Rights of Nature: Global Movement, Indigenous Values
April 15, 2026
Frank Bibeau, Tribal Attorney & Director of the Tribal Rights of Nature Program, Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights (in person)
Hugo Echeverría, Attorney for the Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights, member of the UN Harmony with Nature expert network (virtual)
Grant funding support provided by the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians
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Wednesday, April 15, 2026
7:00 pm Eastern US program | 6:00 pm reception
Dennos Museum Center Milliken Auditorium
1701 E. Front St. Traverse City, MI
Hybrid event | in-person audience and online livestream
In-person admission | $15 per person, advance purchase | $20 at venue
Online admission | $10 per person | watch online
Students & educators | free admission for current students and educators, including NMC and area secondary schools, and all enrolled citizens of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians
Members | Supporters of IAF do not need to purchase tickets. Members make these programs possible via membership gifts. Explore membership options
here.
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About the speakers
Frank Bibeau is an enrolled member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe who lived on Leech Lake Reservation in Ball Club, Minnesota most of his life. Frank is a Tribal Attorney working extensively with Chippewa treaty rights, civil rights, tribal sovereignty and jurisdiction on and off reservation, with a focus on Rights of Nature.
Frank has developed several legal defense strategies based on the Rights of Manoomin. Frank serves as Executive Director for the 1855 Treaty Authority and represented Manoomin (wild rice) and the White Earth Band of Ojibwe in Manoomin v Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources in White Earth Tribal Court and DNR v WEBO and Chief Judge DeGroat in the Minnesota District Court and Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals (2021-2022).
Frank is the Director of the Tribal Rights of Nature Program for the Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights. Frank presently is focusing on the Rights of Fish as part of a United Usufructuary Tribes of Turtle Island as Fish are the most common key environmental indicator species around the world and Fish are often of significant, cultural importance.
Hugo Echeverría is an Attorney at Law and Doctor of Jurisprudence granted by Pontificia Universidad Católica de Quito, Ecuador. Master of Laws (LLM) granted by McGill University in Montreal - Quebec, Canada. Alumni of the Chevening Fellowship Program, directed by The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, on Environmental Governance at Wolverhampton University – United Kingdom.
Echeverria has worked in environmental law since 2001, with an emphasis on biodiversity conservation, the environmental rule of law, and the Rights of Nature, areas in which he practices as an attorney and a consultant.
About the moderator
Nick Reo is an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians (Anishinaabe). He uses Indigenous methodologies to study and participate in Indigenous knowledge practices, Indigenous land and sea tenure, and Indigenous language revitalization. Reo also works to create spaces for Indigenous international knowledge exchange and expansion of Indigenous kinship networks. He holds a Canada Excellence Research Chair (2023-2031) focused on Coastal Regeneration and Relationalities. Learn more about Reo's work here.
