introduce casey camp to the main stage today i started hearing about casey about two and a half years ago when cara romero and i were just in the beginning of our work with the rights of nature tribal governance. people in and around the movement kept saying to me you've got me casey can. she's and i what i heard from them was that she was leading the movement for the ponca nation her nation to be the first tribe in america to adopt the rights of nature. the polka were removed from their ancestral territory in what's now called nebraska. and

forcibly taken to what's now called oklahoma. when fracking started causing earthquakes and their reservation territory in oklahoma. they've had enough casey knew they needed stronger protection than current environmental law. to stop the destruction of land for everybody. sure enough- not shortly after i started hearing about casey the balkan nation did adopt a rights of nature tribal law in january two thousand eighteen and i was thrilled. and at the same time- are indigenous to program director cara merrill had just started in information sharing and knowledge creation campaign about rights of nature with her own tribe the gym wavy. and over the next few months care presented this idea of tribal rights of nature to her community. this is the idea that tribes can write their own policy to protect nature in perpetuity. rates of nature forces those who dare to harm ecosystems not just to pay for damages done but to ensure that the ecosystem all lifeforms

water air and- must be allowed to thrive in involved. in tribal right to plagiarize extremely exciting because u. s. federally recognized tribes are not like states whose authority is underneath that of the federal government. they have a nation to nation relationship with the federal government which means. that our nations have sovereign immunity. and what that means and regular terms is that if a tribe adopts rates of nature law and that law is challenged by say a transnational corporation wanting to frack. that the corporation can't see the trial. we're ready to test it out. since the balkan nation adopted rights of nature into their tribal law the white earth band of the jetway have adopted the rights of man newman or wild rice and many other tribes are really interested and excited to build this movement. they're looking for the legal financial and

capacity building support and that's what kerr and i are trying to build with our tribal rights of nature movement. so i hope that you're starting to understand the historical and monumental magnitude of what it meant when the ponca tribe adopted the rights of nature what casey set in motion was. not getting in the back of the bus paradigm shifting more moment. i finally got to meet casey at the protecting mother earth conference hosted by the indigenous environmental network and then nisqually tribe last name. her poise leadership intelligence and innate beauty blew me away so then i just did what i usually do when i want to get to know someone better- and help to raise awareness and support for the incredible work they're doing. i invited her to come speak at a conference with me in new york. sadly she wasn't able to come but i am very dark and so i then i invited her to come speak at a conference in london with me. and the highlight of our time together which is about three weeks ago

was getting to spend time with casey and her absolutely beautiful granddaughter casey. casey and i. the case got this incredible vision for her tribe. besides rates of nature she's leading a number of other initiatives for food sovereignty restoring ancestral seeds and indigenous led regenerative economy and acquiring her tribe's ancestral territory in nebraska. that's true decolonization. some people call it the native land return movement you're going to be hearing a lot more about it in the next few years gifting ancestral territory back to the original tribal caretakers. and when casey and her tribe get their ancestral territory back she's got some big plans. casey is so many things she's a traditional person a grandmother at leader and movement builder a peacemaker

and revolutionary. and i just learned backstage that she sewed her own dress so i think she can literally do everything so with no further ado let's all give a warm welcome to my friend casey can. my relatives.

you're everything your life itself. you are me and i am you. all of my relatives here. they love you like i did a few. we appreciate you beyond words. we ask you to carry our blessings to the- coastal miwok. and the palme and sisters who are sustaining us in this beautiful place. we ask you in your beauty. to talk to the secretary for us to talk to the thunder nation for us to talk to the waters of the oceans. to talk to the mountains. to flow through s. and the sacred manner and give us words. give us a way forward help us to honor you as you honor us help us to understand. that you are

all that is. and we are your children. that you issue flow to our mentors. within her veins would you issue. come down from the skies. would you issue live within our wills. would you that take care of this we come today and we offer this song. i thank you. i he- i'll do my best. because here and for future generations for all ten brands. we say thank you for this line. the song says nick on a guy who see we've the hamam really. and that is simply we thank you. for this sacred gift of water in the blessing that. brings to

us water is in everything and everything is in within the water. ni conley tom who's the we've done a home really we have the- loan really we have the- really. needed can you tell who's he willing the- at home of the- and he is a gun they don who's the we've got a home movie we've done a home loan movie. the dnia connie dons the lead. yeah with am making a guy named ghazi we'd love mom movie we love mom really we've got a home really needed kanita. z. we so we've

got home and early you know. he conley zero views- well living. we've the- movie leave the need a conning tower losing william hung who the. shop. i've been told in the ways of the ponca which means sacred head. that we're supposed to have witnessed wherever we travel. so that we can be sure that we have told the truth when we go back home and our people ask us what was said what was done. so i'm asking this water to stand witness for you and for i. and

for all the things that are said and done in this sacred manner. when i say thank you to alexis for the beautiful word she said about me. the it's kind of tricky i think my daughters and sons my dissenter that note to say and you better say this about our mama said. she's an incredible human being and it's an honor to work with her it's an honor to be here among you. it's an honor to be among lawyers. it's an honor to be alive at this time of crisis. it's an honor to be with relatives we talk about the rights of nature. as if that's a separate thing from us. and so in our way. when we wrote this statute we wrote the immutable. thank a rights of

nature. because how are we to say that we are inventing something new but no we are recognizing what has always been. so in coming to you today. and bringing this sacred water to use as she brought me. hi i believe that we need to take this moment to recognize the interconnectedness to all things not in the esoteric away but in the truth and reality of what this human body is made up. in the punk away i was told by my mother. that a long time i had to go she said it that way. a long time i had to go. there

was a bean. that lived in the red star area. i think the white folks call it the pleiades. and among those seven sisters on their red started this being focused on this beautiful blue green. jewel that was floating. through and around the heavens. among all the sparkly things this attracted that being this red star child. in this red star child was constantly talking to the great mystery to the creator. and saying mind spirit longs to be. when i look at this place this beautiful stars in my sky. it calls me. i see

how the four legs walks there. they understand each other they understand where to feed when to move on. how to give birth. and i longed to be part of them. there's these wings things some of them are small and flattery some of them are huge and soaring. some of those for like scott big noses. but every one of them already loves me can i go there creator can i be part of that great mystery. now you have a grown up enough you don't understand the one this. that exists in this place. but look at the snow fall isn't that what you call it. it's called mahneshan are the language and that was shown.

it's so beautiful and sparkly and it falls into these beautiful piles of softness oh one. house. all in luck where is the- tasks this portion of sand i think our call is that you know i like the sound of the court. i think she might be my mama. great mystery said no you're just a child yes but that's not your mama. you live here you're part of this. millennium's eons. red star child banked. with the one this here in this place that felt like his mother two years. until finally the great mystery said. if you arrived there.

look at those things with their roots. deeply inside the mother and loving her. do you promise to honor that way of life. if i let you put your roots down there. those buffalo that roam that area that you're looking at. those can be your brother's. but there must be a way forward where you honor one another and besides that you're just a spirit read child. how are you going to embody. yourself the great mystery set. and the great mystery thought what is. over the spirit that you are i built a body. from your

mother's ears to birth you. what if. i gave you wait to be part of that harmony. would you honor it. with all of your children's children's children's children's children's children children children children and on. on it that. i'll make you different i'll give you two lakes instead of four i'm not gonna let you fly because you haven't earned that right. but i will allow you to be part of that if you honor the sacred system of life that's already in place there. that's where the first punk a. k. he- was with the idea with the understanding. that those beautiful things. with their

roots in the ground would have a breast. that red star child would share anna's red star child bill to body. adam eating the grains the court. i love sharing life with the four legs. a lot of drinking the sacred water. a lot of listening to the thunder nation. and the directions that came. they became a sacred way of life. that happened any build a body to wear over his spirit. her spirit. because red star child was genderless at that time. because within that body was also self determination. of

what read style star child chose to be. and that is s. that it says that issue that is hi. that is this particular group of two legged beings. that are blessed sure sure one mother one mother. one father the sky. this incredible mother who sustains us no matter what we do to her. she has on conditional love for us. this sacred pact that we made with the great mystery with the creator with dearest mother. is something that is beginning to seep into the consciousness. of the two leg something that's beginning to be remembered. and that's why we gather at a time

like this you and die that's why we come together as warriors for her. warriors in peace war years in love but warriors. with no way back only forward. and that this time of imbalance when humans have gotten their ego so berserk. that they think because we speak a particular language that we share. we're the boss. yeah that shows you just how stupid we are you know. we're

still that little child we haven't even hit adolescence we're still those little guys right now and i'm not i'm not. i wanted my way out one creature comforts give me seventy seventy doing take care of me right now. and she does. and she does. and those green things. that taste our breath as we breathe out oxygen and- they breezy dan and shoot that oxygen back to us they take care of us. those sacred things in the ocean that have the same ph level and the same saline solution as the womb of the woman. still tries to care for us. those relatives whether

there are planned life whether they are of rock. whether they are four legs or with these they offends. or creepy crawlers that live way underneath the years they still take care of us. so now what now what. if you realize that you're this embodiment if you take responsibility. because you ate this morning because you drank this morning because you breathe. what further responsibility will you take. we are beyond the seventh generation. but we haven't gone so far as to step out of our creature comforts like that three year old. what will we do

next. the ponca nation is chosen to follow the rights of nature the immutable rights of nature by recognizing those rights of nature and recognizing that we as human beings are not separate from. but part of the sacred system of life. and so what we have to do and we cannot wait. is we have to allow ourselves to grow to the point to take chances to believe that there's a dress transition away from fossil fuels. yeah and that we can say that we can demand that we can vote people into office or just kick him out and do it ourselves. not yesterday not

tomorrow but today. we need to make that difference. and within our community we do it in the kitchen table way all of our conversations looking for native rights to be upheld in an environmental rights which are one. was begun around our mama's kitchen table. being taught all of my daughters and granddaughters go to mit i myself is my graduate of matriarch in training. is that. in down to the baby is one. they know how to listen to our mother and to receive instructions from her and to follow through with those fearlessly. as you must do. we

have strong strong men in our family. and they're beautiful warriors. they stand around us have you ever seen a herd of buffalo protecting the weakest in the center. they stand facing out taken on any obstacles that's my family. one of them i didn't even know this word called activists and environmentalists with something separate from what being a human. intel's. and that's what i'm here asking you to do take responsibility pay back to the earth herself what she is gifted to you take responsibility to date gather your family around your kitchen table talk to them about what is going to happen in the next

seven generations do you want to breeze do you want to eat do you want to drink. if you don't do something. go to your state government go to your local government go to your federal government and say we are part of nature. we want you to enact these laws like in new zealand was along the newly river. and if they don't do it you do it. you do it. and if you want to look in the mirror this evening in the morning any day. see yourself. really see yourself you have the capabilities you have the innate understanding you have the spirit living in within you that's connected to all. on that honor yourselves honor all of creation and then

we get to hang around here because i really hate to say this to you but human beings right now are kinda like ticks or fleas on the mother's. what kind of likes you know and pass around some diseases and refused to let go and you know. mosquitoes all of that kind of stuff. do we want to be honored. as a part of all that is. yeah we're gonna do that we're going to do that you and i all of our relations all things are connected we appreciate you very much i'm gonna ask my nephew rain to come out here we are beginning to make. as we have in the past we have a woman's treaty. that was made just for women. and our supporters indigenous women to

begin with and then everyone. and i wanted to be able to introduce another form of a treaty to you because we want to honor all living things in that manner. perverse survey so honored to be here i'll be here with my aunt we have very very little time so i just want to tell you that in their indigenous space we have it first treaty was ever being written under the indigenous rights of nature. this treaty is called the wharf treating. we use the wharf just because it is symbolic. you think about all the misconceptions and stereotypes that people have attached to the wolf. you think about all the stereotypes and misconceptions people have attached to indigenous people. to justify heinous acts. you know we had a treaty for the grizzly bear i don't know if you know this. two hundred tribal nations signed that treaty most sign treaty. in history. we ended up taken that

treaty going to federal court. and we for the trump administration state of montana state of wyoming state idaho national rifle association safari club international we were defending not just those sacred relative to grizzly bear the first two leggett to set but upon the earth. we were defending his treaty rights spiritual religious freedoms federal indian trust responsibility. and you know what. we won. we don't have a whole lot of time. please share share. share this with you i want to remember. it dear friend of mine who passed of ours. his name was john trudell. jennifer brother john trudeau was here today. he would say to

you. each and everyone of you. is descended from a tribe. you may know not not know what that tribe is. but you are descended from a tribe and he would remind you. that you are all indigenous. because you are indigenous to the planet you're in business to our mother earth. i'm gonna leave you with this thought briefly. crazy horse. he said that we would end up living in the shadow world. but the real world. is the world behind this one. it is the world of dreams. so today. i ask you to dream there was another profit. and he sang a song and he said. you may say i'm a dreamer. but i'm not the only one the only one. i am here today we see they're getting we're not the only one

that has your asking us to leave right now but all of our staff is over at the indigenous students we're trying to raise user awareness we're trying to bring this treaty to light and we're trying right now to create some women's retreats in the beautiful place. and earth rights is the name of it.tx??óóg