"A visually dazzling and deeply informative collection that will linger with readers long after the last page." –Kirkus Reviews

Guardians of Life: Indigenous Science, Indigenous Wisdom and Restoring the Planet, is an extraordinary visual journey that reveals Indigenous communities as Earth's most powerful protectors. The odyssey spans the globe, from Palau's coral reefs and Mongolia's steppes to Greenland's sea ice.

This stunning volume is powered by the collective wisdom of more than two dozen Indigenous voices, including activist Quannah Chasinghorse and Palauan statesman Tommy Remengesau Jr. Their expertise is brought forward through National Geographic photojournalist Kiliii Yüyan's striking imagery, the powerful writing of bestselling author (1491) Charles Mann, and writer Gleb Raygorodetsky's insights. Together, this collection of powerful images and stories proves how traditional knowledge and modern innovation unite to safeguard the planet.

Kiliii Yüyan

Photographer, speaker, and National Geographic Explorer Kiliii Yüyan captures life at the polar regions, beneath cold seas, and within the heart of human communities. Of Chinese and Nanai/Hèzhé descent, he works from deep immersion and a cross-cultural lens — camping on sea ice with polar bears, diving with Indigenous rangers, and making photographs that are sensory, unhurried, and deeply human. His work appears in National Geographic, TIME, Vogue, and WIRED, and has been honored with National Geographic's Eliza Scidmore Award for Outstanding Storytelling. Based in Seattle, he is more commonly found beneath the sea or atop the ice. kiliii.com

Quannah Chasinghorse

Quannah Chasinghorse (Foreword) is an Indigenous American model, actress, and environmental activist known for her groundbreaking presence in the fashion industry and her advocacy for land and cultural protection. Born in Tuba City, Arizona, and raised partly in Alaska, she is Hän Gwich'in and Sicangu-Oglala Lakota. Chasinghorse rose to prominence after appearing in major fashion campaigns in 2020, quickly becoming one of the most recognizable Indigenous figures in modern modeling. Outside of modeling, Chasinghorse is an outspoken climate and land-protection activist, having worked from a young age to advocate for the preservation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She is widely celebrated for merging art, identity, and activism, standing at the forefront of a new generation of Indigenous leaders in media and culture.@quannah.rose

Charles C. Mann

Charles C. Mann (Essay Contributor)is the author of 1491, which won the U.S. National Academy of Sciences’ Keck award for the best book of the year. A correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, Science, and Wired, he has covered the intersection of science, technology, and commerce for many newspapers and magazines here and abroad, including the New York Times, Vanity Fair, the Washington Post, and more.  In addition to 1491, he was the co-author of four other non-fiction books. He is now working on a companion volume to 1491. His website is www.charlesmann.org.

@CharlesCMann

Gleb Raygorodetsky

Gleb Raygorodetsky (Essay Contributor)has spent over two decades working with Indigenous communities worldwide on traditional resource management, governance, sacred sites, and climate adaptation. Born in a Kamchatka coastal village, he immigrated to the U.S. in 1988 and pursued wildlife biology in Fairbanks before ranging across the Americas and into the Pacific — living among Aleut hunters, Amazonian fishermen, and Gwich'in caribou hunters. He holds a Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution & Environmental Biology from Columbia University (2006) and is the author of The Archipelago of Hope (Pegasus Books, 2017); his writing has appeared in National Geographic, Scientific American, and Sierra Magazine. He is also co-founder of Conversations with the Earth, an Indigenous-led multimedia initiative whose exhibits reached over a million visitors at the Smithsonian, the United Nations, and the National Museum of Denmark. glebraygorodetsky.com

GUARDIANS

Indigenous Practices and Voices in Guardians of Life Include: