At the seventh Hollywood Climate Summit on June 3, Quannah ChasingHorse accepted the Amplifier Award and used the platform to oppose proposed oil and gas lease sales in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She emphasized that Indigenous communities are on the front lines of climate impacts and called for immediate, concrete actions rather than continued discussion. ChasingHorse also spoke on the "Story Sovereignty" panel and highlighted her co-directed documentary Beautiful Resistance, which centers Indigenous resilience and environmental justice.
Quannah ChasingHorse Calls For Immediate Action To Protect Arctic Refuge At Hollywood Climate Summit
Quannah ChasingHorse (Photo/Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock for HCS)
Indigenous land protector, model and filmmaker Quannah ChasingHorse used her platform at the seventh annual Hollywood Climate Summit to warn about proposed oil and gas lease sales in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and to call for urgent protection of sacred Indigenous lands.
The summit, held June 3 at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Samuel Goldwyn Theater, convened storytellers, entertainment and media professionals, scientists and climate advocates to explore how narrative and popular culture can shape public understanding of the climate crisis.
At the event’s inaugural Hollywood Climate Summit Leadership Recognition Ceremony, ChasingHorse accepted the Amplifier Award and focused her remarks on the people who depend on the Arctic Refuge. She urged attendees to move beyond discussion to concrete steps that defend Indigenous sovereignty and ecological stewardship.
“We talk and we talk and we talk, but right now is the time for action. It’s not just my people that are being directly impacted — it’s everybody, because everybody’s future is at stake.”
Her comments underscored growing alarm over upcoming lease sales on lands regarded as sacred by Alaska Native communities and highlighted Native peoples’ essential role on the front lines of climate advocacy and environmental stewardship.
ChasingHorse also took part in the “Story Sovereignty: Filmmaker Spotlight” session, which showcased Indigenous creatives shaping climate narratives through film and media. The discussion referenced her work as co-director of the forthcoming documentary Beautiful Resistance, a film about Indigenous resilience and environmental justice.
The Hollywood Climate Summit is the flagship annual conference of Context Collaborative, a nonprofit that amplifies climate issues through storytelling across film, television, gaming and other popular culture platforms. Opening-day speakers included actor Melissa Navia (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds), astronaut-in-training and Operation Period founder Manju Bangalore, former NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman, producer Lisa Joy, writer Alison Tatlock, actress Milana Vayntrub and actress-activist Richa Moorjani.
For ChasingHorse, the imperative was clear: conversation alone will not safeguard the Arctic Refuge. With the region’s future again at risk, she urged audiences to support Indigenous leadership, oppose new lease sales that threaten sacred lands, and take meaningful, tangible actions to protect ancestral territories and the broader climate.
Help us improve.
