechman, (to be confirmed)
  • Darrell Markishtum, Makah, (to be confirmed)

Online

  • Catherine Murupaenga-Ikenn(Māori, New Zealand) Life-long Indigenous human rights and environmental defender, Former tribal council member (between 2000-2015) for her two Māori peoples of Ngāti Kurī and Te Rarawa, and co-founder of Te Waka Hourua (Māori climate justice activists and allies).
  • Dr. Lyla June Johnston (aka Lyla June) is a poet, singer-songwriter, hip-hop artist, human ecologist, public speaker and community organizer of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) and European lineages.
  • Osprey Orielle Lake (Women’s Earth & Climate Action Network) Advocate for climate justice and Indigenous Women’s leadership. Author and global collaborator.
  • Winona LaDuke (to be confirmed) Winona is an Indigenous environmentalist, writer, and industrial hemp grower, enrolled at birth with the White Earth Nation. She is known for her work on tribal land claims and preservation, as well as sustainable development. In 1989, she founded the White Earth Land Recovery Project to buy back land in the reservation and revive the cultivation of wild rice, long a traditional Ojibwe food.
  • Johnny Buck, Yakama, friend of the Buffalo (to be confirmed)

Past First Nations Presenters

2022 Online Global Earth Repair Summit

  • Ilarion (Kuuyux) Merculieff (Unangan, Alaska)
    Traditional leader and co-founder of the Wisdom Weavers of the World.

  • Catherine Murupaenga-Ikenn (Māori, New Zealand)

  • Pacha K’anchy (Yanakuna, Colombia)
    Member of the Great National Council of Indigenous Elders.

  • Mindahi Bastida Muñoz (Otomi, Mexico)
    Director of the Original Caretakers Initiative at the Center for Earth Ethics.

  • Dan Nanamkin (Okanogan Nation)

  • Jeannette Armstrong (Okanagan Nation, Canada)

  • Selene Manga (Quechua, Peru)
    Public health fellow and researcher at Harvard.

  • Others: Ed Sparks (Lakota), Melanie Goodchild (Anishinaabe), Iya Tahirah (St. Croix), Shai’i (Salish Sea), and Mutima Imani.

2019 Global Earth Repair Conference

  • Loni Grinnell-Greninger (Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Council)
    Opened the conference alongside her father, Kurt Grinnell.

  • Grandmother Agnes Baker Pilgrim (Confederated Tribes of Siletz)
    One of the Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers.

  • Grandmother Unci Rita Regina Afraid of Bear (Oglala Lakota)
    One of the Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers.

  • Margo Robbins (Yurok Tribe)
    Leader in the Indigenous People’s Burn Network.

  • Paul Chiyokten Wagner (Saanich Nation, Vancouver Island)

  • Gabriel Apaza Lonasco (Q'ero Nation, Peru)

  • Moses Brings Plenty (Lakota Spiritual Leader)
    CANA Foundation Director and Co-Founder of 7 Cedar Ranch Rewilding Retreat.

  • Other notable presenters included: Simon Lynge (Greenland), Marc Gauthier (Spokane Tribe), Jesse and Carrie Nightwalker (Palouse Tribe), Richard F. O’Rourke (Yurok),
    and Sal & Carol Sahme (Warm Springs Elders).