FrOGS will be hosting a talk “Connecting the Arctic and The Great Swamp” by Moki Kokoris on Sunday, November 19, 3:00 – 5:00 pm at the Gardiner Theater at Trinity-Pawling School (700 Route 22, Pawling NY). Admission is free.
The talk will take us on an intriguing journey from the distant territories of polar bears to the local watershed of The Great Swamp. Please join us as we travel around the Arctic with our expert guide, Moki Kokoris, who will introduce us to the far-northern regions of our planet, and show us how all global systems and peoples are interconnected. While we will explore the phenomena of extreme cold, and learn about distinctive and charismatic animals who call the Arctic home, the main focus of this presentation will be on the indigenous cultures of the Circumpolar North. Through their shared traditional knowledge and deep respect for all life, the aboriginal peoples, be they Inuit, or Saami, or Nenets, possess an innate facility to adapt to shifting ecological conditions. Because they have lived in harmony with their surroundings for millennia, it is their perspective and philosophy that will prove critical in the approach to the environmental changes that lie ahead for the rest of us — as long as we are willing to listen, learn and appreciate the value and providence of their wisdom. The fundamental edict is that human beings are not distinct from’ nature, but are a part of it.
About our speaker: Moki Kokoris is the founder of “90-North,” a multidisciplinary outreach education program that focuses on topics relating to Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. She is also a UN representative for the World Federation of Ukrainian Women’s Organizations, past editor of The Polar Times magazine, participant of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and is the first woman of Ukrainian descent to reach the Geographic North Pole (April 2003).
