Dr. Lyla June specializes in the study of ancient sustainable food systems. She draws lessons from these practices and principles that can be applied to any global system today. As a Diné (Navajo) woman from Turtle Island (North America) and a graduate from top universities in the United States, she carries in-depth knowledge from both Indigenous and Western worldviews. She hybridizes the tools of Indigenous Science and Western Science to illuminate a path forward for global food systems, as well as for redefining out role as a species from a “ecological pest” to an invaluable gift, perfectly designed to care for and catalyze ecosystems health as so many past civilizations have proven is possible.
In addition to the specific practices of Indigenous Nations—from Clam Gardens, to regional-scale Chestnut groves, to tallgrass prairie management, to herbivore management—Dr. Lyla June also highlights the value of Indigenous Nations that are the real secret to their success. These value systems almost invariably revolve around the principles of humility, respect, reciprocity, reverence, regeneration, responsibility to homeland, kinship with life, and being a good ancestor. These things, she argues, are the elements of our inner landscapes that we must cultivate strongly before we ever have a chance at properly care for our outer landscapes.
Dr. Lyla June (Diné/Tsétsêhéstâhese) specializes in Indigenous Regenerative Ecosystem Design. Through the survey and study of hundreds of case studies of successful Indigenous food systems, she has developed an understanding of some of the physical and moral attributes of these land management strategies. She has traveled nationally and internationally lecturing on how humanity can learn and apply these lessons today. Lyla June graduated from Stanford University with honors with a degree in environmental anthropology. She also holds a masters degree in Indigenous Teaching Methods from the University of New Mexico. Lyla June also integrates the traditional teachings she grew up with to inform her perspectives and solutions. Her PhD research focused on the ways in which pre-colonial Indigenous Nations shaped large regions of Turtle Island (aka the Americas) to produce abundant food systems for humans and non-humans. She teaches alongside a beautiful network of guest speakers, elders, practitioners, and knowledge keepers.
How to cite: June, L.: Indigenous Food Systems and Human Beings as a Keystone Species, World Biodiversity Forum 2026, Davos, Switzerland, 14–19 Jun 2026, WBF2026-1044, https://doi.org/10.5194/wbf2026-1044, 2026.
