The Northern Arizona Book Festival presents an interdisciplinary panel on ecological imperialism and extractivism in the U.S. In a time of climate change and geopolitical pressure on resources, four panelists will exchange their critical and creative research, their activism, their art, their experiences and knowledge, surrounding the dynamics and impacts of oil extraction, uranium mining, and water use in the Southwest.

With Andrew Curley, Nicole Horseherder, Mallery Quetawki, and Peter Frederici

Andrew Curley is a member of the Navajo Nation and an assistant professor in the School of Geography, Development & Environment at the University of Arizona.
Nicole is Executive Director of community organization To Nizhoni Ani (TNA). TNA works to bring power back to Black Mesa communities impacted by coal mining. Nicole is Diné and resides on Black Mesa near Forest Lake.

Mallery Quetawki(she/her) is from the rural Pueblo of Zuni in western New Mexico. She is the mother of two and shares residence in both Albuquerque and Zuni Pueblo. She is currently the Artist-in-Residence with the Community Environmental Health Program at the University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy. Mallery has used art to translate scientific ideas, health impacts and research on uranium mines that are currently undergoing study in several Indigenous communities. Her work has been featured on National Institutes of Health websites and published in peer-reviewed journals on environmental health and academic medicine. Her painting entitled, “Our Microflora” is on permanent display at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Biological Engineering.
Mallery has a large-scale mural titled, “Morning Prayer”, on permanent display at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center which depicts the history of the Zuni People from Creation to modern times. Her oil painting symbolizing the ties between the Grand Canyon and Zuni culture is part of a traveling collaboration called the Zuni Map Art Project. The collaborative set of art has been displayed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, NY and other museums and galleries in the US. Other noted works include a 12-piece pastel and ink set entitled “What Makes a Zuni?” on permanent display at the Zuni IHS in Blackrock, NM and a mural painted at the Ho’n A:wan Park in Zuni Pueblo September 2018. Mallery’s recent work was part of an interactive Google Doodle that kicked off Native American Heritage Month on November 1, 2021.
Examples of Mallery’s work can be found at:
www.wakelet.com/@CEHP_Artist
Instagram:@M.Quetawki.Art
https://www.google.com/doodles/celebrating-the-late-wewa

Peter Friederici (he/his) is a writer and journalist who lives in Flagstaff. His books and essays focus primarily on relations between humans and nature; the most recent is Beyond Climate Breakdown: Envisioning New Stories of Radical Hope (MIT Press, 2022). He also teaches classes in science communication and sustainable communities at Northern Arizona University.