Indigenous Youths Reclaiming Waters and Rivers: Bioneers Photos by Robert Free 2026

Robert Free, Gary Farmer and Peter Coyote at Bioneers 2026

'Revolution from the Heart of Nature'

Bioneers Photos by Robert Free 

Photos by Robert Free, Censored News, April 3, 2026

Gary Farmer, actor and musician, tells Bioneers, “American society has never been able to overcome the paternal view that leads the nation. I often wonder in my senior years what kind of world we could have lived in if the national builders of the American empire had accepted Indigenous people as equals.”

Farmer describes how the Haudenosaunee shared their foods and methodologies of the natural world to survive -- instead of manipulating the mineral resources for profit.

Today, Robert Free shared his photos from "Revolution from the Heart of Nature," Bioneers 2026. Robert was on the Trail of Broken Treaties, at the takeover of the BIA building in Washington, and at the Occupation of Wounded Knee. At the Occupation of Alcatraz, Robert's teepee was a monument to the struggle. Robert said, "In the early days the Sierra Club and environmental organizations didn't want input from Indigenous Peoples, in regards to national parks and monuments." Today, this is changing.

During Bioneers annual conference in Berkeley, Indigenous youths shared their struggles, from the Eastern Cherokee to the Klamath on the west coast, to Hawaii, as Native youths reclaim their waters and rivers, and rise to defend the natural world.

Peter Coyote, actor, narrator and screenwriter, greets Janine Savok and Jordan Saito, Na’ah Illahee Fund, at Bioneers 2026.

Bayou Youth Leadership, listen https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=976827504697179

ANIWA fosters global unity and spiritual growth in the celebration of Indigenous cultures.
https://www.aniwa.co/

Jeannette Armstrong, University of British Columbia Okanagan told Bioneers, “Many young people in my community have been separated from their language, ceremonies, and connection to the land — taught to see being in nature as something backward. But our bodies remember. They are nourished by the sounds, the smells, the presence of the land in a way nothing else can replace. And as that connection is lost, we see the impacts in our health, in our communities. This work is about returning to that relationship, because our bodies hunger for it.” 

Robert Free greets Mary Ulroan, Yupik high school history teacher from Chevak, Alaska, at Bioneers 2026.

Bioneers Videos: Highlights

Listen https://www.facebook.com/Bioneers.org

Coley Kakols Miller, First Descent Youth Paddler told Bioneers, “Four out of the six dams on the Klamath River came down, but the two that are left are on my family’s territory. I know those final barriers will come down. It just takes time and awareness. Many people are saying that the Klamath is free, but it isn’t free just yet.”

A citizen of the Klamath Tribes, Coley is a Modoc and Klamath youth born and raised at the headwaters of the Klamath River watershed. She was among more than 30 young people who participated in the historic first descent of the Klamath River after the largest dam removal in history.

Listen https://www.facebook.com/reel/1658277325306813

At just 16, Jasmine Smith, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, shared that her community’s Rights of Nature resolution is already making waves — helping inspire a $12 million commitment to remove a dam and restore the Longperson (Oconaluftee River).

Bioneers said, "This is what it looks like when Indigenous knowledge, legal innovation, and youth leadership come together, not just to imagine a different future, but to start building it."

"Too often we are told to wait," Jasmine said, adding that youth are speaking up, and writing policy.

"We are still here, and we are always Cherokee."

Hawaii youths share the beauty of their culture at Bioneers 2026.

Bioneers Speakers 2026

https://conference.bioneers.org/speakers/

Photos copyright Robert Free.