Gaia Ki

Asante Riverwind, Founder and Conservation and Arts Director, asanteriverwind@gmail.com

Gaia Ki was founded in July 2010 by Asante Riverwind, its

Conservation and Arts Director. Born in early 1953 in the "Year of the
Dragon" Asante is a fiery artist, encouraged by his artist mother as soon
as he could hold a pencil. Ten years of formal study at five universities
were completed in 1980. His art has been exhibited at scores of galleries
and other venues, and published worldwide (and a few of the thousands
of artworks completed can be viewed at www.asanteriverwindarts.com).

Asante began focused activist work on ecological and social

justice issues in 1968 at age 15. He has worked in the Pacific Northwest
and Western States regions since first coming to Oregon in 1974. Over
the years he has worked with movements and organizations ranging from
Students for a Democratic Society, Greenpeace, Earth First!, the
Columbia River Bioregion Campaign, Coalition Organizing Hanford Opposition, Oregon Chapter Sierra
Club, and many others; and helped co-found a number of organizations including Seattle Nonviolent
Action Group, Cedar River Action Group, Racine Movement, Direct Action Network’s WTO actions in
Seattle, and others. In 1991, he co-founded the League Of Wilderness Defenders – Blue Mountains
Biodiversity Project in eastern-central Oregon, co-directing LOWD-BMBP for 13 years before moving to
Arizona for a couple years and co-founding the Chiricahua-Dragoon Conservation Alliance non-profit
organization (now known as the Dragoon Conservation Alliance). He worked as the Oregon Chapter
Sierra Club’s Eastern Oregon Forest Organizer from 2006 through July 2010. Upon leaving the Sierra
Club in 2010, he has continued regional conservation efforts assisting existing organizations while
founding Gaia Ki, to continue effective advocacy protecting our remaining natural wild lands while
broadening localized "triage" efforts to address societal issues and proactive solutions at the root of
contemporary challenges.

Over his many years of activism and arts he has

been involved in helping achieve many ecological victories
as well as inspiring cultural changes. He continues to be
involved in extensive ecological education and protection
efforts, including legal actions, surveys & monitoring,
research & writing, hikes, articles, and speaking events.
Learning directly from nature, our wisest teacher, Asante
lived for over 16 years in tipi’s, a yurt, an earth lodge, and a
strawbale home - from an island in Puget Sound, to the
forests of the Cascades and Blue Mountains, to Arizona's
Sonoran Desert. He continues to hike, camp, and kayak
across western North America. In addition to creating
paintings, drawings, and sculpture, he is also a poet and
musician, inspired by dream visions and wild wonderful
nature. "Art and Evolution" is the name he uses for this
amalgamation of activism and art. He has three grown sons,
and one grandson, all of whom help inspire his ongoing
efforts to help protect nature and encourage us all to
celebrate life in balance with this beautiful living Earth. "From the River's Wind"