Thursday, March 27th

Discover the profound ability of music and movement to inspire resilience, healing, and transformation in this soulful workshop led by Rising Appalachia. Drawing from their acclaimed Folk Choir master class, sisters Leah and Chloe Smith invite you into an immersive exploration of how art and sound can hold space for beauty, hardship and disaster alike. This workshop weaves together community singing, storytelling, and embodied practices to tap into the universal language of music as a means of connection and catharsis. Learn how to use your voice as a tool for personal and collective empowerment, exploring melodies, harmonies, and movement rooted in folk traditions and global rhythms. Together, we will explore how music can be a balm in times of struggle, and a celebration in moments of Joy. 

March 27th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm

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Panelists


Rising Appalachia
Internationally Touring Folk Ensemble

This session invites participants to explore the concept of “Cultural Currency,” a framework for exchanging value that centers creativity, care, and collaboration over monetary returns. Through storytelling, group discussion and reflective prompts participants will identify ways their personal and professional practices can contribute to building a culture of reciprocity and shared humanity. Participants will leave with actionable ideas for fostering transformative relationships and projects that honor cultural and artistic sovereignty. Facilitated by Sol Guy, founder of Quiet.

March 27th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm

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Panelists


Sol Guy
Co-Founder
Quiet

Let’s get serious. Life is a carnival and people sure is strange. Human folly is bottomless, and in this moment of existential climate dread, laughter is good medicine. When the Empire has no clothes, it’s open season on paradigm-busting and retiring tired old archetypes. Join this irreverent circle of satirists directing gallows humor toward a habitable, glutton-free world. Stand-up for your rights… Hosted by Andrew Slack, actor/comedian and co-founder of the Harry Potter Alliance. With author, humorist, and climate activist Andrew Boyd; Staci Roberts-Steele, Managing Director of Yellow Dot Studios; another panelist TBA.

March 27th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm

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Panelists


Andrew Slack
Co-Founder
The Harry Potter Alliance
Andrew Boyd
Co-Founder and Chief Existential Officer
The Climate Clock
Staci Roberts-Steele
Managing Director
Yellow Dot Studios

Told through the eyes of Grammy-nominated DJ and marine biologist Jayda Guy and accompanied by a great musical score, Blue Carbon is an environmental feature documentary that spins music, science and an appreciation for world culture into a vibrant call to action to protect the planet. Blue carbon refers to coastal habitats—mangroves, salt marshes and sea grass—that soak up copious amounts of planet-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, while protecting coastal communities from rising seas and powerful storms. A clear-eyed look at what’s at stake that offers tangible solutions and hope that we can boost nature’s ability to heal itself, the film tracks Jayda’s quest to uncover blue carbon’s potential on a global adventure across six countries and five continents from Senegal to Colombia to Vietnam. 

Blue Carbon is a Make Waves and HHMI Tangled Bank Studios production directed by Emmy/BAFTA-winning filmmaker Nicolas Brown; executive-produced by a team including Sarah Macdonald and Sean B. Carroll; supported by Conservation International and other funders. (Running time: 84 minutes)

March 27th | 9:00 pm to 10:30 pm

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Friday, March 28th

Art in many forms is both a spiritual practice and survival skill for Indigenous peoples. Often described as a healing journey, Native people work through art practices to reconnect to ancestors and traditional knowledge, recover from intergenerational trauma, and find ways to support family and build economy in suppressed reservation living standards. In this intimate conversation, Joy Harjo and Cara Romero will discuss the creative process, inspirations and the importance of art and “artivism” in healing and resistance for Native peoples.

March 28th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm

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Panelists


Cara Romero
Program Director, Bioneers Indigeneity Program
Bioneers
Joy Harjo
U.S. Poet Laureate

Join us for an Intimate Concert with sisters Leah and Chloe (and the incredible cellist Duncan Wickel) for an evening of stripped down and unfinished songs…showcasing brand new unreleased songs, stories, and sounds from life after Hurricane Helene. 

NOTE: Access to this performance requires a separate registration from Bioneers attendance, with an additional ticket price of $45 in advance ($50 at the door, space permitting). This concert is open to the general public. Doors at 8:00pm.


Rising Appalachia, the brainchild of Atlanta-raised sisters Leah Song and Chloe Smith, rooted in the rich musical traditions of their family and region, is an internationally touring folk ensemble with a passionate global following. Eschewing industry norms, they have independently forged their own exemplary, deeply ethical, value-driven path for 16 years, producing seven albums and conducting tours around the world while simultaneously immersing themselves in community-building, cultural exchange programs, and music gathering and sharing everywhere they go. Their most recent album (their first of carefully curated cover songs) is: Folk & Anchor.

March 28th | 8:30 pm to 10:00 pm | Freight & Salvage

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Saturday, March 29th

As Native peoples, we have always told our stories to pass on knowledge of where we came from, our relationships with other beings, and how to live. Now we are at a time when more and more Native creators are representing ourselves within independent and mainstream media to critical acclaim. In addition to reaching broader inter-tribal audiences than ever before, we are also sharing our cultures and perspectives with non-Natives. These media have powerful impacts. By evoking emotional connections, these productions inspire viewers to take action in social and environmental justice movements. In this panel, we’ll hear from leaders in the industry who have paved the way for the surge of Indigenous media in our news, films and television. They will share: their journeys to breaking through gatekeepers in these industries; how they are supporting up and coming media makers; and their visions for the futures of Indigenous storytelling. Moderated by Paloma Flores. Panelists TBA.

March 29th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm

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Panelists


Paloma Flores
Founder and CEO
Paloma Flores Consulting Agency (PFCA)

Come explore the radical idea of “belonging without othering,” as espoused by the Othering and Belonging Institute’s Director, john a. powell, through simple movement and theater techniques, and guided conversation. This workshop offers participants a chance to explore personal and collective experiences of belonging, and to dream a world in which everyone belongs in the circle of human concern. Instructors: Sarah Crowell and Sangita Kumar, Co-Directors of The Belonging Resident Company, an ensemble of artists and facilitators dedicated to making the revolution of belonging irresistible.

March 29th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm

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Panelists


Sarah Crowell
Co-Director
The Belonging Resident Company
Sangita Kumar
Co-Director
Belonging Resident Company

These times call on all of us to become more resilient as individuals and communities. In this engaging, highly interactive “playshop,” we will explore a dozen or so simple practices to help us calm our nervous systems, energize our bodies, and open to new possibilities. The practices span breath, movement, expression, connection and self-discovery. We’ll leave with a toolkit to create our own personalized resiliency routines, as well as practices we can share with our families, friends and communities. With: transformational coach, advisor, and eco-artist, Laura Loescher.

March 29th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm

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Panelists


Laura Loescher
Transformational Coach, Philanthropic Advisor, and Eco-Artist

The recent book Worlds Within Us, conceived and pulled together by Katsi Cook, whose work as Director of the Spirit Aligned Leadership Program includes supporting Indigenous women elders in transferring their knowledge and experience to younger women, presents the stories and perspectives of eight extraordinary Indigenous women elders from across North America, each representing a distinct nation and carrying the wisdom and traditions of countless generations. In this session, we will get the extremely rare privilege of being present as some of the legendary contributors to this remarkable collection share their stories and ways of seeing. With: Tekatsi:tsia’kwa Katsi Cook (Wolf Clan, Mohawk Nation); Loretta Afraid of Bear Cook (Oglala Lakota); Sarah James (Neets’aii Gwich’in).

March 29th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm

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Panelists


Katsi Cook
Executive Director
Spirit Aligned Leadership Program
Loretta Afraid of Bear Cook
Teacher
Seven Sacred Ceremonies
Sarah James
Gwich’in Eco and Indigenous Rights Activist and Legacy Leader