Jana Kotaska, Ph.D., of mixed European ancestry and currently living on Qu’wutsun lands in British Columbia, has, since 1998, devoted her career to supporting Indigenous governance of lands and waters, i.e., land back. She is the Executive Director of the Mother Tree Network (MTN), which is working to protect and restore the critical rainforests of the Pacific Northwest. Led by renowned forest ecologist Suzanne Simard, MTN brings together scientists, First Nations of coastal and interior British Columbia and a circle of collaborators from a range of non-profit and educational institutions.