In Conversation: Dan Wildcat
Standard | $15
Concession and Mob tix | $10
Site access information
WA Museum Boola Bardip is fully accessible. Call 1300 134 081 for assistance. Accessible resources and programs >
"Mother Earth is calling on us to act-the collective wisdom of thousands of years of Indigenous knowledge can guide us " - Professor Dan Wildcat
Join Professor Dan Wildcat, a Yuchi member of the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma, for an insightful conversation on Indigenous knowledge, culture, climate and education.
Renowned scholar Professor Dan Wildcat brings decades of groundbreaking work to this insightful talk, exploring the intersection of Indigenous knowledge, technology, environment and education.
Drawing on history, personal experience and extensive research, Professor Wildcat will explore how modern society has become increasingly distanced from land, air and water, and why Indigenous ways of knowing offer vital guidance in responding to today’s environmental challenges.
In conversation with Professor James Arvanitakis, Director of the Forrest Research Foundation, Professor Wildcat will discuss his wide-ranging work across community, academia and research, and reflect on how Indigenous knowledge can shape how we think about climate, sustainability, culture and the Anthropocene.
Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from one of the leading voices in Indigenous environmental thought.
Presented by the Western Australian Museum and Murdoch University
Meet The Speakers
Daniel R. Wildcat is a Yuchi member of the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma and a senior Indigenous scholar with more than 40 years of service as a teacher and administrator at Haskell Indian Nations University. He holds an interdisciplinary PhD from the University of Missouri–Kansas City and was the Gordon Russell Visiting Professor of Native American Studies at Dartmouth College.
Dr Wildcat partnered with the Hazardous Substance Research Center at Kansas State University to establish the Haskell Environmental Research Studies (HERS) Center, and later co‑founded the HERS summer undergraduate internship program with University of Kansas professor Dr Joane Nagel. He is currently Principal Investigator on a US$20 million, five‑year National Science Foundation–funded project to develop the Rising Voices, Changing Coasts Research Hub at Haskell.
Dr Wildcat is the author and editor of several influential books, including Power and Place: Indian Education in America , Destroying Dogma: Vine Deloria’s Legacy on Intellectual America, and Red Alert: Saving the Planet with Indigenous Knowledge, which calls for Indigenous ingenuity—Indigenuity—to address environmental damage in the Anthropocene. He is a co‑author of the Southern Great Plains chapter of the Fourth U.S. National Climate Assessment.
His most recent book, On Indigenuity: Learning the Lessons of Mother Earth, was released in 2023.
Professor James Arvanitakis is the Director of the Forrest Research Foundation based at the University of Western Australia and brings together the five Western Australian universities to attract world class research to the state and confront the world’s grand challenges. He is an award-winning educator, cultural researcher, and media commentator with 20-year experience in the higher education sector having also had successful careers in finance and the not-for profit sector. As an educator and researcher, James was the driving force behind several innovative programs at Western Sydney University (WSU) including The Academy which received the Australian Financial Review’s Excellence in Education Award.
James is a Fulbright alumnus, having spent 12 months at the University of Wyoming as the Milward L Simpson Fellow. In 2021, he was appointed the inaugural Patron of Diversity Arts Australia in recognition of his commitment to promoting a cultural sector that reflects the rich diversity of Australia. In 2022 he founded Respectful Disagreements, a brave spaces project that promotes the lost art of civility in political disagreement as well as the educational power of discomfort. He sits on several boards including the Perth Festival and the Western Australian Government’s Science and Technology Advisory Council.
