M.P. Mathai

Mathai is a Professor at Gujarat Vidyapith, the university founded by Gandhi in Ahmedabad, India. He is former Dean of Gandhi Research Foundation and former Professor and Director at the School of Gandhian Thought and Development Studies, M.G. University, Kerala, India. He is author of Gandhi’s Worldview and an editor of Gandhi Marg. Mathai is a well-known speaker in the East and the West, and he recently spoke at the signing of a peace pledge between some 400 members of rival gangs in Monterrey, Mexico.

Darlene Pipeboy

Darlene is a Dakota elder, pipe keeper, and sun dancer. She is also a gardener. She is a former Instructor at the Institute for Dakota Studies, Sisseton Wahpeton Community College. Darlene is steeped in Dakota philosophy, culture, language, history, and environment. Her work emphasizes the importance of oicimani (relationship) and the contribution that Dakota culture makes to life on this planet.

Edward Valandra

Edward Charles Valandra is Sicangu Titunwan/Oceti Sakowin Oyate who was born and raised in his homeland, the Great Sioux Reservation. He received his BA from Minnesota State University - Mankato, his MA from the University of Colorado-Boulder, and his PhD from State University of New York-Buffalo. Dr. Valandra has been involved in Native affairs, having served one four-year term as a legislator in his nation’s governing body, was his nation’s representative on the Inter-Tribal Bison Cooperative (ITBC) board of directors, and he also served on his nation’s seven-member Constitutional Task Force.

Edward is the founder of the Community for the Advancement of Native Studies (CANS). His organization promotes the application of research and study for all aspects of liberation and sovereignty with respect to Native Country and his research focus is the national revitalization of the Oceti Sakowin Oyate, the disciplinary development of Native Studies, and the development and use of community-based participatory research in Native communities.

Edward is also the Native Studies senior editor for the Living Justice Press, a small non-profit publisher specializing in restorative justice and harms between peoples. He is the author of Not Without Our Consent: Lakota Resistance to Termination, 1950-1959 and he continues to publish on matters promoting Native sovereignty and restorative justice. Dr. Valandra’s current role is the Academic and Professional Development Studies Dean at Saint Francis Indian School.