Guardians of Life Press

Press Release for Guardians of Life

TEDx Talk with Kiliii Yüyan

April 2025 | TEDxBerkeley

National Geographic photographer Kiliii Yüyan shares powerful stories from Indigenous communities worldwide, revealing how traditional ecological knowledge has preserved Earth's most biodiverse regions from the coral reefs of Palau to the Amazon rainforest.

We Are Here National Geographic Feature

July 2022 | National Geographic

This portrait captures the strength behind the Native sovereignty movement.

Photographer Kiliii Yüyan & model/activist Quannah Rose Chasinghorse teamed up to ensure an authentic portrayal of Native Americans that showed joy and determination.

NatGeo spoke to Yüyan and Chasinghorse about how they captured the cover image—and what sovereignty means to them. 

MongaBay Podcast with Kiliii Yüyan

Mongabay invited renowned National Geographic photographer Kiliii Yüyan onto our podcast to discuss his multiyear reporting effort “Guardians of Life…”. The episode was awarded a prize for “Best coverage of Indigenous communities” in the radio or podcast category by the 2024 Indigenous Media Awards.

Yüyan discusses the importance of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and why supporting Indigenous communities is the easiest and most effective way to achieve conservation goals. While Indigenous peoples manage a staggering 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity, they lack land rights for almost half of their territories encompassing it.