Down2Earth

Host Steve Sxwithul'txw travels to Manitoulin Island in eastern Canada to see how the Wikwemikong First Nation is training its youth to hunt sustainably. Then Steve heads to Porangahau on New Zealand's north island to learn how a Maori community harvests and cooks abalone. Down2Earth's ethnobotanist Leigh Joseph visits an estuary in Western Canada and learns about the Squamish Nation's rice root project.

Journey to Yellowknife to take part in a gathering of Indigenous youth who've come together to talk about the impact of global warming on their territories. Leigh Joseph meets Ta'Kaiya Blaney, an 11-year old environmentalist and singer. Then Leigh travels to the We Wai Kai Nation on Quadra Island in Western Canada where she meets Deb Thomas, a medicine woman who harvests and uses traditional plants.

Host Steve Sxwithul'txw travels to Ahipara, on the North Island of New Zealand where Rueben Taipari Porter shows him how to build sustainable mud houses. Down2Earth's ethnobotanist Leigh Joseph meets with Patricia Wilson on Quadra Island in Western Canada to learn about the We Wai Kai Nation's garden project.

Host Steve Sxwithul'txw travels to Manitoulin Island to learn how the M'Chigeeng First Nation became the first Aboriginal community in Canada to operate a wind-powered turbine. Then Steve heads to Tofino to visit the Tla-o-quiaht First Nation's Canoe Creek hydro-electricity project. Down2Earth's ethnobotanist, Leigh Joseph, travels to an island on the west coast of Canada to find out how the Songhees First Nation is mapping the plants in its territory.

Host Steve Sxwithul'txw travels to Manitoulin Island in eastern Canada to learn about Indigenous plants from Falcon Migwans of Great Spirit Circle Trail. Then Steve heads to Yellowknife to learn how the Metis and Dene gather and use medicinal plants at the Sacred Circle Project. Down2Earth's ethnobotanist, Leigh Joseph, visits Terry Point of the Musqueam First Nation to learn how his community restored the only remaining salmon stream in the city of Vancouver.

Travel to the Northwest Territories to learn how climate change is impacting the Indigenous way of life in the north. Steve visits Eli Enns, Saya Masso and Joe David of the Tlao-qui-aht Nation on Canada's West Coast to find out how this community is creating a Tribal Park in their traditional territory. Down2Earth's ethnobotanist Leigh Joseph visits Saanich on Vancouver Island where John Bradley Williams shows her how the Coast Salish people in the region harvest Indigenous plants and seafood.

Host Steve Sxwithul'txw travels to two Indigenous communities that own and operate eco-friendly cultural programs. His first stop is the Great Spirit Circle Trail on Manitoulin Island.. Then he visits the Waimarama Maori Tours on New Zealand's North Island. Down2earth's ethnobotanist Leigh Joseph travels to southern Vancouver Island to meet a group of youth who are learning about traditional plants at the Lekwungen community garden.

Host Steve Sxwithul'txw travels to Chilliwack to tour the Sto:lo Nation's award-winning sustainable office building.Then Steve meets a group of youth who operate the Seventh Generation Environmental Services company that monitor sfish and wildlife habitat in Sto:lo territory. Steve visits theWaimarama Maori Tours in New Zealand to learn how plants are used for Maori ceremonies, medicines and clothing.

Host Steve Sxwithul'txw travels to Raglan, New Zealand to meet a couple who operate a thriving organic produce farm that's based on Maori values and respect for the land. Down2Earth's ethnobotanist Leigh Joseph visits Gisele Martin on Meares Island in BC to learn about the traditional plants and wildlife in this old-growth rainforest.

Host Steve Sxwithul'txw heads to the Lower Kennedy River in Western Canada to tour a salmon hatchery that's owned and operated by the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation. Then Steve travels to Vancouver where he meets Inez Cook and Remi Cardron, the owners of Salmon and Bannock Restaurant. Down2Earth's Ethnobotanist Leigh Joseph takes a walkin the rainforest with John Rampanen and learns about traditional plants in Nuuchah-nulth territory.

Host Steve Sxwithul'txw travels to North Palmerston, New Zealand to tour a Maori-owned organic dairy farm and yogurt business. Then Leigh Joseph travels to Tofino, BC to meet John Rampanen and his wife Nitanis Desjarlais who have adapted their family's diet to include more Indigenous plants, meats and seafood. Down2Earth's ethnobotanist Leigh meets with Sechelt elder Jamie Dixon in his territory on Canada's west coast, to learn about the medicinal properties of Indigenous plants.

Host Leigh Joseph travels to the Sechelt Nation on Canada's west coast to learn how this community is training Indigenous people for careers in hydro-electricity and other green energy businesses. Then Leigh heads to the Sechelt Creek Hydro project where members of the community operate a run-of-river hydro-electricity plant and monitor a salmon spawning channel. She then meets with Randall Lewis, the environmental coordinator of the Squamish Nation, to find out how they saved their estuary from being turned into an industrial site.

Host Steve Sxwithul'txw travels to Lake Huron to meet Josephine Mandamin, the founder of Mother Earth Water Walk, an organization that raises awareness about the importance of water. Then host Leigh Joseph heads to Tofino in Western Canada to meet Gisele Martin, who operates Tlaook Cultural Adventures. We close out our second season with a profile of Ben Powless, a young Mohawk photographer and climate justice advocate who travels throughout the world recording stories about Indigenous peoples' efforts to preserve the natural environment