Cultural Survival is excited to announce the appointment of three new members to our distinguished board of directors this year. Joining the board are Valine Brown (Haida), Carla Fredericks (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara), and Jannie Staffansson (Saami).
“He leo mahalo kēia i ko kākou mau lālā papa alakaʻi hou ma Cultural Survival. He ʻike a mana kā lākou pākahi a pau mai loko mai o ko lākou poʻe a me ko lākou ʻike ola ma ka Honua nei. Ua pōmaikaʻi kākou i ko lākou ʻae ʻoluʻolu e kau ma kēia waʻa e holo ana no ka pono o nā ʻōiwi o kēia moku honua.
I would like to share a voice of gratitude for our new Cultural Survival board members. They each come to us with a wealth of knowledge from their Peoples and traditions as well as their own lived experiences. We are indeed blessed that they have boarded this canoe with us and will lend their leadership as we voyage to realize the rights and health of Indigenous Peoples worldwide,” says Kaimana Barcarse (Kanaka Hawaiʻi), Chair of Cultural Survival’s Board of Directors.
“We are thrilled and honored to welcome our new board members, who are incredible, strong, and accomplished Indigenous women and who come to Cultural Survival with years of experience and expertise working with their home communities and globally on issues of Indigenous sovereignty, climate change, Indigenous law, organizational development, fundraising, campaigning, protection of traditional knowledge, cultural and language revitalization, to name a few. Welcoming Indigenous women’s leadership to Cultural Survival is a testament to our commitment to honoring the sacred feminine, which will further strengthen Cultural Survival in the journey to fulfill our mission,” says Galina Angarova (Buryat), Executive Director of Cultural Survival.
We invite you to learn more about Valine, Carla, and Jannie:
Valine Brown (Haida)
K’aayhlt’aa Haanas (Valine Brown) is an organizer, communications professional, and devoted Haida citizen belonging to the K’aawas Eagle Clan. Her work is rooted in her homelands, and Valine’s academic and advocacy efforts are centered around Indigenous title, rights, and responsibilities. She believes in the power of people and connection to place and she is fiercely committed to building community resilience amid the climate crisis. Valine does her strategizing on the beach and finds inspiration in the forests of her homelands, Haida Gwaii.
Carla Fredericks (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara)
Carla Fredericks is director of the American Indian Law Clinic at the University of Colorado Law School and Director of the First Peoples Investment Engagement Program, a program with the University of Colorado Leeds School of Business. She is a graduate of the University of Colorado and Columbia Law School. Carla's areas of research expertise include Indigenous Peoples' law, federal Indian law, human rights, development, finance, and business and human rights. Carla has significant practice experience in securities litigation and was previously a partner at Milberg LLP in New York, where she also founded Milberg's Native American practice and directed the firm's civil/human rights litigation. She maintains an active pro bono practice focused on complex and appellate litigation and Native American affairs, representing Indian tribes and organizations in a variety of litigation and policy matters. She is chair of the Board of Trustees for the Mashantucket Pequot (Western) Endowment Trust.
Jannie Staffansson (Saami)
Jannie Staffansson is living on the Arctic Circle in Jokkmokk, Sápmi. Jannie belongs to the Indigenous Peoples of Scandinavia and north west of Russia, the Saami. She is from a reindeer herding family, and together with her partner, they are working with their reindeer. Jannie is currently focused on educating herself in Saami ways and strengthening her Indigenous knowledge in relation to reindeer herding. This knowledge is needed to survive extreme events caused by climate change. When she is not out with the reindeer, she is working as a consultant, assisting Saami organizations and communities often in relation to climate change issues, capacity building, and Indigenous Peoples’ rights. She has a background in environmental studies and organic chemistry. She worked as an advisor for a Saami organization on environmental and Indigenous rights issues, where she participated in negotiations of the Indigenous Peoples’ Platform within UNFCCC during and after the Paris Agreement. Jannie was a member of the Arctic Council Working Group on Assessment and Monitoring Programme (AMAP) and its associated expert groups on black carbon and methane, persistent organic pollutants, and climate change. She also served on the board of the Sustaining Arctic Observation Network (SAON). She heals when being far up in the mountains, off the grid, being around her herding dogs and giving back to Mother Earth.
