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Healing the Land Teaches Us Who We Are: How Indigenous Cultural Resistance Can Restore the Earth, Recover Community, and Create Sustainable Futures
Rooted in Indigenous wisdom and a four-element framework, this book invites readers to rediscover and re-embody the truth that caring for ourselves and caring for the living Earth are one and the same.
Global knowledge, personal stories, and natural science for repairing environmental harm, restoring biodiversity, and rekindling cultural-ecological bonds—for readers of The Serviceberry and Fresh Banana Leaves
Healing the Land Teaches Us Who We Are helps us reconnect to the innate, embodied wisdom that many of us in modern Western society have abandoned—or been forced to forget.
Maceo Carrillo Martinet, PhD, builds on the work of Indigenous scholars like Robin Wall Kimmerer and Jessica Hernandez to share how not only are climate solutions still possible, they already exist—and they’re being practiced by communities around the world. Explicitly decolonial, this book offers a framework rooted in reciprocity, resistance, and kinship with the living Earth, and is built around four life-giving
How ancient Indigenous water-harvesting technologies, like the Pueblo peoples’ arid-garden systems, Peru’s siembra y cosecha de agua, and women-led practices, are vital for sustaining water, land, and community—and are essential for climate resilience How successful community land stewardship—like Mexico’s ejidos, Maghrebian agdal, and Southeast Asian rotational farming—continue to support ecological health and human life in spite of colonial desecration How “Indigenous fire”—frequent, low-intensity burns rooted in deep cultural relationship—functions as a crucial medicine for restoring forest health, preventing wildfires, and sustaining cultural and environmental resilience The profound connection between linguistic diversity and biodiversity—and how language can be weaponized to colonize and erase or nurtured to heal and awakenCombining the four How enduring human and ecological systems are built upon the interconnectedness of collective action, cultural appreciation, and diverse, restorative relationships with the natural world
Martinet anchors his survey of Indigenous Earth-based practices in the foundational nature of Indigenous science, sharing how they represent sophisticated systems of engineering, science, and philosophy actively destroyed and suppressed by colonial powers. These restoration efforts invite readers not only to learn but to participate—to re-member, practice, and defend the Indigenous ways of knowing, sustaining, and resisting that are vital to our collective future.
Global knowledge, personal stories, and natural science for repairing environmental harm, restoring biodiversity, and rekindling cultural-ecological bonds—for readers of The Serviceberry and Fresh Banana Leaves
Healing the Land Teaches Us Who We Are helps us reconnect to the innate, embodied wisdom that many of us in modern Western society have abandoned—or been forced to forget.
Maceo Carrillo Martinet, PhD, builds on the work of Indigenous scholars like Robin Wall Kimmerer and Jessica Hernandez to share how not only are climate solutions still possible, they already exist—and they’re being practiced by communities around the world. Explicitly decolonial, this book offers a framework rooted in reciprocity, resistance, and kinship with the living Earth, and is built around four life-giving
How ancient Indigenous water-harvesting technologies, like the Pueblo peoples’ arid-garden systems, Peru’s siembra y cosecha de agua, and women-led practices, are vital for sustaining water, land, and community—and are essential for climate resilience How successful community land stewardship—like Mexico’s ejidos, Maghrebian agdal, and Southeast Asian rotational farming—continue to support ecological health and human life in spite of colonial desecration How “Indigenous fire”—frequent, low-intensity burns rooted in deep cultural relationship—functions as a crucial medicine for restoring forest health, preventing wildfires, and sustaining cultural and environmental resilience The profound connection between linguistic diversity and biodiversity—and how language can be weaponized to colonize and erase or nurtured to heal and awakenCombining the four How enduring human and ecological systems are built upon the interconnectedness of collective action, cultural appreciation, and diverse, restorative relationships with the natural world
Martinet anchors his survey of Indigenous Earth-based practices in the foundational nature of Indigenous science, sharing how they represent sophisticated systems of engineering, science, and philosophy actively destroyed and suppressed by colonial powers. These restoration efforts invite readers not only to learn but to participate—to re-member, practice, and defend the Indigenous ways of knowing, sustaining, and resisting that are vital to our collective future.
- GenresNonfiction
276 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 9, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 23, 2026
I only made it about 75 pages into this book before I tapped out. I could take it no more. From what I had seen so far, the primary idea in this book is that we need to forget all about the last 2000+ years of science and learning and experience and instead go back to interacting with our environment the way Native Americans, or rather indigenous people, did. Sorry for being so culturally offensive.
It is not this idea itself that caused me to DNF. Although wrong, it can come from a good heart and can also be useful in moderation. Even though it might not be as effective, studying and learning how low-tech, low-population groups with fewer resources long ago dealt with certain environmental issues is a great way for societies and governments to become better in this area. Studying how they solved a problem might spark ideas for similar modern adaptations that might be a fraction of the cost and a much smaller footprint than how we are currently dealing with the issue. So it is worth examining.
What caused me to DNF was the ridiculously high level of fragility and bias I saw in this Martinet. In the short amount I read, he had already related two traumatic experiences he had as a child. On one of them, he was riding on the public bus with his father to Mexico City. On this ride he saw a white man in a cowboy hat say something derogitory against an indigenous Mexican woman. He then went on for pages about how traumatic seeing this was for him. The second story happened when he was at a church in the 90's with his dad talking with some archaeologists who were excavating a nearby hill. He was shocked and surprised to learn that this hill he had seen so many times was actually, underneath, an ancient religious site. He then waxed poetic about how centuries of fear and repression helped bury what was once a beautiful religion, until now all that is left to be seen is the white man's church.
I'm out.
It is not this idea itself that caused me to DNF. Although wrong, it can come from a good heart and can also be useful in moderation. Even though it might not be as effective, studying and learning how low-tech, low-population groups with fewer resources long ago dealt with certain environmental issues is a great way for societies and governments to become better in this area. Studying how they solved a problem might spark ideas for similar modern adaptations that might be a fraction of the cost and a much smaller footprint than how we are currently dealing with the issue. So it is worth examining.
What caused me to DNF was the ridiculously high level of fragility and bias I saw in this Martinet. In the short amount I read, he had already related two traumatic experiences he had as a child. On one of them, he was riding on the public bus with his father to Mexico City. On this ride he saw a white man in a cowboy hat say something derogitory against an indigenous Mexican woman. He then went on for pages about how traumatic seeing this was for him. The second story happened when he was at a church in the 90's with his dad talking with some archaeologists who were excavating a nearby hill. He was shocked and surprised to learn that this hill he had seen so many times was actually, underneath, an ancient religious site. He then waxed poetic about how centuries of fear and repression helped bury what was once a beautiful religion, until now all that is left to be seen is the white man's church.
I'm out.
April 29, 2026
The elements, the earth, and the mother are sending distress signals and warning of the implications of colonialism and racism. Maceo Carrillo Martinet wastes no time digging the trenches of the roots that harm the human capabilities to connect with the land. They structure this book by each element and expand into the depths of how this aspect of connecting to the land is rooted in ancestral practice and cultural freedom. It all boils down to systemic racism and the how and why racism is continually the downfall of the spirit that disconnects us from the land.
Connecting with ourselves, our culture, and our language is how we cope as a society to heal each other and our land. There is so much loss of our cultures because of the way racism perpetuates this otherness and stern hate against those who stray from the path of whiteness. This is well written with a breadth of analysis that really looks at the ways we can find the way back to our land through cultural connections. The connections we severed are directly correlated to the way culture has been banned and shunned in the current situation.
They are also discussing how we can learn from indigenous voices and to stop ignoring indigenous voices. Each chapter highlights the way natural disasters and messages from the earth are being ignored as society continues to fall apart due to racism. To go against the grain and use our voices helps us reconnect to our cultures. Reconnecting with the land is how society begins to heal and create something flourishing over damaging. A beautiful and stunning read to learn from and think about further! Thank you Maceo Carrillo Martinet, North Atlantic books, and Netgalley for this advanced digital copy.
For tarot readings, recommendations, and reviews, check out my blog https://brujerialibrary.wordpress.com/
Connecting with ourselves, our culture, and our language is how we cope as a society to heal each other and our land. There is so much loss of our cultures because of the way racism perpetuates this otherness and stern hate against those who stray from the path of whiteness. This is well written with a breadth of analysis that really looks at the ways we can find the way back to our land through cultural connections. The connections we severed are directly correlated to the way culture has been banned and shunned in the current situation.
They are also discussing how we can learn from indigenous voices and to stop ignoring indigenous voices. Each chapter highlights the way natural disasters and messages from the earth are being ignored as society continues to fall apart due to racism. To go against the grain and use our voices helps us reconnect to our cultures. Reconnecting with the land is how society begins to heal and create something flourishing over damaging. A beautiful and stunning read to learn from and think about further! Thank you Maceo Carrillo Martinet, North Atlantic books, and Netgalley for this advanced digital copy.
For tarot readings, recommendations, and reviews, check out my blog https://brujerialibrary.wordpress.com/
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Dr. Maceo Carrillo Martinet offers one of the most hopeful and challenging works I've had the pleasure to counter about how humanity as a whole will need to face the climate crisis. Like many of us, I find the reality of how our world is changing in response to human action anxiety producing and at times overwhelming. This is only made more intense when I have to have these conversations with my students in my biology classes. The human impact unit and content woven throughout units is, to put it mildly, grim, and only reinforced students' perceptions about humanity's remove from nature. I have definitely encountered more than one 'I hate people' as part of the discussion, which only deepens the despair.
Healing the Land Teaches Us Who We Are offers an incredible remedy to that and also offers beautiful opportunities for me to help offer mirrors back to students of the value and brilliance of Indigenous knowledge throughout the world. There is also something delightful and deeply pragmatic about challenging the concept of shared natural reserves as museums rather than places where relationships with the land and foods systems can be actively built and maintained. By arguing and providing extensive evidence that indigenous people the world over have developed co-evolved relationships with their local environments that help manage and sustain the environment, we are reminded that humanity is part of greater systems and does not have to be a blight on them.
The writing can, at times, be a little academic, but the anecdotes are not and the point of view is priceless. I cannot wait to share the lessons of this book with my students and colleagues in a hope to add to the networks of diverse support that he calls for as part of our own healing and rescue.
Thank you to NetGalley and North Atlantic Books for the ARC of this book.
Healing the Land Teaches Us Who We Are offers an incredible remedy to that and also offers beautiful opportunities for me to help offer mirrors back to students of the value and brilliance of Indigenous knowledge throughout the world. There is also something delightful and deeply pragmatic about challenging the concept of shared natural reserves as museums rather than places where relationships with the land and foods systems can be actively built and maintained. By arguing and providing extensive evidence that indigenous people the world over have developed co-evolved relationships with their local environments that help manage and sustain the environment, we are reminded that humanity is part of greater systems and does not have to be a blight on them.
The writing can, at times, be a little academic, but the anecdotes are not and the point of view is priceless. I cannot wait to share the lessons of this book with my students and colleagues in a hope to add to the networks of diverse support that he calls for as part of our own healing and rescue.
Thank you to NetGalley and North Atlantic Books for the ARC of this book.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I desperately wanted to like this book. I saw the title and was so excited. I loved "Braiding Sweetgrass" and hoped this would provide similar content - sharing history but also providing actionable steps for modern readers to begin to institute indigenous practices. Unfortunately the text did not do this.
I did only read the first section - water so perhaps it gets clearer as it continues. What I found is "Healing the Land Teaches Us Who We Are" is part history, part memoir. I found the section on water was mostly all over the place. There didn't seem to be a consistent trajectory.
Perhaps this text will work better for climate scholars or even indigenous scholars, but as a layperson I struggled and did not find much I could glean.
I did only read the first section - water so perhaps it gets clearer as it continues. What I found is "Healing the Land Teaches Us Who We Are" is part history, part memoir. I found the section on water was mostly all over the place. There didn't seem to be a consistent trajectory.
Perhaps this text will work better for climate scholars or even indigenous scholars, but as a layperson I struggled and did not find much I could glean.
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June 24, 2026Alright team, I tried my best to read this and clawed my way to 50% and then remembered I have free will and don’t have to read this.
I don’t think I’m the primary audience or maybe I am in a different format. I love the concept and I really did learn interesting information, but it was presented in such a slow moving way that just didn’t work for me.
I don’t think I’m the primary audience or maybe I am in a different format. I love the concept and I really did learn interesting information, but it was presented in such a slow moving way that just didn’t work for me.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews