James Rattling Leaf is a global Indigenous consultant and principal of the Wolakota Lab, LLC. He guides and inspires organizations to work more effectively with Indigenous peoples for a more equitable world.
Rattling Leaf has more than 25 years of experience working with the U.S. federal government, institutions of higher education, and nonprofit organizations to develop and maintain effective working relationships with American Indian tribes, tribal colleges and universities, and tribal communities. He specializes in developing programs that use the interface between Indigenous people’s traditional knowledge and Western science. He sees a greater vision of human knowledge that incorporates the many insights of human cultures and provides a context for better understanding the world.
Currently, Rattling Leaf holds co-leadership roles at the Environmental Science Data Innovation and Inclusion Lab; North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center; Rosebud Sioux Tribe; Groups on Earth Observations Indigenous Alliance; and Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder.
He is a citizen of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and has a Lakota Studies degree from Sinte Gleska University.