Uniting Land and Sky with Alastair Lee Bitsoi Thomas Bitsoi and Geoff Grimmer

This is the first time Alastair Lee Bits\u00f3\u00ed and his father, Thomas Bits\u00f3\u00ed II, shared the public stage to speak about climate. While they have these conversations at home and in ceremonial spaces, this is their first time addressing an audience of this nature. Both are members of the Navajo Nation, from the small community of Naschitti, N.M., located beneath the Chooshgai Mountains along the New Mexico-Arizona border.

In their public talk at the MT2030 Climate Summit in Breckenridge, they shared their experiences of being connected to Mother Earth and Father Sky, as well as their intergenerational approaches to land protection.

Thomas worked for many years with the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency, focusing on illegal dumpsite programs. He grew up as a rancher from humble beginnings and is currently a practitioner alongside his wife, Ruthie, as healers of the Native American Church.

Alastair is an award-winning journalist, writer, and storyteller. He has cultivated climate-resilient crops like the Four Corners potatoes, which have taught him about the interconnectedness of plants and humans. He often writes about land preservation, protecting cultural sites, and amplifying Indigenous voices on climate, water, and environmental issues. He has been published in the Navajo Times, Salt Lake Tribune, High Country News, Yale Climate Connections, and Smithsonian Magazine, among other outlets.

For this welcome panel, father and son duo helped attendees ground themselves as they face various climate challenges and find solutions to mitigate the impacts of a warming climate across mountain towns throughout the Mountain West.

Introduced by Geoffrey Grimmer, Town of Eagle, CO