Speakers

Aluki Kotierk

Nunavut Tuungavik President, United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Keynote proposed title: Self-determination and resistance through our languages

Originally from Igloolik, now residing in Iqaluit with her family, Nunavut Tunngavik President Aluki Kotierk leads by example. Aluki is driven by her passion to empower and improve the lives of Inuit. After earning her master’s degree in Native and Canadian Studies at Trent University, Aluki worked for various Inuit organizations including Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada, Inuit Tapirisat of Canada (now known as Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami), and Nunavut Sivuniksavut. She has also held management and Deputy Minister roles within the Government of Nunavut, Office of the Languages Commissioner and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated. In her current role as President, Aluki is keen in how Inuit language and culture can be better incorporated into the way in which programs and services are designed and delivered in Nunavut. Aluki is a former co-chair representing Indigenous People’s Organizations on the Global Task Force for the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (IDIL) 2022-2032 and is currently a member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples (UNPFII) for the Arctic Region.

Eduardo S. Brondizio

Center for the Analysis of Social-Ecological Landscapes, Indiana University

Keynote proposed title: Locally based, globally relevant: Indigenous knowledge, values, and practices for nature

Eduardo S. Brondizio is a Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Directs the Center for the Analysis of Social-Ecological Landscapes, and a Senior Fellow at the Ostrom Workshop at Indiana University-Bloomington. Brondizio holds a professorship with the Environmental and Society program (NEPAM) at the University of Campinas, Brazil. Brondizio’s career has weaved environmental and agricultural sciences, economic and environmental anthropology, and geospatial analysis to address questions of human-environmental interactions from the local to global scales. For over three decades, Brondizio’s work has documented, examined, and responded to the social and environmental transformation and governance challenges of Amazônia and contributed to numerous international initiatives and assessments on global environmental change and sustainability. Brondizio’s field-based research has contributed methodologies for linking in-depth and participatory ethnographic research, institutional analysis, Indigenous and local knowledge, and geospatial tools, contributing to multiscalar understandings of land-use processes such as deforestation and reforestation, agricultural intensification, migration and urbanization; value-chain of biodiversity products and rural-urban social networks; population vulnerability to climate change; and the landscape governance. He served as co-chair of the Global Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), approved by 132 countries in 2019. Brondizio is a fellow of the Society for Applied Anthropology and the International Science Council, foreign member of the French Academy of Agriculture, and elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the United States National Academy of Sciences. In 2023, Brondizio was awarded the Volvo Environmental Prize.

K. David Harrison

VinUniversity, National Geographic Society

Keynote proposed title: Indigenous Languages and the Environment

Mirian Masaquiza Jerez

Indigenous Peoples and Development Branch-Secretariat of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Keynote proposed title: Indigenous Peoples' Issues at the United Nations: Accomplishments and Challenges

Mirian Masaquiza Jerez is a Kichwa woman from Salasaca, one of the Indigenous Peoples in Ecuador. With extensive knowledge and experience on issues affecting Indigenous Peoples, gender and Indigenous women, climate change, cultural and educational matters, interagency affairs, outreach and communication, management, and political analysis. She brings over 20 years of professional experience at the international level. Currently serving as a Senior Social Affairs Officer at the Indigenous Peoples and Development Branch-Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in DESA, the Branch that oversees the implementation of the mandate of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) and leads substantive work on Indigenous issues at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Prior to her current role, Mirian held positions at the Ministry of Cultural and National Heritage in Ecuador (Advisor), where she provided invaluable insights. Notably, she made history as the first Indigenous diplomat in the Permanent Mission of Ecuador to the United Nations in New York. Additionally, Mirian served as an Advisor at the Cabinet of the Presidency during the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly. From 2004-2008, Mirian worked as an Associate Social Affairs Officer at the Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in DESA, contributing significantly to the Forum’s initiatives and operations. Before joining the Secretariat, she was actively involved in one of the three main national Indigenous Peoples’ organizations in Ecuador and undertook consultancy work for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Interamerican Development Bank (IADB). Mirian is fluent in Kichwa, her Indigenous language, as well as Spanish and English.