Nia Tero Annual Report 2023 ENGLISH Single pages - Flipbook - Page 40
WAYFINDERS CIRCLE
Impact
Highlights
The Wayfinders Circle took critical steps throughout 2023,
enhancing its alliances and sociocultural representation
while strengthening its purpose and expanding its resources.
We also made a vital shift as we continued the transition from virtual to
face-to-face member gatherings, creating space for members to deepen
relationships and intercultural sharing. The engagements throughout the
year brought the Wayfinders Circle forward in its goal for members to
ultimately take the lead in organizing and governing the network in the
years to come as it continues to expand.
Expanded Membership
Member Gathering
In October of 2023, The Wayfinders Circle
reached a milestone – expanding to 15
members globally, as the Ju/’hoansi
(Nyae Nyae Conservancy and Community
Forest) from Namibia joined the alliance.
Following the first in-person all-member
gathering in Ecuador in October 2022,
several members of the Wayfinders Circle
were able to meet in August 2023 during a
regional gathering hosted by the Blackfoot
Confederacy. This gathering took place during
a very special moment with the protection
and blessing from the high mountains of the
Blackfeet Territory, in Montana, USA, providing
the opportunity for participants to engage
in cultural activities and knowledge exchange.
With this, the Wayfinders Circle achieved
its goal of increasing diversity and
representation across all seven socio-cultural
regions of the world: 1) Africa, 2) Arctic,
3) Asia, 4) Central, South America, and
the Caribbean, 5) Eastern Europe, Russia,
Central Asia, the Caucasus, 6) North America,
7) Pacific.
This diversity also spans across geographies,
ecosystems, and governance systems –
strengthening the possibilities for sharing
and learning between members. We also saw
the impact of this exchange as the Hin Lad
Nai from Thailand and the Lhoba from Nepal
– who joined in 2022 – became increasingly
active in their membership throughout 2023.
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Nia Tero Annual Report 2023
The gathering offered a chance for the
Wayfinders Circle members in attendance
to learn more about the culture and peoples
of the Blackfoot Confederacy, their ancestral
buffalo management practices, their
ceremonies and spirituality, strategies for
intergenerational transmission of knowledge,
language preservation, and the challenges
they face. Attendees also spent time with eight
members of the WUISP, who traveled many
days from their homelands in Asia to be there
in body, mind, and spirit.
