Event Oct 2 with Nat Geo Photographer and Author Kiliii Yüyan at Books Passage Corte Madera

On October 2, National Geographic photographer and explorer Kiliii Yüyan will be giving a multimedia author presentation based his book Guardians of Life: Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous Science, and Restoring the Planet which launched April 2026 from Braided River, the conservation imprint of Mountaineers Books.

Here is the link to the event: https://bookpassage.com/event/kiliii-yuyan-guardians-life

Here is a TEDX talk on the project, a TV spot on the book launch, and the book’s Press Release.

About the book:

Guardians of Life

Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous Science, and Restoring the Planet 

There is a critical yet underrecognized role that Indigenous peoples around the world have played—and continue to play—in sustaining biological and cultural diversity. As the biodiversity and climate crises converge, the time to support Indigenous leadership is now. This rich, in-depth, storytelling initiative is based on growing global recognition of the critical role Indigenous peoples play in sustaining biological and cultural diversity, as well as adapting to and abating climate change. 

This book, Guardians of Life, is based on the work of award-winning National Geographic photographer Kiliii Yüyan, and will take readers on a transformative journey to places and people living in relationship with their ancestral homelands. Vivid portraits of Indigenous men and women, youth and elders, hunters and farmers, spiritual leaders and craftsmen will reveal their ways of knowing and taking care of the land. These are concepts and skills that have been taught for generations and are based on a foundational veneration for life—which is at the heart of caring for a living planet. This reflects a holistic and broad approach to sustainability, including language, art, and ceremony as ways to maintain human-environment relations. 

These place-based stories and imagery are complemented by an introduction by Gwich’in supermodel and activist Quannah Chasinghorse. Essay contributions come from award-winning writer Charles C. Mann, author of 1491, and award winning author, Indigenous peoples' ally, and National Geographic Explorer, Gleb Raygorodetsky. This book upholds the inherent sovereign rights of Indigenous peoples to care for their ancestral lands and waters, and seeks to build a movement that would broadly benefit and sustain life on planet Earth for all.

Photography by Kiliii Yüyan

Essays by Charles C. Mann and Gleb Raygorodetsky

Foreword by Quannah Chasinghorse