Guardians of Life
Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous Science, and Restoring the Planet
Both breathtaking and intimate, Kiliii Yuyan’s powerful photojournalism anthology Guardians of Life captures Indigenous-led efforts to reconnect people and the planet through traditional cultural practices.
Central is the concept of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), a broad term encompassing cultural and land management practices integral to Indigenous culture and lifestyle. The spectacular photographs showcase a diverse range of examples in various environments: the ceremony and harvest of bowhead whales at the northern tip of Alaska, vibrant underwater ecosystems in Palau, and controlled burns in Australia among them.
One centerfold image is an underwater scene: Against a dark blue backdrop, a bright red-orange school of tropical fish creates a swooping perimeter around a gray reef shark. The human subjects are often depicted at or below eye level in the book’s portraiture, though some images zoom wide to capture the surrounding land and environment. An exceptional aerial shot of an Iñupiat man in Alaska shows him standing in a heavy winter coat, arms outstretched, blessing the first harvested bowhead. The photograph communicates scale and reverence through contrast: white ice against cerulean water, the relative size and power of the human and the whale. Throughout, humans and animals are treated with equal gravitas, communicating partnership and appreciation.
Accompanying the photographs are short essays from award-winning authors Charles C. Mann and Gleb Raygorodetsky, in addition to vignettes from the Indigenous people featured, including Leaf Hillman, Lisa Morehead-Hillman, Erjen Khamaganova, and Tommy Remengesau Jr. The essays animate the photography with their firsthand accounts and narrative context, describing efforts to maintain or reintroduce TEK. They include remarkable success stories of cultural practices and people returning to the land.
Guardians of Life is a startling, wide-ranging collection of photographs focused on Indigenous peoples’ efforts to preserve culture and life on Earth.
Reviewed by
Mike Good
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
