@audubonsociety

On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Bradford Kasberg, wetland restoration manager with @audubongreatlakes, reflects on the importance of telling Chicago’s true story—one that is centered around this region’s past and its original inhabitants—to help create a more sustainable future. As a citizen of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, a people who call Chicago their homeland, Bradford tells his tribe’s story through his work with the birds dear to his heart. ⁠ ⁠ Today, Bradford carries on the tradition of his ancestors, who helped to steward the wetlands and the birds that lived in them. He uses fire and other tools to restore biodiversity in the same wetlands they managed, which today are threatened by invasive species, pollution, habitat loss, and climate change. The birds Bradford sees in his daily work also remind him of the stories his community shares about them and the role birds play in Indigenous knowledge, including his tribe’s lunar calendar. ⁠ ⁠ “Seeing šinkiphsa, or American Coot, year after year may not be so exciting to some birders. But whenever I encounter one, I think of the role they play in one of my favorite stories of my tribe, and the resilience it took for my ancestors to pass these stories on to future generations,” says Bradford. “A relationship with familiar birds is important to Indigenous communities. It’s proof of our connection to the land.”⁠ ⁠ Click the link in our bio to read Bradford’s full story. ⁠ ⁠ 📷: Frankie Pedersen

Happy #WorldMigratoryBirdDay! We’re celebrating the remarkable migration of the Arctic Tern—like this one that Melissa photographed in Richmond, British Columbia. This bird will migrate from the high Arctic all the way down to the Antarctic, traveling around 25,000 miles every year. ⁠ ⁠ Many thanks to Melissa Hafting (@bcbirdergirl) for this week’s #AudubonTakeover. ⁠

A native of New Orleans, Charles Allen III (@charlesedwardallen), community engagement director with @audubonlouisiana, has spent the past 20 years working in the environmental field. But throughout his career, he’s wondered why there aren’t more people who look like him.⁠ ⁠ Too often, communities of color have been left out of the conversation, despite being hit hardest by environmental issues. Charles feels that it’s critical to become more diverse and inclusive. “The environmental movement should indeed reflect the communities it serves.”⁠ ⁠ Charles’s work focuses on building credibility with communities of color, and engaging them on issues like wetlands restoration in their backyards, so they know about the benefits and have a voice to ask questions and share their concerns about projects that will impact their lives.⁠ ⁠ Being an alumnus of Xavier University, an HBCU (historically black colleges and universities) in New Orleans, Charles is also working to expand the Audubon on Campus program to more HBCUs, as a means to enhance the academic experience while helping students possibly chart their paths to more environmentally-focused careers.⁠ ⁠ “Bringing environmental content and programming to campus allows students to see themselves in this work and see themselves making conservation a career,” says Charles. “Whether you live in an urban or rural community, our environment ought to shape how we vote, how we live, how we conserve. It’s our common ground and it behooves us to do right by it.”⁠ ⁠ Read Charles’s full interview with the Walton Family Foundation (@waltonfamilyfdn) via the link in our bio.⁠ ⁠ 📷: Josh Brasted (@jbrasted)