Healing Justice: An Introduction

Indigenous Climate Action Pod

Healing is justice, but what does this look like in practice? Learn more about the importance of individual and community healing with 3 healing justice advocates: Meda DeWitt, Arlana Bennett, and Michelle Brass.

Meda’s Tlingit names are Tśa Tsée Naakw, Khaat kłaat, adopted Iñupiaq name is Tigigalook, and adopted Cree name is Boss Eagle Spirit Woman “Boss.” Her clan is Naanyaa.aayí and she is a child of the Kaach.aadi. Her family comes from Shtuxéen kwaan (now referred to as Wrangell, AK.) Meda’s lineage also comes from Oregon, Washington, and the BC/Yukon Territories. Currently she lives on Dena’ina lands in Anchorage, Alaska with her fiancé James “Chris” Paoli and their eight children. Meda’s work revolves around the personal credo “Leave a world that can support life and a culture worth living for.” Her work experience draws from her training as an Alaska Native traditional healer, traditional foods educator, and Healthy Native Communities capacity building facilitator.

Arlana Redsky is Anishinaabe and a member of the Shoal Lake 40 First Nation in northwestern Ontario. She is a Ph.D. student in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta, and a faculty member of the Summer Internship Program for Indigenous Peoples in Genomics (SING Canada). Arlana’s current areas of research and specialization include wildlife disease management, wildlife conservation, Indigenous harvesting rights, posthumanist ecology, and historical-contemporary multi-species entanglements in the Colonialocene.

Hi, I’m Michelle Brass, I am a writer, speaker, entrepreneur, and coach deeply committed to the health and well-being of Indigenous peoples and communities. Currently, much of my work is focused on the areas of Indigenous food sovereignty and the impacts of climate change, Indigenous health and wellness, personal healing and transformation, and the empowerment of Indigenous women.

MichelleBrass.com

Additional Resources

ICA Blog: Healing Justice: ICA’s New Pathway

Panel at the Indigenous Economics Conference on Healing Justice

Webinar: "Climate Crisis, Fragmentation & Collective Trauma" discussion with Eriel Deranger, Bayo Akomolafe, Angaangaq Angakkorsuaw and Gabor Mate

Book: My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies (Resmaa Menakem)

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IndigenousClimateAction.com

The ICA Pod Team is made up of Lindsey Bacigal, Morningstar Derosier, and Brina Romanek.