The Interconnection of Biodiversity, Indigenous Rights and Plant Medicine with Sutton King and Julia Mande
Honoring Language, Land, and Connection
During Psychedelic-Climate Week, we had the honor of opening the evening with Sutton King, Co-Founder of Urban Indigenous Collective and Common Field, and Julia Mande, Co-Founder of Common Field as well.
Beginning with a beautiful land acknowledgment, Sutton recognized we were gathered on the ancestral territory of the Lenape, Mannahatta, Haudenosaunee, Shinnecock, Runkawak, Munsee, and many others. These lands have always been a place of gathering and intercultural exchange, where people worked together to co-create solutions. Sutton emphasized the importance of honoring the ancestors of this land—past, present, and future—and the reciprocal relationship we must maintain with the Earth. She reminded us that as stewards, we must protect and cherish the land, water, and air, especially as we explore the intersections of psychedelics and the environment.
After her grounding introduction, Julia led a centering exercise, inviting us to become present by connecting with our bodies and the Earth beneath us, despite the layers of concrete and pavement in a city like New York. She encouraged us to feel the air on our skin and connect with the cosmos, reminding us of our ability to dream and take steps toward those dreams, even in challenging times. Julia shared a vision of health, not just for our bodies but for the land and water around us. Through guided visualization, the group imagined a healthy, vibrant world and what it would feel like to embody that health. She acknowledged the tension between this vision and today’s reality, emphasizing that this tension is what makes us human and capable of transformation.
Their words encapsulated the spirit of Psychedelic-Climate Week, reminding us that personal and collective healing are deeply intertwined — aligning our inner and outer worlds.
Supporting Indigenous Biocultural Conservation Through Listening and Partnership
At Common Field, Julia and Sutton are deeply committed to centering, respecting and protecting Traditional Indigenous Knowledge, with a commitment to understanding how these principles can be integrated across law, business, and organizational culture.
The origins of their work are rooted in a principle that might seem simple, yet it’s crucial: listening. This approach is informed by their personal and professional experiences. Sutton King’s journey in co-founding the Urban Indigenous Collective and in the forming of the Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund (IMCF) was integral now the co-founding of Common Field. Here’s how that journey unfolded and the lessons they’ve learned along the way.
Learning Through Listening
One of the biggest lessons learned is that listening is vital for co-creating effective efforts to maintain biodiversity. Indigenous peoples steward 80% of the world’s biodiversity, and keystone medicines are integral to the balance of biocultural life. In many territories these medicines are under threat due to illegal harvesting and the ongoing ecological crisis. The Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund is focused on empowering Indigenous communities to protect their knowledge and ecosystems as they see fit. This includes conducting community-based needs assessments to better understand the conservation investments required to preserve these crucial medicines. As we face the sixth mass extinction, this work has never been more urgent.
Through dialog with Indigenous coalition groups, Sutton and Julia recognized that the pace at which the psychedelic industry is moving is vastly outpacing the deeply intentional governance processes that Indigenous communities need to navigate these issues.
This realization led them to step back and focus on two things: listening and supporting Indigenous leaders in their timing and way. It was clear that they couldn’t impose their assumptions on what reciprocity or benefit sharing should look like. The wisdom and traditions of Indigenous communities must lead the way. This lesson ultimately inspired the co-creation of Common Field.
The Birth of Common Field
Sutton and Julia in Davos, Switzerland during the World Economic Forum. Through their friendship and sharing of experiences, they identified a need for attention to be spent in bridge building - tending to a core wound of separation from nature.
Common Field is designed as a values-based organization that supports the protection of biodiversity through international protocols, such as the Nagoya Protocol under the Convention on Biological Diversity. This framework centers on Indigenous rights, ensuring that communities have the right to grant or deny access to their traditional medicines and participate in mutually agreed terms around benefit sharing.
By working with legal experts, business leaders, and Indigenous communities, they are helping the psychedelic industry develop more ethical frameworks to engage with traditional knowledge and resources. Their hope is that this work will shift the industry from seeing these sacred medicines as commodities in a supply chain to valuing them as part of a web of interconnected relationships, where reciprocity is a form of mutual respect, not charity.
Moving Forward Together
Common Field believes that real progress begins with deep listening. This means understanding the needs of all stakeholders—especially Traditional Medicine communities who have stewarded these medicines for generations. Although the process is slower, it is necessary for sustainable, long-term growth and for safeguarding the ecological diversity that our world relies on.
As they continue to build Common Field, others in the psychedelic space are invited to join in listening, learning, and co-creating solutions that respect the wisdom of Indigenous cultures. By supporting biocultural conservation in this way, we can help protect the medicines and ecosystems that have nurtured humanity for centuries.
Key Takeaways:
True partnership starts with listening to the communities we aim to support.
Indigenous peoples must lead the conversation around the conservation of traditional medicines.
The psychedelic ecosystem needs to move beyond quick fixes and short-term gains toward long-term, values-based stewardship.