Ilarion (Larry Merculieff) was raised in a traditional Unangan (Aleut) way and received his Unangan name Kuuyux. The name is given to one person in each lifetime amongst his people. Kuuyux means an arm extending out from the body, a carrier of ancient knowledge into modern times, a messenger. Today he is living the legacy of his name. Merculieff’s life and teachings are featured in a chapter of a book titled: Native Men of Courage published by Second Story Press. He co-authored a book about traditional worldviews and cosmology entitled “Aleut Wisdom: Stories of an Aleut Messenger” released on October 18, 2009, by French publisher Les Intouchables. His lifelong efforts on behalf of his people and the environment have been honoured with the Buffet Finalist Award for Indigenous Leadership (2007); the Alaska Forum on the Environment Environmental Excellence Award for Lifetime Achievement (2007); the Rasmuson Foundation Award for Creative Nonfiction, 2006); the Alaska Native Writers on the Environment Award from the Alaska Conservation Foundation (2004) and the Wisdom Fellowship Award given by The Sacred Fire Foundation (2017). Merculieff published a book about the wisdom he has learned locally, nationally, and internationally from Indigenous Elders and others from different cultures through the lens of his life experiences, titled Wisdomkeeper: One Man’sJourneytoHonortheUntoldHistoryoftheUnanganPeople, North Atlantic Books (available on Amazon). He co-authored a book titled: IndigenousWaysofTeachingandLearningandDifficultDialogues, University of Alaska Anchorage. His current book is called: Perspectives on Indigenous Issues: Essays on Science, Spirituality, Partnerships, and the Power of Words, also available on Amazon. You can also read more on grill.org or at www.wisdomweavers.world Original Podcast release date: 28. September 2019 on SoundCloud.

The wonderful music on this podcast intro and exit has graciously been lent out to me by the composer Troels Hammer and the track is called INFINITA. For more about Troels's music go here: ⁠www.troelshammer.dk⁠. You can also find Troels's music on Spotify here: ⁠open.spotify.com/artist/6BG79szH5…WbTv-dfsigMgCRoA