Biography
Junhan Hu is a second-year Master of Environmental Science candidate at the Yale School of the Environment, specializing in environmental anthropology and conservation science. His research focuses on the coexistence and relationships between indigenous people and nonhumans in the Tibetan Plateau under global nature conservation and state development.
Xiyao Fu is a second-year Master of Environmental Science candidate at the Yale School of the Environment, specializing in environmental anthropology and agrarian studies. Her research focuses on the dynamic relationships between biodiversity and cultural diversity at the borderlands of Southeast Asia and Southwest China in light of agrarian transformation and climate change.
Paper Abstract
This is an entangled story of two indigenous environmental leaders—Tibetan Buddhist Sangjie and Akha conservationist Abu—told by two anthropology students collaborating with them. First, they became entangled with their communities to confront crisis—forced relocation and trash pollution. They sacrificed personal wealth and reputations to give back and built deep relationships despite controversies, showing individual agency by indigenous people under modern change. Second, they are entangled with nonhumans—such as traditional seeds and baby antelope—which guided their ecological thinking and real-world practice of reviving ethnic rituals and caring for wildlife. They exemplify a multispecies entanglement rooted in history and reflections. Third, they were entangled with the researchers themselves. We built working collaborations despite cultural misunderstandings, and grew genuine, reciprocal relationships as elders and young confronting uncertainties together. In their lives and our storytelling, these beautiful entanglements weave a similar pathway toward rebuilding our relationships with the world.