The 2024 Trudy Sundberg Lecture Series 

Lyla June - Architects of Abundance: Indigenous Regenerative Food Systems & the Excavation of Hidden History

Friday, March 22, 7:30 PM | Whidbey Island Center for the Arts

Friday, March 22, 1:30 PM | South Whidbey High School - Student Lecture

Dr. Lyla June Johnston is an Indigenous musician, scholar, and community organizer of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne), and European lineages. Her research focuses on how pre-colonial Indigenous Nations gardened large regions of Turtle Island(aka the Americas) to produce abundant food systems for humans and non-humans. Contrary to popular belief, Indigenous Nations were active agents within the ecosystem and sculptured entire bioregions into edible landscapes.

Whether it's periodically burning grassland ecosystems with low severity fires to maintain habitat for deer, buffalo, antelope, etc., or building intertidal rock walls that catch sediment and warmer waters to expand clam habitat, native people have a number of innovative strategies for scaling habitat for edible plants and animals whom they often view as relatives.

Lyla’s work translates this poorly understood history to the Western world and highlights the connection between Indigenous land ethics, decolonial narratives, biodiversity augmentation, anthropogenic habitat expansion, and regional ecosystem design. The success of the systems is believed to be due to their underlying value system of respect, reverence, responsibility, and reciprocity.

Lyla blends her study of Human Ecology at Stanford, graduate work in Indigenous Pedagogy, and the traditional worldview she grew up with to inform her music, perspectives, and solutions. To learn more about her work, visit www.lylajune.com.

Read a recent article from This is Whidbey about Lyla June Johnston's upcoming presentation - Architects of Abundance: a lecture by Dr. Lyla June Johnston

JOHN HALLIDAY - What Is a Chief? How Native Values Can Teach Resilience

Friday, March 15, 4:00 PM | Coupeville Library

With generous support from Humanities Washington

At the age of 55, John Halliday became legally blind. As a Muckleshoot Tribal member of Duwamish ancestry, Halliday says his Native American world view, cultural traditions, and values, which have sustained Native tribes throughout history, long before colonization, have helped him overcome the challenges associated with losing his sight.

Too often, our understanding of American history begins with foreign European powers “settling” the land—as though no thriving human communities existed here. Woven in with John’s personal story, audiences will learn Washington State history from a Native American perspective, and how that history can teach resilience.

John Halliday is a Native American artist of Muckleshoot, “Duwamish,” Yakama, and Warm Springs Indian descent. Halliday recently retired from the Bureau of Indian Affairs as Deputy Regional Director for the Navajo Region after serving as CEO for both the Muckleshoot and Snoqualmie tribes. Halliday has shown his art at Lakewold Gardens, ANTGallery, and the Sacred Circle Galleries of American Indian Art under the artist name “Coyote”. To learn more about John Halliday, visit www.coyoteinsightart.com.