Great simplification pulsing lines

Ep 133  |  Casey Camp-Horinek

Casey Camp-Horinek: “Indigenous Wisdom: Resilience, Adaptation, and Seeing Nature as Ourselves”

Check out this podcast

TGS133 Casey Camp-Horinek The Great Simplification

Show Summary

As we move through difficult cultural transitions and rethink our governance systems, it will be critical that we listen to voices that are rooted beyond the conventional Western thinking that has come to dominate our society. As such, it is always an honor when Indigenous leaders share their experiences and wisdom with the broader public.

This week, Casey Camp-Horinek of the Ponca Nation joins Nate to recount her decades of work in Indigenous and environmental activism. Her stories shed light on the often-overlooked struggles and tragedies faced by Indigenous communities in their efforts to restore and safeguard their homelands. Casey also shares her current work advocating for The Rights of Nature – which legalizes the same rights of personhood to Earth’s ecosystems – of which the Ponca Nation was the first tribe in the US to implement. 

How is the treatment of Indigenous people under the United States government reflective of the exploitative relationship between industrial systems and the Earth? What is ‘Post-Traumatic Growth’ and how could it assist in healing the deeper cultural wounds obstructing genuine dialogue and change? Could aligning our current laws with the laws of nature – followed by every other species – result in a more sustainable, interconnected, and thriving humanity?

About Casey Camp-Horinek

Casey Camp-Horinek, Councilwoman and Hereditary Drumkeeper of the Women’s Scalp Dance Society of the Ponca Nation of Oklahoma, is a longtime activist, environmentalist, actress, and published author. First taking up the cause of Native and Human Rights in the early ’70s, it has been in the last 15 years that she began her plea for Environmental Justice for her Ponca people and people around the globe. Casey has identified and diligently worked to remediate the corridor of toxic industry surrounding the historic lands of the Ponca people.

Because of Casey’s work, the Ponca Nation is the first Tribe in the State of Oklahoma to adopt the Rights of Nature Statute, and to pass a moratorium on fracking on Tribal Lands. Casey was also instrumental in the drafting and adoption of the first ever International Indigenous Women’s Treaty protecting the Rights of Nature. Casey is a board member for Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network, Movement Rights, as well as Earthworks. Casey Camp-Horinek has also been a film actor since 1988, starring in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Winter in the Blood, Barking Water and Goodnight Irene.

In French, we have a motto that says that a simple drawing is often better than a long explanation. Jean-Marc Jancovici Carbone 4 President

That’s very understandable because with left atmosphere thinking, one of the problems is that you see everything as a series of problems that must have solutions. Iain McGilchrist Neuroscientist and Philosopher

We can’t have hundreds and hundreds of real relationships that are healthy because that requires time and effort and full attention and awareness of being in real relationship and conversation with the other human. Nate Hagens Director of ISEOF

This is the crux of the whole problem. Individual parts of nature are more valuable than the biocomplexity of nature. Thomas Crowther Founder Restor

Show Notes & Links to Learn More

00:00 – Casey Camp-Horinek Works + Info, Rights of Nature

01:06 – Ponca People, Nebraska and Oklahoma

01:47 – Ponca adoption of the Rights of Nature

03:13 – Bioneers

08:06 – Doctrine of discovery, US colonization, Boarding school system

08:54 – Nebraska indigenous forced removal

09:23 – Stockholm Syndrome

10:33 – American Indian Movement, Civil Rights Movement

11:58 – Forced sterilizations among indigenous women

12:45 – Indigenous Marches on Washington, Trail of Broken Treaties

12:59 – Battle at Wounded Knee 1973

14:26 – Watergate

24:19 – Environmental degradation in Ponca Territory, Conoco’s Phillips 66

14:56 – Office of Indian Affairs developed under the Department of War, now under the Department of the Interior

26:06 – Mortality during forced migration of indigenous people

27:04 – Ponca Treaties, Ponca land theft for petroleum and waste dumping

28:14 – Navajo people, Nuclear Waste

30:58 – Standing Rock

31:45 – Non-violent direct action

34:27 – The Cultural Transformation of a Native American Family and Its Tribe: 1763-1995, a Basket of Apples

38:07 – Behavior modification

40:35 – Science and indigenous teachings

43:22 – Kenny Ausubel, Shannon Biggs

50:02 – The hundredth Monkey study

55:06 – Post-traumatic Growth, Anitra Warrior

55:25 – Missing and murdered indigenous women

1:02:18 – The importance of ritual

1:06:04 – International Rights of Rivers, Ponca adoption

1:06:43 – Osprey Orielle Lake, Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network

1:07:59 – Freedom of Religion Act

1:06:43 – Ecuador Rights of Nature, Whanganui River, The Māori People

1:12:01 – Water pollution from fracking and mining

1:14:21 – Pella Thiel, TGS Episode

1:14:42 – Nina Simons, TGS Episode, Iroquois questioning absence of women decision-makers/slavery in colonial governing

1:26:09 – Civil Disobedience 

1:29:44 – 7th Generation Philosophy

Download transcript
Back to episodes
The Myths Shaping Our EconomiesWith Josh FarleyThe Great SimplificationEp 185 | Josh Farley

Economic theory has come to wield outsized influence over our societal goals, decisions, and policies – often relying on models that claim to optimize how human systems function. Yet the outcomes of our modern economic structures tell a different story: accelerating ecological collapse, widening inequality, declining public health, and increasing social disconnection. What if the foundational principles of mainstream economics are actually built on false assumptions that obscure the realities of our world? 

Watch nowJul 16, 2025
Algorithmic CancerWith Connor LeahyThe Great SimplificationEp 184 | Connor Leahy

Recently, the risks about Artificial Intelligence and the need for ‘alignment’ have been flooding our cultural discourse – with Artificial Super Intelligence acting as both the most promising goal and most pressing threat. But amid the moral debate, there’s been surprisingly little attention paid to a basic question: do we even have the technical capability to guide where any of this is headed? And if not, should we slow the pace of innovation until we better understand how these complex systems actually work?

Watch nowJun 25, 2025
Rod SchoonoverThe National Security Risks We’re Not Prepared ForWith Rod SchoonoverThe Great SimplificationEp 183 | Rod Schoonover

National security concerns have been the invisible hand guiding governance throughout recorded history. In the 20th century, it was defined by a country versus country dynamic: whichever nation was the strongest and most strategic was also the safest. But today, our biggest national security threats don’t come from opposing nations – they are “actorless threats” that emerge from the breakdown of the complex systems we all depend on – from the stability of our planetary systems to our intricately complex and fragile global supply chains. In this unprecedented landscape, what is required of us in order to keep our citizens safe?

Watch nowJun 18, 2025

Subscribe to our Substack

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

The Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future (ISEOF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, founded in 2008, that conducts research and educates the public about energy issues and their impact on society.

Support our work
Get in touch
x