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>> Laura Paskus (offscreen): For seven  years on Our Land, we have covered so many  aspects of climate change: From the oil and  gas industry's greenhouse gas  emissions to how warming  affects our rivers, forests, and health.

This week on New Mexico in Focus, we  feature an Our Land special, Loving Our  Changing Homelands, with people who have deep relationships with New Mexico's lands and critical knowledge about how to adapt to a warmer world.

New Mexico in Focus starts now.

>> Laura Paskus: No matter where you live, climate change should be on your mind.

New Mexico is warming  and it is drying.

Our forests are changing, and  our rivers and our aquifers are dwindling,  even as we demand more from them all the time.

Climate change touches every aspect of all our  lives...Whether you're a farmer, or you own a  mountain home and can't get homeowners insurance.

Maybe you work outside or your kids play soccer of football and you feel how longer heat waves affect our physical and mental  health.

With this show, we're  not expecting you to lie in bed at night and worry.

Though, if you're paying attention to climate  change, you're probably feeling some existential dread.

Policy changes and  politics are important.

New technologies can  help us be more efficient.

But most of all, living in  a climate changed world means that we need to  understand what is happening and why.

And  we need to remember, or decide upon, what we  value, and what we love.

Our first guest is Phoebe  Suina, from the Pueblo of Cochiti, who spent six  years studying hydrology and engineering and  earning her undergraduate and graduate degrees at Dartmouth College.

When she came home from New  Hampshire, Suina came home to the devastation  of the Cerro Grande Fire in the Jemez Mountains.

Mountains she feels a responsibility to.

Eleven years after that, she watched the 2011 Las  Conchas Fire rip into the history books.

For her entire career, Suina has worked on  mitigating post-wildfire impacts like flooding not  just from a hydrological standpoint but also a  cultural one.

>> Laura Paskus: Phoebe Suina, thanks for being here!

>> Phoebe Suina: Thank you, Laura, I appreciate  it and thank you for inviting me and  providing this opportunity to share  some thoughts today.

>> Laura Paskus: Yeah, so I was wondering if we could start, if you would  just introduce yourself.

>> Phoebe Suina: Yeah, my name is Phoebe Suina, and in Keres, my Indian name is [words in Keres].

I'm of the Turkey  Clan.

I'm from the Pueblo of San Felipe and  Cochiti.

My mother's from San Felipe and my  father's from Cochiti, and I'm enrolled at Cochiti Pueblo.

>> Laura Paskus: So, the  landscape at Cochiti, in particular, has gone  through a lot of changes, in part over the last 50 or  60 years because of the US government's  construction of Cochiti Dam and Cochiti Lake.

But in your lifetime, I'm curious what changes  you've seen that are related to warming and climate change?

>> Phoebe Suina: So, all  of these ecological and hydrological complexities are then being quickened in the  impacts and the results of climate change in our  planet just becoming more dynamic.

And I think, too, to my  traditional education on as pueblo people living  in this landscape since time immemorial, and in  my, I call it brief 40 plus years here, is seeing the  dramatic, I would say quicken, and things  going really fast.

And it takes me back to a lesson  that our elders share.

And please forgive me  I'm going to say it in Keres.

[words in Keres]  is the term.

So it's to go slow, be mindful, and it  talks about, in that little phrase, about all of the  processes that we learn as pueblo people in order  for things to happen and be whole and be  complete and do the full cycles, like growing corn  or participating in a dance.

And all the  processes and steps that need to take place in  order for it to be and come to fruition.

Like, a  corn to grow its tassels and then be and create  the pollen and then have the ears of corn grow  over time.

That does not happen in a day.

It takes  time.

And so, as a metaphor to  that, and then looking at climate change when  everything is hastened; the floods the flows are  hastened.

The ups and downs.

One day, even  this summer, I mean, the spring, we had a really  hot day and then we had a cold day.

So, even our  vegetation's trying to figure out, 'Okay, can I  blossom?'

Not yet!

Because it's going to be  cold.

So, even our vegetations, our fruit  trees, and other plants are trying to figure it out,  as well.

As well as the animals, the birds, and  the little mammals in the landscape.

So, I think for me in my time here in this  landscape, I'm seeing those elements and those  data points, if you will, of how climate change  and how this, really shift in hot or cold, a lot of  water, no water, all of these dramatic changes  within a very short time scale, minutes, hours,  days, is really affecting our environment and all  of the various ecological components of our environment.

>> Laura Paskus: So,  you're talking about slowing down and then  we see these changes also speeding up.

How  has climate change and these various impacts  like drying of forests, burning of the forests,  changes in seasons, flooding, all of these  things, how have these changed how you relate  to your landscape?

>> Phoebe Suina: I'm honored to sit with some of our tribal leadership  during meetings with federal agencies and  other state agencies, as well as internal.

And one  of our elders shared that, you know, we've been  here since time immemorial, and they  shared the perspective that we will be here into  the future.

Not for 100 years, not just for 200,  but this is where our future generations will  be in this landscape that we call Cochiti.

And Cochiti, I just want to make a short point,  how I was brought up is not just these straight  lines on a map.

I finally learned that or realized  that in college when I looked at a map and I  said 'Oh, Cochiti is supposed to be this little  box.'

And that's not how I was raised.

I was raised  to look at the mountains as our responsibility, to  take care of, to be in balance with.

To take the  responsibility and welcome and embrace  that, not for us, not for us to say, extract.

That  concept was not something that we were  taught through our lessons and through the  words and the advice and guidance that elders  shared and continue to share.

And so when I see the landscape, I see the lack  of evergreens on our hilltops.

I was just out in  Capulin Canyon, which is there within the Dome  and Bandelier wilderness a couple weeks ago and  that was when there was still snow in the areas  that had evergreens.

But where I was standing  in Capulin was a footprint that was  devastated one, by the Dome Fire, by Cerro  Grande, by Los Conchas, and I could literally jump  and make puffs of dust because there wasn't that  moisture in the soil.

There wasn't the  evergreens, that two peaks over I could still  see the snow, I could still see the evergreens  having that freeze-thaw effect and those, and that  snow being slowly released into the ground.

And so, as I even in Capulin a few weeks ago  can stand there and see the differences.

So, I  worry, I worry, and think about our future  generations and what in my lifetime, if I can  bring enlightenment.

Part of my name, my Indian  name, is about, you know, enlightenment,  shining a light in certain areas.

So, when I look at it at our mountains, at our  river, at our vegetation, I think about what I can do  during my lifetime, here, to help ensure that the  future generations have these resources to carry  on the way of life and the way of life of really  being one of balance, one of mindfulness,  [words in Keres], to be mindful and conscious  and respectful.

And so even as I look into this  landscape, I have hope and I have a lot of good  thoughts of what future generations can learn and  how they will manage it, even given what they  might not see today.

Because many of the  young kids, my own kids, have not seen this  landscape with the evergreen, with as my,  some elders in my family called the Shangri-La of  say Cochiti Canyon, where we had fruit trees,  evergreens, different shrubs, different  vegetation, wildlife, deers, elk, birds, in the  landscape.

That said is I still have a lot of hope  and want to continue to share that hope with future generations, including my kids and  those young kids today.

>> Laura Paskus: We'll  hear more from Phoebe Suina later in the show.

In early April 2022, fires burned across New  Mexico, months before our historic fire season.

Then, in northern New Mexico, two US Forest Service  projects, meant to protect the mountains, flared up  and merged into what became the state's  largest wildfire.

In the end, the Hermits  Peak - Calf Canyon Fire burned more than  341,000 acres and hundreds of homes and ranches.

The fires, and then the  floods, overwhelmed communities.

Including  Paula Garcia's.

Garcia, executive director of the  New Mexico Acequia Assocation, grew up in  northern New Mexico, where her family has  farmed and logged and lived for eight  generations.

And actually, I should  mention that Paula Garcia is the inspiration for this  entire show.

In the fall of 2022, she  convened the Acequia Assocation's Annual  Congreso by reminding people that even though  the mountains have burned, they are still in  the people's care.

There is a lesson there  for all of us.

>> Paula Garcia: This is one of the places to me that is most devastating to look at because in years past, this whole area was completely heavenly, it was just  covered in trees.

You could see trees as far as  the eye could see, and now, from this vantage point, it's all black.

>> Paula Garcia: The Hermit's Peak Calf Canyon Fire started in April, April 6th and  then soon after the Calf Canyon started.

And by April 22nd, which was to me a  very fateful day, that's when it really blew up  and went on a run about 15 miles and  that's when it rushed across my family  lands and then a few days later it came here.

>> Narrator: On April 22, 2022 the Hermits  Peak - Calf Canyon Fire ignited into  something not of this  world.

Whipped by winds, fueled by warm  temperatures, and devouring dry and  overgrown forests, the fire took on a life of  its own, exploding into something even  seasoned firefighters had never seen.

>> Paula Garcia: The way the wind was  blowing, the temperature of the fire,  the intensity of the burn, and the area that  it covered was so dramatic and it it  exceeded all expectation.

We  weren't at all ready for it at all, not for the  evacuation and basic like day-to-day life  change that was going to happen to us, but  certainly not ready for the changes on the  land that were going to happen that were  going to affect us as land based people.

>> Paula Garcia: And now we're on the second  year after the major wildfire and we're seeing  that recurring flooding.

As I was driving up here,  I could see gullies that weren't there before.

Just  on all the hillsides, there's new gullies and  every time you look at them, they they're a little  deeper, you know, maybe within a matter of  weeks, couple of rainstorms and these  gullies are forming.

So that's stunning to me to  see it happen in real time.

>> Narrator: Above Morphy Lake, the Sangre de Cristo Mountains shelter in their wilderness, natural  lakes.

In the nineteenth century, farmers hand  dug canals from those lakes and excavated by  hand and by horse this lake, which holds  irrigation water for the fields below.

Garcia never took this land, or her family's  connection to it, for granted.

And she won't now, even as she looks at the naked mountainsides and eroded gullies.

>> Paula Garcia: The  diversion point, is that damaged, too, from the  flooding, or is it mostly the debris flows from the hills?

>> Harold Trujillo: The biggest problem is the debris flow from the fire, okay?

>> Paula Garcia: We've always loved this land that we we grew up here.

We were taught to be a care be caretakers of the  land and now that role as caretaker is more  important than ever.

And these lands, even though  they've burned, and we can assign blame or we  can look at causes, at climate change the  Forest Service, and no matter what the cause of  the fire is ultimately, this is our home.

And these  are our beloved lands.

And they're still in our  care and they're going to be in the care of our  children and grandchildren.

So as caretakers we have to still love the land.

It  looks very different.

And the way that that love  will manifest is through staying here and working  our farmland like we  always have.

But also we have a new responsibility  of healing.

As we heal the land, I think we're  going to heal ourselves.

>> Narrator: Garcia has  witnessed warming and drying for decades.

But as 2022 made clear, climate change is neither  gradual nor incremental.

And while Congress  allocated four billion dollars to recovery,  FEMA's role has been problematic.

People are  still displaced from their lands and unable to  rebuild their homes.

As Garcia sees it, the  people, like the land, will be healing and adapting forever.

>> Paula Garcia: Was it  kind of scary when it came down, that water?

>> Man: Oh, yeah.

>> Paula Garcia: The  people of the acequias have a very unique role  in healing the land and healing the watersheds.

Beyond restoring their waterways, the acequias  that bring water to their fields, there's a really  strong incentive to heal the watersheds, and I do  believe that over time we are going to heal our  watersheds.

I do think also it has to be a  grassroots effort and community driven.

>> Narrator: And, Garcia says, people don't  have to have lived in a place for eight  generations to know a landscape, to learn a  watershed, and to love your community enough  to take care of one another as the climate changes.

>> Paula Garcia: To me,  the silver linings of any disaster is to see how the  community comes together.

And I feel like  well we don't have to wait for a disaster to do  that, you know?

How do we reach out and, you  know, all of a sudden we were asking questions  like 'Well are there any elders that can't get out?

Or are there elders that might need wood or  food?

Are there mothers with babies that can't get  out and need formula?'

Those are the things, like  we should have a mental picture of all our  neighbors and who is vulnerable, who is more  able to help and create these networks of  mutualism of helping each other because that's  something that we're going to need for the future.

>> Laura Paskus:  Whether in our personal lives or when thinking  about something like climate change, it's easy  to hope for a state of normalcy or stasis.

Like,  we just need to get through this work week,  or this one health challenge.

Or one bump  in a relationship.

And then things will smooth  out.

And life will be easy.

But life isn't really like that.

And  neither is adapting to climate change.

Like  Paula Garcia said when we visited her, people  will be healing and adapting forever.

She was talking about northern New Mexico  and the continued aftermath of the Hermits  Peak Calf Canyon Fire.

But that applies to all of  us, everywhere.

In the second part of my  conversation with Phoebe Suina, she talks  about this, too.

In one moment, she said,  you achieve balance, and in the next,  you have to work at it again.

That's just life.

She also talks about how even within westernized  linear systems, engineers and mathematicians  learn about concepts of cycles and systems.

>> Laura Paskus: When we're thinking about  climate change in our communities and  landscapes, we're still as a society, like as the  dominant society in the United States, certainly  our political systems, we're not even yet, I  don't think, to a point where we're being very  serious about adaptation.

But even when people do  talk about adaptation, I feel like they think it's  this linear thing.

Your thoughts on this, sort of,  we need to be adapting forever, it seems like.

>> Phoebe Suina: Exactly.

And to that  point, and that concept of linear, linear mentality,  we achieve this and we're done, right?

We  achieve balance and we're done!

It's an ever-  working process.

And so that can get tiring or  frustrating, and to your question and your point,  is in the concept of adapting.

And as the  lessons and the wisdom that's been brought down,  has always talked about that ever, circle cycle of  adapting.

It always has been there.

And that's  how we've been able to be sustainable and have  lived in this landscape since time immemorial.

And so there is wisdom in that.

And I think at  some point we talk about this linear systems and  framework that we have, say in western science or  western policy framework, and to make  sure that we instill a way to have an ever-evolving,  I would say even, processes.

Even within  our political systems, and I would say even our  political systems.

I use the word system, as you  mentioned a few minutes ago, it's a system, too.

And it's not like we're static.

If we're static, that  is unsustainable.

And so, if we if I look at  the bigger picture and look at this linear system,  even in engineering concepts, nothing was  linear.

Those engineers out there, look about  what's that?

That's a sine wave or a cosine wave.

We all learned about how to model that.

We  all learned about that in our basic engineering  concepts, in our mathematics.

In our  mathematical concepts, we learned about the  circle in in math.

And so I don't think it's  that far to then have that enlightenment or that  realization that even within these westernized,  more linear systems that there are these concepts  of cycles of systems that we all learn about, even  in our basic courses in physics or in  mathematical courses.

And so, I think for me  when I talk to say engineers or technical  folks, I try to remind them of the concepts we  all studied in textbooks.

Remember there was the  cosine?

There was the sine wave?

What was  that?

Up and down.

That's a system.

And what we do to that basic mathematical  concept of a sine wave, like by adding two or  squaring it, changes how the model will run.

And  that's what we learned.

And so can we then look  at these basic concepts in math or in science and  then understand that it is not a linear system?

And  if we think about a linear system, that will be  unsustainable.

>> Laura Paskus: So, I'm  curious what you think about where, where love  and acts of love fit into how we adapt to climate change?

>> Phoebe Suina: Thank  you for that.

I, you know, every morning I try to  make sure I tell my family I love them, my  kids, my partner, as they go out the door, that I  love them.

And it's back to that  mindful and consciousness of being  grounded in who you are, in the morning  preparation of greeting the sun and greeting all  of of the elements around us, including our  children and those in our households, it starts with  love.

It starts with our heart and how we  embrace that and, which includes the  Responsibility, the weight of that.

The  weight of making sure that even in our words,  we have a context or a base of love.

Even when  we're talking to other people.

As I shared a  minute ago, in our welcoming of the sun  every morning.

And that's an act of love.

It's  an act of and it is also scary, right?

Because to  love means also to put your heart out there.

And  our hearts as people, they're all special, they're  all soft, and so it is scary to say and to put that out  there.

And we do get hurt.

We're human.

And  in the act of thinking about how we can be our  best person, how we're going to wake up, love  our family, what can we do in the time that we're  here physically to make sure that we pay that  forward and continue that cycle of love, in a  good way.

And I try, as my  grandma, Osavia, was her name, was my role  model.

To me, she was all about love, the grace  of love, the welcoming of love.

To be driving up  to her house and the first thing you see her is  coming out, and she would have her hands  wide open for a hug and that was, you were embraced in love, And you can see it in how she  lived and the things that grew out of her actions  throughout the day: how she took care of the, how  she cooked tortillas.

And we always say in our  household, that in our act of love also means  taking care of the things that grow, like corn.

And  my grandma, she had a green thumb, and I  always, in my mind, have theorized that it's  because she had so much love.

>> Laura Paskus: Yes, well, thank you, Phoebe.

I appreciate you.

>> Phoebe Suina: Thank  you so much.

>> Laura Paskus: You  heard Phoebe Suina say that she was raised to  look at the mountains as her responsibility, to take  care of the land...A land that wasn't about straight  lines drawn on a map.

In the conversation  coming up, Theresa Pasqual from the Pueblo  of Acoma talks about something similar.

In particular, she talks about the overlay of a  foreign government, the US government, and  how those laws and policies and strictures  affect tribes.

Not just the Pueblo of Acoma, but  tribes all across the country.

And she talks about how those, and the arbitrary  boundaries that the US government imposed on  tribes, the straight lines on the map, how those  affect tribes trying to adapt to a warming world.

[MUSIC] >> Narrator:  Theresa Pasqual is from the  Pueblo of Acoma.

Like many others, she knows  that long before human- caused climate change  started warming and drying the Southwest,  survival in this arid landscape required care  and connection.

>> Theresa Pasqual: Back then, our people migrated from various locations to the north from the point of  emergence to the present and as their journey went  on, they really amassed a knowledge, a sense of  how to live and be and sustain themselves  within these arid landscapes, as well as  build a sense of community.

And all of those decisions that they made  in their lifetime and subsequent lifetimes  from their descendants then brought us to the  present-day place of Acoma.

>> Theresa Pasqual: So, your crew, the  department that you lead, grows multiple cobs of  corn, right?

And then you...  >> Narrator: The stories of those decisions still  live within songs and prayers and practices.

And they anchor the people of Acoma to this  land, just as the mountains and the rivers do.

>> Theresa Pasqual: Take a look, in your hand, if you would take some of these... >> Theresa Pasqual: I think within our own pueblo communities, communities like mine,  if we look back into the history of our people,  they were already then, during their lifetimes,  considering the implications of what it  meant to raise a community, raise  generations and be aware of their impact on those  resources such as water.

Water scarcity was  evident then.

We can see it as communities, were  looking to not just rivers but seeps and springs for  water collection.

And that's all knowledge,  it's all skill.

We do not have to create new things  but simply to look back in the past to see how are  people conserved and protected the most  precious of our resources.

And in doing so, we also  extend that legacy.

We are that legacy because  that inherent knowledge is within us.

We just  need to connect back with that knowledge and  bring that knowledge forward so that what we  do today in terms of conserving water,  especially in the face of climate change, that that  that knowledge is just there.

It's, we just need  to bring it to the future.

>> Narrator: Before the  waves of Spanish, Mexican and US  conquest, the people of Acoma responded  organically to natural climatic shifts.

They  moved closer to springs, traveled to higher or  lower elevations.

They shifted settlements with  floods and droughts.

But today, tribes have to  adapt to rapid climatic shifts while also living  within the overlay of a foreign government and  within boundaries and systems not of their own choice.

>> Theresa Pasqual:  The creation of the reservation system,  which is not unique to New Mexico, but  occurred across the country, really was  meant to restrict the movement of our  Indigenous people, our Native people.

But that  restriction of movement also came at a cost.

It  meant that we no longer had the ability to respond  to those different threats that would mean the  sustainability of our community.

>> Narrator: That means acting responsibly  toward the lands, the waters, and the plants  and animals who share this world with us.

>> Theresa Pasqual: When you see yourself  as a steward of, not an owner, but a steward of,  then what you do with the land and the seeds,  the way that we plant and harvest, and how we  engage with the wildlife, how we protect them,  how we harvest them when only necessary,  how we ensure their survival, is an expression  of love.

It's an expression of care.

It's an  expression of gratitude back to the creators, who  provided those resources for us.

And so in doing  so we maintain that balance, which is also  one of our responsibilities.

>> Narrator: When we fall out of balance, we  make poor decisions, including poor policies.

Being in balance, and making good decisions,  requires something we don't always talk about.

>> Theresa Pasqual: When I think about the  connection of landscape and stewardship and the  value, the core value of love, I have to think back  to what's embedded in our in our traditional  stories, our stories that take us back to the point  of emergence, when we were given these  responsibilities of not only stewardship of what  was created for us, but also that in doing so we  express our gratitude and our love.

>> Laura Paskus: Regardless of your  background, or how long you've lived in New  Mexico, we can each connect with landscapes,  learn about them, and act.

Paula Garcia talked  about this when we visited her.

And for me as someone who's not from New Mexico, but  who made the choice to live here almost thirty  years ago, I know that my connection to this  land is very different from Paula Garcia's, or  Phoebe Suina's, or Theresa Pasqual's.

And I also know that I love this place.

It is my  chosen homeland.

And I know that living here  also comes with certain responsibilities.

In this next conversation, with Franciscan Sister  Joan Brown, we talk about faith and climate  change, love and community.

>> Laura Paskus: Sister Joan Brown, thanks for  being here today.

>> Joan Brown: Well, it's lovely to be here with  you, Laura, and all our viewers.

This is great, thanks.

>> Laura Paskus: Thank you.

So, I wanted to start  with your own spiritual path  and how that ties to your  work on the environment and climate change and  ideas Around stewardship.

>> Joan Brown: Well, you know, I grew up on  a farm in Kansas and so I've always been very  close to the Earth and integrated in with that  was a spiritual path as a Catholic and at that point,  Catholic traditions were very rooted in the Earth.

Like, we had blessings of the field, Rogation Days,  water blessings, I mean all of this.

So, that's been  very much part of my journey, as well as  justice.

I have a sister  who has Down's Syndrome, so I was an  advocate even in high school for her.

So, then from there, I,  you know, worked and then I joined the  Franciscan Sisters from Rochester, Minnesota  but I've always been out West here and so I'd say  that the spirituality of Saint  Francis and Saint Clare, where every creature,  every element, every person is brother or sister  or in our terms now, kin and kinship with all.

And so, I've always had a great love for everyone  and everything and dedicate my life to that.

And as time has gone on, I've had other people that  really influenced me spiritually like  Franciscan Sister Illia Delio and Pierre Teilhard  de Chardin and many of the mystics.

And the  Earth herself is a great teacher.

>> Laura Paskus: So,  let's talk about this Catholic idea of creation and stewardship, which I think you've been, not  grappling with, but grappling with a little bit.

>> Joan Brown: Yeah, you know, I think until  real recently, you know, we  talked about, and still do, about stewardship of  creation and I've come to really realize that this  relationship, being part of nature is reciprocal  and for me stewardship doesn't fit anymore  because it's kind of an over nature.

I'm going to  take care of the trees or I'm going to take care of,  but it's more mutual.

The trees are taking care of  me all the time.

I wouldn't be breathing,  sitting in this room if it weren't for them.

And so  to look at this relationship more mutually.

And Pope Francis in Laudato Si even says  that.

He says we are part of nature and the natural  world.

So, in my work with Interfaith Power  and Light, I try to help faith communities take  this jump from  separation to being one with everything.

>> Laura Paskus: Yeah, so, you mentioned Pope  Francis.

I'd like to take us back in time a little bit.

In 2015, he issued an encyclical letter focused  on the Earth, the economy, and social  justice.

On Care for Our Common Home is 120  pages long.

It's a slog but it's beautiful and it was an international call to action on climate change, economic justice, social justice.

Why did that  letter, which is essentially a book,  matter so much at that time?

>> Joan Brown: It was a call, an urgent call, for us  as human beings.

It wasn't just for Catholics;  it was for any person on the planet to see  themselves as part of the natural world.

To say,  we are in this crisis, and we have to do something  because we love this place that we live in and  it brings us life.

And it also is related to the  economy because in climate change, those  who have suffered the most from economic  inequity will suffer the most, as well as all  creation.

So, what it did is it opened up this  conversation in a new way.

And as you said,  it's very poetic and beautiful.

So, it's not a  condemnation.

It's a call to beauty and beauty to  action and love of this place we live in.

I think it was also very forthright in calling out  certain things.

Like, one of the terms I've used a  lot is throwaway culture.

We're living the  throwaway culture.

We as humans were called to  be more than just consumers and buying  things.

We're called to this relationship with one  another, with the Earth, this beauty, this awe, this  wonder, and this place that we love.

>> Laura Paskus: Since 2015 Pope Francis has  written like a follow-up.

Can you talk about that  and can you talk about what he describes as the  structural sin of climate change?

>> Joan Brown: Yeah, so, his document,  Laudate Deum, which came out in the fall of  last year, 2023, right before the UN climate  meeting last fall, was a sequel and in it, the  very beginning he said, you know, it's almost  10 years since we had Laudato Si and I am  very sad to say we haven't moved very  far.

We are in immediate crisis.

He quotes other documents, and he  says we are definitely in a moment of  structural sin, which means systemic things  and this particular document, which is  very easy to read and it's not 121 pages.

I  think it may be six or seven or something,  it's quite short.

But he  has a critique of technocratic society,  thinking that solutions to everything is going  to be technology.

And we're forgetting the  human element, the humanness and values.

And so it's a critique of that.

And I find it  very powerful and very helpful, and  actually have used it, in speaking at hearings.

And I was just in the Permian, and where  we go often to work with people down  there and um and used part of it in teaching  and a conversation actually with some  women living down there.

And in it, he speaks of promises made by  technology or by industries coming in  and saying 'Oh, we're going to have jobs and  you're going to have a better life and this is  going to be better for everybody.'

But they  never talk about the environmental  concerns, quality of life, the air, the water,  the soil, the health implications and what  that means for the future of children.

And in one piece, I was just kind of  startled when I read it again because he says  for example, look at nuclear waste: you're  promised jobs by taking it, all of this  and what does this mean for the future  and the human and your health and life?

And I was down the Permian when I read  that a second or third time and I thought,  'Oh my goodness, it sounds like he's  speaking about Holtec!'

But he wasn't,  but it was like just to say, it really fits what,  the critique and it's a hard critique.

And he's  making it to all of us and particularly, I  think, to certain industries and  technologies.

And just  to mention also, since Laudato Si, he has had  numerous meetings in the Vatican with oil  and gas CEOs and corporate executives,  talking about the ethical, moral  implications, doing the right thing,  collectively what is it that we need to do to  transition from this energy path that we've  been on that is leading us to, what in one  place in Laudato Si, and he calls it slavery,  he calls it slavery.

And that's part of what this  structural or institutional sin is.

It's  a collective.

It's not pointing fingers at any  one person or any one thing.

It's collective.

>> Laura Paskus: And maybe for people like  me, who grew up in the Catholic Church,  but have really struggled with the  Catholic Church's history on a number of  different issues.

You know, where, for  people who maybe don't have a faith  tradition or exploring their faith traditions,  where do people plug into a group like this?

Who do care deeply  about the environment and climate change?

>> Joan Brown: Well, we say that we work  with faith communities, which we do, and houses  of worship or anybody who is on a spiritual path.

And I think many people are and right now we're  really reaching out to young people and young  Adults, especially, who I think some are, they're  so brilliant and they're so creative in their care of  work with Earth and communities.

And  they're also on deep spiritual paths and they  need mentors or want to learn about some of the  mystics and to be engaged in prayer or  community together.

And so, we try to do that,  too.

So, we're open to anyone.

>> Laura Paskus: Well, Sister Joan, thank you  for being here with me today.

>> Joan Brown: Thank you very much, Laura.

It's just a, it's always a joy to be with you and so  appreciate your work.

And you do it with such  a soul and spirit and heart, thank you.

>> Laura Paskus: Thank you.

>> Laura Paskus: There is a lot we know about  climate change.

We know, for example, that  since the 1970s, New Mexico has warmed  three degrees Fahrenheit.

And will warm another  five to seven degrees in the coming decades.

Earlier this year, when the Our Land team met up with Paula Garcia, she mentioned how worried  she was after reading what's called the Leap  Ahead report.

Published in 2022, even before the  Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Fire, it takes a  fifty-year look ahead at the impacts of climate  change on New Mexico's waters.

Our next guest, Aaron Lowden from the Pueblo  of Acoma, also mentioned that report.

Reading it made him wonder if his nephew,  and his nephew's children, will play in the  ditches the same way he did growing up.

Or if they'll see corn and beans, squash and amaranth,  sunflowers, growing successfully in their  fields at Acoma.

In this next segment,  Lowden talks about how scary climate change is.

And he also talks about the work he and others  do to ensure that the people of Acoma survive in a  climate changed world.

>> Aaron Lowden: [words in Keres] Hello, everybody, my name is Aaron Lowden, I'm from Acoma Pueblo.

My  name is, my English name is Aaron Lowden  and my Acoma name is [word in Keres].

We're seeing just all these really big telltale  signs, you know, a lot of changes coming, and  even down to the rains, the inconsistency of the  rains.

Last year is the first year where there  was no monsoon and that was frightening.

I could  feel it, feel it in myself.

They always say that  when there's no rain, the land and animals get sick,  and I could feel it in I could feel it in my bones  like this almost sadness in the air, sadness in the  land and the animals.

Just [words in Keres],  the land is so dry.

>> Aaron Lowden: So as  far as climate change and adaptation, I really like  the term use the term more accurately fits is  climate chaos.

Mostly because of all the  inconsistencies and erratic patterns that we're  seeing in our weather and climate.

I even used the example of Mount Taylor, [word  in Keres], its namesake literally means snow cap  mountain.

And so with Kaweshtima, typically  you see, or in the past, especially in my mother  and grandfather's age, you would have seen  snow on there clear all the way until from the  start of winter usually like November, so all the  way up until May, early May.

And my grandpa  used to look to that mountain as the indicator  of when planting season was to begin.

At least the  time where they would be frost-free again and so  he would look to that mountain to see when all  the snow melted especially in the saddles  in between the, you know, the the peaks and  so he said you know it's that time again [word in  Keres] so it's it's a good time to to plant again.

And so my mother always reminded me of  that, they always look to that mountain to say, all  right, it's free from frost now we're okay to put  seeds in the ground.

>> Narrator: The  mountain shares many different signs.

A bare  peak in winter means no spring runoff for fields.

It means deer and elk will roam down from the  dry forest, seeking food from peoples fields.

It also means the threat of wildfire.

>> Aaron Lowden: You see, you don't see snow  up there even in February.

And so it's  pretty inconsistent, and it's scary really for us, that especially having to think of the, you know,  potential things that could happen, like forest  fires.

And knowing all the  compounding effects of forest fires, not only the  initial you know, fire itself and the threats to,  you know, everything around it, but knowing  that that landscape is not going to be able to  recover for generations.

That the the roots that  stabilize those soils aren't going to be there,  and that they're going to cause flooding and ash to  wash into certain areas, as well.

You know, you  look at what happened up north and northern  Mexico, New Mexico, and see all the things that  happened especially to the irrigation systems up  there and yeah, just it's scary knowing that those  will take generations for, you know, them to  recover.

>> Narrator: In these  uncertain times, Lowden draws upon knowledge  of the past; and he's inspired by his late uncle,  Ron Charlie, a seed keeper.

Lowden directs the Acoma Ancestral Lands  Seed Bank, which began as a program to connect  young people with farming.

>> Voice off-screen: Which ones are you most  excited about growing?

>> Aaron Lowden:  Honestly, these ones, just because, these ones, and  probably these ones.

This one right here, just  because I've never seen any one like this.

Like,  where'd you come from?

I didn't plant anything  like you!

It was all white seed when I got it, and  then it came out.

So, I think some of the  properties of this seed are still, because they  crossed a long time ago, you still find them pop  up every once in a while in the seed we still have  here.

>> Aaron Lowden: I  think the first couple years were hit or miss  and so once we actually got the practice down  and we to work through that we just realized we  need to save seed every year.

And then  eventually people saw us, you know, on the side of  the roads by the our fields and would  constantly honk at us and you know say a little hi  to us from the community.

And then people saw that we had seed and they  asked well do you have some for food or for any  other purposes for growing.

And so when  we started that seed bank it was just out of  necessity, really, just to a safe seed for the future  you know.

And so we realized this could be a  really good communal resource and that we  have the resources and the young people and the  people power to be able to cultivate a lot of these  varieties that, you know, aren't seen very often in  the community anymore.

>> Narrator: They also  rematriate seeds that were taken from Acoma.

Rematriation brings seeds home to their  original soils, waters, and caretakers.

>> Aaron Lowden: When we realized that  there was seed outside of the community that we  didn't have in our possession anymore, that  was taken out from either individual  collectors or nonprofits or and even LLCs,  businesses and then also even sometimes the  federal government, too, and so there's these  different repositories and seed banks all  throughout the country.

And so we seen some  that were very prominent and well-known and we  requested for our seed back so we can start  growing it, and thankfully,   a lot some of them started even  initiating rematriation policies, so that the  original caretakers can bring back that seed into  the community.

>> Narrator: For  generations, seeds were shared and traded across  tribes.

And they were saved and selected for  certain traits.

A corn that's easier to grind.

A  beautiful bean.

Squash more resilient to a pest.

Plants that can survive drought.

>> Aaron Lowden: Having different  varieties of seed and that work better in certain  conditions is really advantage for us, as we  deal with like impending climate change issues.

I  even, for example, I started requesting seed  from the Tohono O'odham from there and  seeds they store, for example, like the tepary  bean they have, and the 60-day corn.

So, corn around here typically grows at 120  days, but this one grows at half the time, so  imagine how advantageous that would  be to have a corn that is hasa smaller growing  season and can have a harvest in much, you  know, half the time really.

And then same with the teparies, those beans  have been cultivated um and were originally  domesticated in the Sonoran Desert and so  those seeds actually are, produce better in drought  conditions.

Having these seeds and  different types of seeds for all kinds of  conditions is really what's going to, you  know, sustain our traditional food system  here in the community and sustain our people  for future generations.

>> Narrator: Lowden's  ancestors didn't just harvest rainwater, they  prayed for it, they cared for it.

And these are  lessons that can carry the people of Acoma into the  future of a warming world.

>> Aaron Lowden: Look at our ancient ways of  harvesting rainwater and caretaking the rainwater.

The rain is a huge blessing and we forget  that.

But every single thing we do here is for  moisture, for rain, for the benefits of the [words in  Keres] for the people, land, animals, and plant life.

And it's all prayers for  continued life here so we can sustain all life here  and have, and that's the part of that symbiosis,  that mutualism that we have to the land, plants  and animals and waters, that we caretake them  and steward our lands and pray for them, pray  for the water, pray for the rain.

>> Laura Paskus: New Mexicans face real  dangers when it comes to climate change and  continued warming.

And they're intertwined with  so many of our other challenges as a state,  whether we're thinking about economic  diversification, agriculture,  homelessness, crime, or even public health.

Or even  wanting our children to stay in New Mexico as  adults... And of course, our water challenges are vast.

Our  forests are troubled.

Wildlife and ecosystems  suffer as it warms, all the  more when we put human needs first and  don't consider how we are harming the rest of  the beings we share this planet, this state, with.

Tonight's show  highlighted some of those challenges.

But I hope you'll also  think about joy and community and love.

We can all love this place, New Mexico, that  is our home.

Whether we've lived here since  time immemorial, for eight generations, or just  moved here recently.

And in loving our  changing homelands, we can exhibit respect and  reciprocity, and come together in community,  in all our diverse ways,  to adapt to a warming world.

Years ago, the writer Barry Lopez was in  Albuquerque on a book tour.

And as a journalist,  as a mother, as a New Mexican, I always,  always, think of something he said.

He  said that it is okay to be  in love with the world and to articulate that.

And so, at Our Land, with this, we articulate  our love of the world.

A world I know we can  adapt to, equitably, sustainably, and joyfully.

Thank you for watching.

>> Funding for New Mexico in Focus is  provided by Viewers Like You.