Earth Day – Connecting to Everything on Earth: Its Land, Waters, and Peoples (Plant, Animal, and Human)

PLU’s 2012 Earth Day lecture will be by Michael Pavel at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 17 in the Scandinavian Cultural Center.

Pavel is a professor of education studies at the University of Oregon, he carries the traditional name of ChiXapkaid and is an enrolled member of the Skokomish Tribe Nation. He is an honored 2007 Ecotrust Indigenous Leadership Award finalist for his work as a Coast Salish tradition bearer, professor of education studies, traditional artist, researcher, author, environmental conservationist and community leader.

His lecture is entitled, “Connecting to Everything on Earth: Its Land, Waters, and Peoples (Plant, Animal, and Human).

ChiXapkaid has worked throughout his life to bridge the divide between Indigenous ways of knowing and knowledge systems of contemporary society.

His talk will draw insight form indigenous traditions to discuss how people connect to places, and how intimately knowing a local place helps us to understand and connect with the world as a whole. The lecture will be followed by a question-and-answer period and is free and open to the public.

The Earth Day lecture is sponsored by the Office of the Provost and by the Environmental Studies Program, which educates students to engage actively and critically the complex relationships between people and the environment, drawing upon integrated and interdisciplinary perspectives.