EP 48: Mariana Islands Part Three: Protecting & Liberating the Archipelago, a conversation with Our Commonwealth 670 (OCW 670) 

EP 48: Mariana Islands Part Three: Protecting & Liberating the Archipelago, a conversation with Our Commonwealth 670 (OCW 670) 

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In July 2025, Tiara and Hoku spent nearly a week in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) on the islands of Saipan and Tinian. They shared a meal with members of Our Commonwealth 670, (OCW 670), a non-profit alliance whose mission is to protect their ancestral lands, seas, and skies from the devastating, ongoing impact of U.S. militarization. Their visit to the CNMI coincided with the celebration of the Fourth of July. As we learn, even in the CNMI, there is a misconception that the parade and festivities are a celebration of US Independence. However, July 4th is celebrated as “Liberation Day” in Saipan—commemorating the day that Indigenous Chamorro and Carolian islanders were liberated from concentration camps on July 4, 1946. Camp Susupe was the last concentration camp to be permanently closed in Saipan, marking the end of Japanese occupation during WWII. Liberation Day celebrates the resilience and strength of those who endured the incredible hardship and pain of war. It serves as a powerful reminder of freedom and hope for a more peaceful Marianas. (For more on this topic, check out “Saipan’s First Liberation Day,” Pacific Island Times and José S. Dela Cruz book From Colonialism To Self-Government: The Northern Marianas Experience).

Our conversation with OCW 670 board members Sheila Babauta, Zeno Deleon Guerrero, and Mallory Muña sheds light on how the current CNMI relationship with the United States is one of subordination and domination. These activists and educators describe their vision of liberation for their people and their lands. As they emphasize, the OCW 670 is committed to actualizing a liberatory vision of their future in the face of increased US militarization, climate change, and historical and proposed development. They also offer a critical lens for understanding ongoing US military presence and impact in their islands through war training, testing, and development.

This podcast is created by the Archipelagos of Indigenous-led Resurgence for Planetary Health research collective. You can find out more about our research on our website: https://indigenousplanetaryhealth.ca/. We receive funding for this podcast from the Impact Chair in Transformative Governance for Planetary Health at the University of Victoria and from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. We receive production support from Cited Media.

About the Podcast

 

We’re burning down our house, and we’re in for nasty weather. But Indigenous peoples have ideas for planetary resurgence and restoration. Professors Heather Castleden and Hōkūlani Aikau bring you conversations with artists, activists, scholars, and other knowledge keepers tackling the climate crisis.

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Funding for this project provided in part by:

Melialani Hamilton
Research Assistant

Melialani Hamilton

Melialani Hamilton (she/her)  is of Kanaka ‘Ōiwi (Native Hawaiian), Euro-American, and Asian ancestry. She holds a Master of Arts in International Education & Globalisation from the University of Bath, and is a first-year PhD student in the Indigenous Governance program at the University of Victoria. She previously held a career with the U.S. National Park Service (NPS), where she worked on her ancestral homelands located in the Kīpahulu District of Haleakalā National Park on the island of Maui. Her research interests include Indigenous resurgence and education, Indigenous environmental justice, socio-ecological impacts of federal land management in the Pacific, and tribal consultation/co-management with federal agencies. Melialani looks forward to fostering meaningful relationships and collaborations through her research. 

University of Victoria Profile (coming soon)
IAC Chair

Simon Brascoupé

Simon Brascoupé (IAC Chair) is Bear Clan and a Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg artist and academic. Among his many leadership roles, he has served as Chair of the IIPH Advisory Board and former director of the National Aboriginal Health Organization; he also brings expertise in Indigenous KT.

a link could go here
Co-Director

Heather Castleden

Heather Castleden is a white researcher, with English and Scottish ancestry. Trained as a geographer, she brings leadership expertise in community-led, participatory research and works in solidarity with Indigenous Peoples on their priority research issues. Her research group (HEC Lab) is committed to work that intersects with places, peoples, power, and justice using creative, participatory, and decolonizing approaches. She is a Professor at the University of Victoria where she holds the Impact Chair in Transformative Governance for Planetary Health.

The HEC Lab
University of Victoria Profile
A SHARED Future
Co-Director

Heather Castleden

Heather Castleden is a white researcher, with English and Scottish ancestry. Trained as a geographer, she brings leadership expertise in community-led, participatory research and works in solidarity with Indigenous Peoples on their priority research issues. Her research group (HEC Lab) is committed to work that intersects with places, peoples, power, and justice using creative, participatory, and decolonizing approaches. She is a Professor at the University of Victoria where she holds the Impact Chair in Transformative Governance for Planetary Health.

The HEC Lab
University of Victoria Profile
A SHARED Future
Co-Director

Hōkūlani Aikau

Hōkūlani Aikau is a Kanaka ‘Ōiwi (Native Hawaiian) interdisciplinary scholar, a Professor, and Director of the School of Indigenous Governance. She brings leadership expertise and interdisciplinary training in Indigenous Politics, Native Hawaiian Politics, and Pacific Islands Studies. Her research focus is contemporary Native Hawaiian identity, Indigenous resurgence and climate change in the Pacific, Indigenous environmental justice, Native Feminist Theory, and food sovereignty.

A Link Could Go Here)

Tiara Naputi

Tiara Na’puti is Chamorro from Guåhan/Guam. She is an Associate Professor in Global and International Studies (University of California-Irvine). Her scholarship and community work addresses militarism, colonialism, Indigenous culture, and movements in the Mariana Islands archipelago and throughout Oceania. Her current focus is on climate change as an urgent challenge brought about by colonial and military politics, and Indigenous-led struggles to protect water and land from militarization and extractive industries.

University of California Irvine
Research Website

Carey Newman

Carey Newman (Hayalthkin’geme) is Kwakwaka’wakw from the Kukwekum, Giiksam, and WaWalaby’ie clans, and Coast Salish from Cheam of the Stó:lō Nation. He is a multidisciplinary Indigenous artist, master carver, filmmaker, and author. He focuses on the impacts of colonialism and capitalism, harnessing the power of material truth to unearth memory and trigger the necessary emotion to drive positive change. He holds the Impact Chair in Indigenous Art Practices at UVic.

Artist Website
University of Victoria Profile
The Witness Blanket

Naatoi'Ihkpiakii Melissa Quesnelle

Naatoi’Ihkpiakii Melissa Quesnelle is a citizen of Kainai Nation, an Aohkimiiksi and a practitioner of Nitsitapiisinni.

 

Much of her work is grounded in land-based community engagement, social and collaborative enterprise, and concepts of health and wellbeing within the Blackfoot knowledge system. Working with other community artists, she will curate an installation to accompany the Inni Rematriation exhibit and chair the local committee to host the first Gathering at the 10th Anniversary of the Buffalo Treaty.

Could add a link here

Lisa Te Heuheu

Lisa te Heuheu is Māori with expertise in environment and sustainable development, Iwi planning, policy, research and governance, as well as Māori natural resource management. She is currently the Chief Executive of Te Ohu Kaimoana (advancing Māori interests in the marine environment, including customary fisheries) and formerly the Chair of Te Wai Māori Trust (protecting habitat to ensure healthy Māori relationships to freshwater fisheries).

Link could go here

Tatiana Degai

Tatiana Degai is an Itelmen scholar from Kamchatka peninsula; her research focuses on Indigenous knowledge systems, revitalization and stabilization of Indigenous languages, and Indigenous visions on sustainability and wellbeing in the Arctic.

AIVAN, Arctic Indigenous Virtual Artist Network
ARC-NAV: ARCTIC ROBUST COMMUNITIES-NAVIGATING ADAPTATION TO VARIABILITY
Frozen commons project

Ḥapinyuuk, Tommy Happynook

Ḥapinyuuk, Tommy Happynook is a Nuu-chah-nulth scholar whose research focuses on reconnecting, revitalizing, and restoring reciprocal relationships in his Nation’s traditional territory.

a link could go here

Niiyokamigaabaw Deondre Smiles

Niiyokamigaabaw Deondre Smiles is a Black/Ojibwe/settler citizen of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe; their research interests include Indigenous epistemologies, political ecology, and tribal cultural resource protection.

Personal web site
University of Victoria Profile

Dawn Smith

Dawn Smith is a Nuuchah-nulth scholar in Indigenous Governance and former Elected Chief for Ehatteshat First Nation. Her expertise in public sector management, educational leadership, and policy has shaped her research focus on Nuu-chah-nulth self-determination, decolonization, strict laws of nature and medicines, and futurities.

a link could go here

Mary Tuti Baker

Mary Tuti Baker is a Kanaka Maoli scholar whose research focuses on anarchist, land-based governance structures in Hawaiʻi.

a link could go here

Jeff Ganohalidoh Corntassel

Dr. Jeff Ganohalidoh Corntassel is a writer, teacher and father from the Cherokee Nation and a member of the Echota ceremonial grounds in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Jeff is an Indigenous Studies Professor and his research and teaching interests focus on sustainable self-determination, “Everyday Acts of Resurgence” and the intersections between Indigenous-led resurgence, climate change, gender, and community well-being. He is currently completing work for his forthcoming book on Sustainable Self-Determination, which examines Indigenous climate justice, food security, and gender-based resurgence.

a link could go here
Kathryn Stone
Research Assistant

Kathryn Stone

Kathryn is a white settler researcher from Kjipuktuk, Mi’kma’ki and a second year PhD student at the University of Victoria who loves to think and discuss critically about decolonization, feminisms, and community. For her dissertation work, Kathryn is combining her love for Argentine tango communities with decolonial feminist coalition building. She feels grateful to be able to explore how embodied practices, such as dance, can foster connection, community building, and joy in resistance movements. Kathryn sees relationships as fundamental to any project and is thrilled to help with the Indigenous Planetary Health team who foster such a welcoming, community-based project. 

The HEC Lab
Research Gate
A SHARED Future

Noelani Goodyear-Ka‘ōpua

Noelani Goodyear-Ka‘ōpua is a Kanaka ‘Ōiwi academic and Trustee of the Kamehameha Schools committed to aloha ʻāina. Her research, teaching, and activism focus on Hawaiian social movements and Indigenous resurgence.

Author's Website
Indigenous Politics at the University of Hawaiʻi, Mānoa

Dan Hikuroa

Dan Hikuroa is a Māori Associate Professor, Te Wānanga o Waipapa, Māori Studies (U.Auckland), with expertise in the areas of Mātauranga Māori, climate change, natural hazards, and rivers. Dan uses Kaupapa Māori methods in his work with Māori communities.

a link could go here

Heather Igloliorte

Heather Igloliorte is an Inuk from Nunatsiavut who holds the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Transformational and Decolonial Indigenous Art Practices at UVic; her research centres on Indigenous resurgence, community collaboration, and decolonizing institutional practices across the arts.

a link could go here

Melina Laboucan-Massimo

Melina Laboucan-Massimo is Lubicon Cree and the Co-Founder of Indigenous Climate Action. She hosts a docu-series, “Power to the People,” which profiles renewable energy in Indigenous communities.

a link could go here

Kelsey Leonard

Dr. Kelsey Leonard holds a Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Waters, Climate and Sustainability and is an Assistant Professor in the School of Environment, Resources, and Sustainability in the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo, where her research focuses on Indigenous water justice and its climatic, territorial, and governance underpinnings. As a water scientist and legal scholar, Dr. Leonard seeks to establish Indigenous traditions of water conservation as the foundation for international water policymaking. She represents the Shinnecock Indian Nation on the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Planning Committee, which is charged with protecting America’s ocean ecosystems and coastlines. She also serves as a member of the Great Lakes Water Quality Board of the International Joint Commission. She is an enrolled citizen of Shinnecock Indian Nation.

Personal Website
Lab Website

Helen Moewaka- Barnes

Helen Moewaka-Barnes is Māori of Te Kapotai and Ngapuhi-nui-tonu descent and the Director of Whāriki and Codirector of the SHORE and Whariki Research Centre (NZ). She has worked on research concerning relationships between healthy lands and healthy peoples.

a link could go here

Melissa Nelson

Melissa K. Nelson is a Turtle Mountain Anishinaabe ecologist and professor of Indigenous Sustainability at Arizona State University. She is an award-winning scholar activist dedicated to Indigenous rights and sustainability, environmental justice, intercultural solidarity, and the renewal of community health and cultural arts.

ASU Profile

Nicole Redvers

Nicole Redvers is a member of the Deninu K’ue First Nation, holds a Research Chair at Western University, and is the Director of Indigenous Planetary Health. A global leader in this field, she has published extensively, and convened the first global group on the determinants of Indigenous Planetary Health.

a link could go here

Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark

Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark is a Turtle Mountain Anishinaabekwe and an associate professor in the School of Indigenous Governance at the University of Victoria. She is the director of the Centre for Indigenous Research and Community-Led Engagement (CIRCLE). She has a PhD in American studies from the University of Minnesota. Her research interests include Indigenous law and governance, Treaty rights and Indigenous politics in the United States and Canada. Focused on both Anishinaabe and US/CA law, her recent work explores the criminalization of Indigenous sovereignty, conditions of consent, and gendered violence.

a link could go here
Kikila Profile AIPH
Program Coordinator

Kikila Perrin

Kikila (they/he) is a white settler occupier of Swiss, Bavarian, French, English, and Norse lineage who has been living as an uninvited visitor on lək̓ʷŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ territories since 2015 after moving from Tiotiá:ke (Montreal) in Kanienʼkehá:ka territory. In October 2024 Kikila joined the Archipelagos Collective as Project Coordinator and they are humbled by the invitation and honoured to continue their work supporting Indigenous Resurgence, governance and land stewardship that began with their PhD (Indigenous Studies and Geography, completed Sept 2025). Their chosen name means “kettle” in ‘Õlelo Hawai’i and they seek to bear it with respect and to remind them of their position on stolen land.

W̱S͸ḴEM Ivy Project
Learning to Listen
Scales Family Fellow, Centre for Studies in Religion and Society (CSRS)
Environmental Governance Group, UVic Geography
Research Gate
Research Assistant

Brenda Jiménez González

Brenda Jiménez is an international relations graduate from the Tecnológico de Monterrey. She identifies herself as a cisgender woman from Mexico with Indigenous roots in Nahua and Mixteco cultures. Brenda is a member of the HEC (Health Environment Community) Lab and a graduate student working with Heather Castleden. At the HEC lab Brenda supports international gatherings, drafting grant proposals, contributing to course syllabi, creating promotional materials, and conducting in-depth interviews on Indigenous sovereignty and modern treaty implementation. She chose the HEC Lab for its dedication to Indigenous governance, environmental health, and planetary well-being. This experience sparked her interest in community-based participatory research and alternative methodologies, inspiring her to pursue an MA in Community Development at the University of Victoria. During her free time, she enjoys getting lost in forests, taking long walks, and meeting interesting people in unexpected ways!

The HEC Lab
University of Victoria Profile
A SHARED Future
Research Assistant, Cedar Seedling

Andrew Ambers

Andrew Ambers is from the Kwakwaka’wakw Nation, specifically the ‘Namgis and Ma’amtagila First Nations. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from the University of Victoria, and he is currently a Juris Doctor (JD) and Juris Indigenarum Doctor (JID) Candidate at the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Law. Ambers has contributed to the Seedling Project since 2022, where he has worked on uplifting Kwakwaka’wakw laws, principles, and values.

 

Recent Publications

Ambers, Andrew, and Jeff Corntassel. 2025. “Indigenous Internationalism and Kinship Diplomacy: The Relational Dimensions of Indigenous International Law.” Rooted: A Publication on Indigenous Law 3, no. 2 (pp. 10-20). https://issuu.com/rootedmcgill/docs/kinship_ii. 

 

Ambers, Andrew, and Rachel yacaaʔał George. 2024. “Fluid Internationalisms: The Ocean as a Source and Forum of Indigenous International Law.” Borders in Globalization Review 5, no. 1 (pp. 21-25). https://doi.org/10.18357/bigr51202421801.

 

Ambers, Andrew. 2022. “The River’s Legal Personhood: A Branch Growing on Canada’s Multi-Juridical Living Tree.” The Arbutus Review 13, no. 1 (pp. 4-27). https://doi.org/10.18357/tar131202220790.

Borders in Globalization
University of Victoria Profile
Early Career Researcher

Marion Newman

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Bio Link
University of Victoria Profile
Webpage