Seeding Sovereignty: Redefining ‘Expertise’ in the Environmental Movement

HMM producer Anna Steltenkamp speaks with Janet MacGillivray, the Founder and Executive Director of Seeding Sovereignty. Seeding Sovereignty is a multi-generational, Indigenous womxn-led collective that works to decolonize social and environmental paradigms.

This is the first segment in a multi-part dialogue with Janet MacGillivray. In this segment, Janet speaks about the need to ‘de-expert’ and diversify the environmental movement so that the voices of those directly impacted by social and environmental issues are heard. She addresses how we must redefine our understanding of ‘expertise’—recognizing that those directly impacted have their own ‘expertise’—if the environmental movement is to be both inclusive and successful.

Photograph taken prior to COVID-19.