Connectedness, Culture, and Subsistence: Heather Sauyaq Jean Gordon on Indigenous Well-Being, Youth Leadership, and the Power of Relationship

Behaviour Speak with Ben Reiman · Oct 30, 2026 · 1h 16m

In this episode of Behaviour Speak, Ben Reiman welcomes Heather Sauyaq Jean Kwamboka Gordon, an Indigenous scholar, advocate, and community-engaged researcher whose work spans Alaska, the Arctic, Indigenous well-being, subsistence practices, climate action, and youth leadership.

Heather explores the deeper meaning of subsistence beyond food harvesting, describing it as a relationship of reciprocity, responsibility, nurturance, and connection with the natural world. She shares how Indigenous communities understand well-being through relationships with land, culture, language, spirituality…