Last Updated on April 10, 2025
Link TV’s Global Spirit program “Earth Wisdom for a World in Crisis,” explores the wisdom of indigenous peoples and their values and practices that have promoted heightened consciousness, spiritual harmony and a life in balance with nature. Filmed at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in 2009, host Phil Cousineau joins over 2000 representatives of native societies throughout the world attempting to get their voices heard on climate change and other critical environmental issues.
Synopsis
In recent years, more have become aware of the unique wisdom in the cosmologies and spiritual practices of indigenous societies. While this native wisdom has always been part of human existence, its teachings have remained outside so-called “formal” religions, leading to zealous missionary campaigns seeking to stamp out this “paganism” from the face of the earth. But with the dramatic increase in global warming, a thinning ozone layer and social alienation, many, including the United Nations, are realizing that native peoples may possess some critical keys to the very survival of our species and fragile ecosystems of the planet.
This Global Spirit program focuses on the wisdom of indigenous values and practices that have promoted heightened consciousness, spiritual harmony and a life in balance with nature. Host Phil Cousineau and the Global Spirit crew go to New York to film and interview renowned indigenous leaders and tribal representatives such as Chief Oren Lyons, Marcos Terena, Jake Swamp, Viktor Kaisiepo and Gloria Ushigua, joined by over 2000 others at a unique gathering of indigenous peoples from around the world at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
Director: Link TV
Producer: Link TV
Runtime: 54 min
Website: http://www.linktv.org/globalspirit/Wisdom
Film Hosted By: www.cultureunplugged.com/
To order a DVD copy of Earth Wisdom for a World in Crisis, visit http://cemproductions.org/store.html#GS
Across the world right now, Indigenous peoples are facing a renewed assault on their lands, rights, and ways of life.
From extractive industries pushing deeper into ancestral territories, to governments rolling back hard-won protections,
the threat is global—and it is growing.
What makes this moment especially dangerous is how little attention it receives.
Stories like this are disappearing in real time. Mainstream media
barely covers it and the coverage is fragmented. The public is left without the context
needed to understand what is truly at stake.
That is exactly why IC Magazine exists..
For more than 20 years, IC has reported on Indigenous struggles worldwide — consistently, independently, and without compromise.
We don’t follow news cycles; we trace patterns. We don’t sensationalize; we provide context.
And when the world looks away, we stay focused.
But this work is increasingly difficult to sustain.
We refuse to lock our reporting behind a paywall. We don’t sell access through subscriptions.
And we don’t answer to advertisers. IC Magazine survives solely because readers like you choose to
support independent Indigenous journalism.
Please donate today if you can. Every contribution helps us to continue this crucial work.
Thank you,
John Ahni Schertow
Founder and Editor in Chief
