InTheField: KASYYAHGEI on the Law of the Land /149

Kasyyahgei is a respected Tlingit knowledge keeper, a mother and grandmother, a spruce root basket weaver, and a fierce protector of her community and village of Hoonah. In the 1980s, Kasyyahgei brought a lawsuit against the National Forest Service for logging in Hoonah and, since then, has continued to stand with unwavering integrity and courageously speak truth to power. Through Kasyyahgei’s spellbinding stories, we are transported to the salmon-filled waters and rich forested landscapes of her home in Hoonah. Meaning “protection from the North wind,” the lands and waters of Hoonah have provided her people with sustenance for generations in an ever-turning cycle of reciprocity ruled by “the Law of the Land.” Her haunting testimony spans stories from her childhood, the incredible mycelial worlds humming beneath the forest floor, and the land of talking trees. To stay up to date and informed about issues in the Tongass, please check out the following organizations and follow them on social media: Southeast Alaska Conservation Council; Sitka Conservation Society; Last Stands; Women’s Earth & Climate Action Network; Audubon Alaska; Lynn Canal Conservation; Earthjustice For more resources, readings, and videos on the Tongass and issues raised in this episode, visit our updated webpage: Tongass Campaign / When Old Growth Ends. Beyond these points, we also recognize the need to courageously expand the existing envelope of action. We need a panoply of resistance from established tactics like public comments, advocacy and demonstrations, blockades and encampments, to even more creative gestures of resistance and daring acts of land defense. Music by Cary Morin, Theresa Andersson, Pura Fe, Kermit Ruffins, Lea Thomas