Nichole McIntosh
Nichole is a senior nurse, poet, digital broadcaster, motivational speaker, entrepreneur, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and Editorial Advisor of the Royal College of Nursing Institute’s Nursing Management Journal. She speaks about her Maroon identity, life experiences and powerful values in this captivating interview facilitated by Ketu Oladuwa and Kelsey Greene.
Wahinkpe Topa (Four Arrows)
Four Arrows is a professor and author of 24 books and numerous other publications on Indigenous Worldview. He speaks about his journey and advocacy work in this thought-provoking interview facilitated by Ketu Oladuwa and Kelsey Greene.
Phil "Pompey" Fixico
Phil "Pompey" Fixico is an aspiring Seminole Maroon Descendant and Activist who learned about his native identity at the age of 52. He shares his journey and life’s mission in this lively interview facilitated by Ketu Oladuwa and Kelsey Greene.
The Origins of Proven Sustainable
This is the first discussion amongst the founding group of the Proven Sustainable Conversation series about the origins of the projects, their personal interests in contributing, and what it means to embody the essence of the work in their existence.
“If you wanted to know anything (and) mother and father had no time to tell you… the Elders of our tribe used to have to tell you.”
Kayang Hazel Brown (keye-yahng hay-zull brown), storyteller
“My family, my tribe, my race, my nation – let this be my vision of the future. My extended family, all creeds, all races, all nations - let this be my new world.”
Dame Mira Szászy (dame mee-rah sah-zee), President Māori Women's Welfare League
“What’s good for Indigenous culture and intelligence is good for the entire world.”
Hori Ahomiro (haw-ree ah-hoh-mee-roh), social worker & Indigenous Studies master
“We define ourselves by the stories we tell about ourselves...It’s my business to tell those stories to my grandchildren, and it will be their business to tell those stories to their grandchildren.”
Witi Ihimaera (wit-tee ih-hee-my-rah), novelist, short story writer
“The essence of the guarantee of Maori sovereignty is the right of self-determination, the right to control, administer and decide our own destiny.”
Annette Sykes (ah-net sikes), lawyer & activist
“Our ancestors always had their backs to the future and their eyes firmly on the past. That is what makes us different from the Pakeha (White New Zealander).”
Joe Williams (joh will-yumz), Supreme Court justice
We are massaging the ricked back of the land with our sore but ever-loving feet: hell, she loves it! Squirming, the land wiggles in delight. We love her.
Hone Tuwhare (hoh-nee too-fur-ree), poet
“The Hongi (pressing noses) is something we do when we greet someone…The sharing of the breath connects our Mauri (life force). We are no longer separate. We are one!”
Carmen TePuke (kahr-men tay-poo-kay), culture holder
“By holding on to the main axis of where we come from we'll understand this modern world and globalization.”
Nivardo Carillo Guttierez (nee-vahr-doe kah-ree-yo ggee-terr-rez), artist, reenactor
“We Quechua people live far from the state. For us, the state is another nation. They have never come to our communities to ask how things work. We have even built the schools ourselves.”
María Sumire (mah-ree-yah soo-mee-ray), language defender, legislator
“The spirituality of our Inca ancestors lives in our way of life. In the way that we remember where we come from in order to have a stronger presence in this world.”
Puma Quispe Singona (poo-mah kees-pay sing-oh-nah), healer, spiritual leader
“We are returning to the old systems—ayni, family, agriculture. As there is no economic movement, this is how we are living.”
Rocío Cjuiro Mescco (roh-see-yoh kweer-oh mess-koh), water protector, activist, guide
“My grandmothers speak Quechua—my family passed their roots onto me…This is where my social responsibility to protect, value, respect, and love Quechua as well as our ancestors was born.”
Renata Flores Rivera (ray-nah-tah flaw-rayz ree-veh-rah), singer, language preservationist
“For us, the bridge is the soul and spirit of our Inca (ancestors) that touches & caresses us like the wind. If we stop preserving it, it would be like if we die"
Victoriano Arisapana (veek-tore-ee-ah-no ah-ree-sah-pah-nah), chakacamayoc (bridge master)
“Share the richness of the culture, of your community … concentrating your memory in that celebration.”
Nilda Callanaupa Alvarez (neel-dah kahl-lahn-ahl-pah ahl-varh-rez), founder Traditional Textiles Center