Sacred Land Film Project

06/02/2026

Project Director and filmmaker Toby McLeod, has co-authored a chapter with Arizona State University Professor Melissa K. Nelson, Ph.D. (Turtle Mountain Chippewa), "Turtle Island Sacred Landscapes as Places of Radical Relationality and Doorways to Mystery," in a new book published this week by Routledge and the Arctic Centre at University of Lapland. The book explores sacred places in their wider environmental context and the significance of spirituality in this time of ecological and political crisis. The six-year project features twelve thoughtful authors focusing on the Arctic region and beyond. Check it out! 📖

New book explores the unique relationship between sacred places and their specific situational environments and the significance of spirituality, in a time of great transition, especially in the Arctic region.

06/01/2026

Thousands of abandoned mines contaminate the rivers and streams in Colorado's Rocky Mountains, a problem that is compounded by acid rain and snow, and recreational development. Water pollution like this is a common consequence of mining the world over. 🏔

🎥 This is a clip from our documentary, "Poison in the Rockies," for the PBS science show NOVA, which was broadcast nationally in January and May of 1990 and in May and December of 1992, with an estimated total audience of 25 million people.

🔗 You can watch it here: https://vimeo.com/208367584?fl=pl&fe=ti

05/29/2026

As a journalist, filming a Chinese-government-owned mine that was being built in Papua New Guinea in 2010 led to some hair-raising moments as we were making the "Profit and Loss" episode of our four-part series, "Standing on Sacred Ground." 🎥

At the Ramu-Nico mine site in the mountains, as we filmed a family that was resisting forced relocation, word came that security had been tipped off, and we were hustled into cars and driven away. A few days later, when we accompanied landowner Sama Mellombo to the site where his clan cemetery had been unearthed by Chinese workers building a refinery, things got tense and we were detained.

➡To watch the full clip, visit and subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oye-c6MZ6e0

🔗 You can also check out filmmaker Toby McLeod's blog about what happened here: https://sacredland.org/detained-in-papua-new-guinea/

05/28/2026

Drinking water in the rivers flowing from Colorado's Rocky Mountains has been polluted by mining and urbanization, affecting many downstream communities. 💧

🎥 This is a clip from our documentary, "Poison in the Rockies," for the PBS science show NOVA, which was broadcast nationally in January and May of 1990 and in May and December of 1992, with an estimated total audience of 25 million people.

🔗 You can watch it here: https://vimeo.com/208367584?fl=pl&fe=ti

05/27/2026

Glaciers in Peru are shrinking fast, drastically affecting pastures and the livelihoods of Indigenous communities in the Andes and below. This happening all around the world as a result of the climate crisis.

🎥 In the "Fire and Ice" episode of our four-part series, "Standing on Sacred Ground," we share stories of Indigenous Peoples in Peru and Ethiopia protecting biodiversity on their sacred lands under pressure from religious conflicts and climate change.

➡ Watch the full film for $5 here: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/fireandice

05/26/2026

Oil from tar sands in Alberta, Canada, comes at a huge and deadly cost. Toxins from oil extraction and tailings waste have polluted rivers and lakes, harming wildlife and the health of communities, especially First Nations people, who have suffered or died from rare cancers.

🎥 Learn more about the consequences of this dirty oil extraction from our "Profit and Loss" episode of our four-part series, "Standing on Sacred Ground."

🔗 Rent it here for $5: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/profitandloss

05/22/2026

The late author Barry Lopez (1945-2020) explored how we have lost intimacy and a relationship with sacred places in our Standing on Sacred Ground interview.

➡ To hear Barry's full answer and see other clips from our interview, visit and subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/user/sacredlandfilm

🎙 You can also check out our two-part podcast interview with Barry Lopez here: https://sacredland.org/audio-archive/

05/21/2026

The late author Barry Lopez (1945-2020) observed that to help protect Indigenous people, we must protect sacred places. In our Standing on Sacred Ground interview, Barry said that destroying sacred places is akin to murdering people.

➡To hear Barry's full answer and see other clips from our interview, visit and subscribe to our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/sacredlandfilm

🎙 You can also check out our two-part podcast interview with Barry Lopez here: https://sacredland.org/audio-archive/

05/20/2026

In Papua New Guinea, Indigenous Peoples have suffered from displacement and poverty as a result of a Chinese government-owned nickel/cobalt mine above the sacred Ramu River, whose watershed is home to 300,000 people.

Development projects like this serve the greed of a select few, while harming sacred sites, the environment, and the well-being of Indigenous communities.

🎥 Learn more by watching the "Profit and Loss" episode of our four-part series, "Standing on Sacred Ground," which exposes industrial threats to native peoples’ health, livelihood and cultural survival in Papua New Guinea and the tar sands of Alberta, Canada.

🔗 Rent it here for $5: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/profitandloss

05/19/2026

Satish Kumar, editor of Resurgence Magazine, finds divinity on pilgrimage to sacred places and explores the feeling of belonging to a place and a community.

➡ To watch Kumar's full answer and to see more clips from our interview, visit and subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/sacredlandfilm