We Live by the River - Film Premiere, Open Lecture - Healing the Yukon: A Grassroots Tribal Environmental Movement

University of Otago

FILM PREMIERE

We Live by the River

Directed by Karin Williams

Archway  Lecture Theatre
access from Union Street East
Tuesday 2 March
6.00pm to 7.30pm

When their lands, waters and wildlife were contaminated by military, mining and municipal waste, indigenous nations of the Yukon River basin joined forces to protect and heal the watershed. Melding traditional ecological knowledge with science, they collected data and forged partnerships with supporters – and the polluters – to clean up their own backyard. Their work has become a global model for ecosystem protection. This is inspiring the story of their crusade for clean water in the northern wilderness of Canada and Alaska, filmed over more than a decade.  The world premiere of “We Live by the River” (52 minutes) marks the launch of the Indigenous Legal Film Series – a series of documentaries exploring Indigenous Peoples’ struggles for recognition. This film will be followed by a question and answer session with Rob Rosenfeld, who was the founding director for the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council.

For more information about the Indigenous Legal Film Series visit www.otago.ac.nz/law/nrl
or email jacinta.ruru@otago.ac.nz

OPEN LECTURE

Healing the Yukon:
A Grassroots Tribal Environmental Movement
Rob Rosenfeld
Seminar Room, Centre for Innovation
Thursday 4 March, 4.00 to 6.00pm

Rob Rosenfeld has spent the last 3 decades as a human rights worker in Alaska, Canada,
Mexico, Central and South America focused on community development and political
strategy. He has assisted Alaskan tribes in collaboratively managing their environmental
programs, court systems, health programs, and gaining more of a voice in educational
systems. Rob will speak about his experiences: facilitating dialogues and partnerships with
the US military and tribal governments to clean up an environmental disaster; leading an
effort to educate communities to stop the development of a nuclear reactor; and his role as
the founding director of the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council, which brought 70
indigenous governments in Canada and Alaska together to sign a treaty to protect the 2300
mile Yukon River Watershed. Rob will share unusual tactics and strategies to bring former
adversaries together and how to inspire communities, institutions and individuals to embark
on roads to change for a more sustainable and just planet.
Healing the Yukon: A Grassroots Tribal Environmental Movement is the first presentation in
this year’s Te Tiaki Mahinga Kai Te Hao Mätauranga seminar series.
Hosted by CSAFE (Centre for the Study of Agriculture, Food and Environment).