Collected Works Bookstore & Coffeehouse x Mother Nature Center presents
American Indigenous Democracy and Worlds Within Us
A special conversation with editors José Barreiro (Taino) and Katsi Cook (Akwesasne Mohawk) and special guest, author, Oren Lyons (Onondaga), featuring "American Indigenous Democracy: A Call for Interdependence", and "Worlds within Us: Wisdom & Resilience of Indigenous Women Elders".
Date, Time & Location
Oct 21, 2026, 6:00 PM MDT
Collected Works Bookstore & Coffeehouse, 202 Galisteo St, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
About the Event
Join us in-store or register to watch on Zoom.
Order American Indigenous Democracy ($30.00, paperback) online here and Worlds Within Us ($22.50, paperback) here or call the store to order (505) 988-4226.
American Indigenous Democracy: A Call for Interdependence offers a welcome volume for a much-needed conversation about the origins of our founding documents and, more importantly, the wisdom of Native American ways of living and how they can inform alternatives to our present political dilemmas. Through eighteen eloquent essays, we hear contemporary Haudenosaunee leaders and scholars speak about life in present-day reservations, and most importantly, about the Great Law of Peace, the unifying code of governance that united these once warring tribes into one of the most formidable, and truly democratic league of nations that the continent had ever witnessed. American Indigenous Democracy: A Call for Interdependence invites us to look back and outside of our cultural, social, and political box in order to move ourselves and our country towards a more just and peaceful place.
Worlds within Us: Wisdom and Resilience of Indigenous Women Elders presents the voices of eight Native women elders. Recognized by their own peoples and communities as elder leaders, they share their eight personal narratives of amazing lives and the worlds they encompass. The book is heartbreakingly honest and uplifting, with narratives tied together by the resilience and personal courage of these elders and their families, and their many personal and professional triumphs. Above all, their desire for reconciliation through active involvement reveals the importance of Indigenous ancestral knowledge, where they see doors to a better future, where humanity can avoid the mistakes of the past. Whether from present-day Alaska, the American Southwest, the Great Plains, or upstate New York, what each elder brings to readers is unflinching honesty, but also common values, common problems, and above all the common desire to assist in the transformation of others through the example of their own extraordinary lives.
About the Authors:
Hatueyael José Barreiro is a novelist, essayist, journalist, and activist. He was born in Jayama, Camagüey Province, Cuba, and resides on the Akwesasne (St. Regis Mohawk) reservation located between (lands presently known as) the state of New York, USA, and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Québec. He is a member of the Taíno Nation. His four-decade career is dedicated to sociocultural issues and the defense and well-being of Indigenous peoples of the American hemisphere. He was editor-in-chief of Akwe:kon Press/Native Americas at Cornell University, served as director of historical and cultural research and director of the Office for Latin America at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, and was senior editor of Indian Country Today.
Tekatsi:tsia’kwa Katsi Cook-Barreiro is an Ohnwehón:we traditional midwife, Elder, and executive director of Spirit Aligned Leadership Program. She is a Wolf Clan member of the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation. Katsi is an advocate of Indigenous women’s health across the life cycle, drawing from a Longhouse traditionalist perspective, the teaching of Woman Is the First Environment. Her groundbreaking environmental research of Mohawk mother’s milk revealed the harmful intergenerational impact of industrial chemicals on the health and well-being of the community.
Joagquisho Oren Lyons is the revered Faith Keeper of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation, a prominent Indigenous rights and environmental activist, and a leading voice for Native American culture and traditions on the global stage, known for his advocacy at the UN, his role as a lacrosse Hall of Famer, and as a professor and artist. As the Faith Keeper, his duty involves preserving and teaching the history, wisdom, and spiritual laws of his people, acting as a bridge between traditional Indigenous Knowledge and the modern world, focusing on intergenerational responsibility and harmony with the Earth.