Exploring Indigenous Understandings of our Ecological World – a DEI Presentation

This presentation will focus on helping the audience understand the worldviews common to Traditional Native spiritual and cultural relationships with the outdoor environment.  This workshop explores the differences between Western Science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge as they relate to building relationships with the plants, animals, waters, and lands where you live and work.

Presenter:  Annette Anderson, LCSW, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Supervisor with over 40 years providing counseling and consultation services. She received the first HEW Indian Child Welfare Training Grant at the University of Oklahoma School of Social Work and is a retired Adjunct Lecturer in the Early Childhood Disorders master’s program at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Ms. Anderson currently serves on the Council for the Indigenous Institute of the Americas. She is co-founder of the IIA Seed Ambassador and Food as Medicine initiatives, which engage urban Native children and families in their culture through Traditional ecological, geographical, and plant knowledge.  Ms. Anderson is also the  Chairperson for the most prominent two-day outdoor American Indian arts and culture event in North Texas, the IIACelebration (IIAC).

Since February 2020, Ms. Anderson has been working with other Native elders and educators, to complete the first American Indian and Native Studies High School Innovative Course ever developed or offered in Texas. In addition, she serves on the Native American Advisory Circle at Texas Christian University and collaborated on the first official university Land Acknowledgement for Texas Christian University in 2020 She is a descendant of the Chickasaw and Cherokee Nations.