Tossing seeds into the ground: How do Indigenous and Black communities mobilize towards a common goal?

Widia Larivière is an Anishinabekwe and Québécois woman and a member of the Timiskaming First Nation. She is the co-founder and executive director of Mikana, a non-profit Indigenous organization dedicated to raising public awareness of the realities and perspectives of Indigenous peoples.

She has been active for many years in the defence of human rights and Indigenous peoples’ rights. She has been involved with Native Women of Quebec and with the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse, and she co-initiated the Québec mobilization of the Idle No More movement in 2012.

A writer, filmmaker, and occasional columnist, she is involved in podcast, video, and documentary projects that foreground the voices of First Peoples.

Her work has been recognized with numerous distinctions, including the Hommage Award presented on the 40th anniversary of Quebec’s Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms (2015), as well as Amnesty International’s prestigious Ambassador of Conscience Award (2017).

She is also a mother, a role that continually nourishes her commitment and her worldview.

Nadia Bunyan is a fashion designer, researcher, and community organizer. She believes we must begin with education and care to see change in the fashion industry and beyond. These core values led her to co-found Growing A.R.C. a nonprofit using the prism of material culture and its fashion systems to explore activities grounded in the farm-to-closet process.

Beginning with agriculture for textiles and natural dyes, Growing A.R.C. creates activities such as playdates for people to activate, reciprocate and cultivate their relationships with all beings. The organization reinforces connections to the local environment by focusing on material culture and bioregional design. It also expands the understanding of biodiversity to include the diversity and perspectives of marginalized folks.

Nadia believes that to raise awareness about a relational approach to sustainability, knowledge and lived experiences must be shared. This is one facet of changing conversations on sustainability into a cultural practice.