Our story

The Sacred Land Alliance has its beginnings in  2024, when Lydia and Hilary met and instantly found a sense of kinship and shared purpose in unlearning the habits of settler colonialism and patriarchal white conditioning. We share an interest in how the past shapes our relationships with land, culture, and each other, and a commitment to becoming better relatives.

We use the Gaelic word bean-ghlùine (pronounced "ben-LOON-ya") to describe our role within the Sacred Land Alliance.  Bean-ghlùine means "midwife" or "woman of the knee."  This word from our ancestral lineages expresses our desire to be of service to birthing the kind of world we hope to bring forward for future generations.

Lydia Breunig, Bean-ghlùine

Lydia Breunig is a mother of two grown children, writer, organizer, and educator. A descendant of European settlers from lands now known as Germany, England, Scotland, and Wales, Lydia was born in Flagstaff, Arizona, and considers herself a citizen of the Colorado Plateau bioregion and the Rio de Flag watershed. Grounded in her relationship to place, she is committed to following Indigenous leadership in protecting land and the sanctity of the Sacred Peaks. Lydia holds a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Arizona and a Master of Environmental Management degree, with a concentration in economics and policy, from Duke University. For more than two decades, she has worked as an educator and organizer in formal and community settings, focusing on critical ecological history, social justice, and right relationship with the Living World. She has collaborated with national organizations including Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples and the Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery. You can follow her ongoing journey on Substack at substack.com/@lydiabreunig.

Hilary Giovale, Bean-ghlùine

Hilary is a community organizer, facilitator, and writer.  She has lived in Flagstaff, Arizona for over thirty years, where she received a master's degree in Sustainable Communities from Northern Arizona University and raised two children.  Hilary is descended from the Celtic, Germanic, Nordic, and Indigenous peoples of Ancient Europe, as well as white settlers who began arriving on Turtle Island during the 1600s.  She seeks to follow Indigenous and Black leadership in support of human rights, environmental justice, and equitable futures.  As a member of Indigenous Circle of Flagstaff, she is dedicated to supporting the well-being of the local Indigenous community and protection of the sacred mountain above Flagstaff.  Hilary's work as an active reparationist is guided by intuition, love, and relationships.  She is the author of the award-winning book Becoming a Good Relative: Calling White Settlers toward Truth, Healing, and Repair and a bean-ghlùine of The Sacred Land Alliance.  Learn more about her work at goodrelative.com.