Gifts in the Soil
L A N D
a mixtape about land, legacy, and liberation.
The land has always given freely: shelter, beauty, breath…
… all without a grant application.
These episodes ask what it means to return the gift, to be in true kinship with land and those who’ve always known how to listen—even as extraction accelerates and climate collapse looms.
Landback, mutuality, rematriation, Indigenous wisdom,
stewardship, systems thinking, climate crisis
To Sit With While You Listen
There’s wisdom
buried in the soil.
These questions are here to guide your steps—before, during, and after listening. Let them ground you in the work ahead, shake loose what’s ready to move, and help you find your role in the return.
1. Kinship is a Practice.
How do you relate to the land beneath your feet? As kin or as commodity? Who shaped that view? Who could help reshape it?
2. Hoarding Isn’t Always Obvious.
You may not hold a deed, but how does your institution benefit from landholding, endowments, extractive portfolios, or real estate deals? What would it take to name that?
3. Make the Return Personal.
What does Landback mean to you—not in theory, but in practice? Does it unsettle you? Excite you? Where does that feeling live in your body? What can you give up, give back, or give over…today?
Track List
Gifts in the Soil
A curated playlist of episodes that dig into land, legacy, and liberation. Scroll for more.
Why the Land as a Gift?
How We Got Here
The Land Within the System
The hills and hollers of Appalachia stand as a testament to the resilience that comes when you respect the land and its natural processes. A place rooted in love and mutuality, decimated by land extraction and labor exploitation—let’s learn alongside the artists and culture bearers who are guiding us into a brighter future.
Why the Land
as a Gift?
EP05 | Appalachian Futurism
“It's inherently powerful to allow people access to their homelands.
I know that something I dreamed about for a long time was like, What would it be like to have the permission to take care of my homeland? And people used to tell me, like, you shouldn't have to ask for permission. But the sad reality is that many people do have to ask for permission, I believe I was born for this place and it's my obligation to care for it. But it was always this wild dream."
- Tiffany P., Appalachian Rekindling Project
In order to really appreciate the gift of the land, we must understand the harsh history of how we’ve disrespected it and its original people for hundreds of years. This ties directly with the rise of American philanthropy and the oppressive values it still upholds.
How We
Got Here
EP01 | Decolonize Philanthropy
“Indigenous ecological knowledge and indigenous languages comes from our being in nature.
It comes from watching what happens in nature. And we use that to inform our decisions to not take more from the Earth than we need to not engage in extraction, but to engage in regeneration."
- Nick Tilsen, NDN Collective
Understanding our place within this larger system requires us to be in right relationship with the great provider of life and abundance. Indigenous leaders and culture bearers show us the way with love and joy.
The Land
Within the System
EP04 | Systems Change Right Now
“It's about consent, our no being enough, our yes being respected.
And so it's it comes down to that the fundamental respect for humanity, fundamental respect for land, all things that have been stripped from every single indigenous community."
- Hāwane Rios, Mauna Kea Education and Awareness
