racism Archives - John Muir, The Unruly Mystic

Posted on April 18, 2022August 9, 2026 by Michael Conti — Leave a comment

Was John Muir a racist?

A dramatic split composition depicting John Muir as a weathered 19th-century naturalist silhouetted against a vast Alaskan glacier landscape on one side, and on the other side, three Tlingit leaders in elaborate traditional ceremonial regalia and woven blankets, standing proudly before towering old-growth forest. The two halves of the image meet at a misty treeline, symbolizing a complex historical encounter. The color palette contrasts warm golden tones of indigenous heritage with the cold blue-white of glacial wilderness. The mood is contemplative and morally weighty, rendered in the style of a painterly editorial illustration with rich textures and atmospheric depth, evoking both the grandeur of American wilderness conservation history and the painful legacy of racial erasure.

John Muir's racist attitudes toward Native Americans and Black Americans have prompted a difficult reckoning within the Sierra Club and beyond. Filmmaker Michael Conti reflects on the dichotomy — and how Muir's 1879 Alaska trip may have marked a turning point.

Posted on May 27, 2021May 23, 2026 by Michael Conti — Leave a comment

Nature & Spirit: Q/A with Director

Michael Conti joins the San Francisco Swedenborgian Church's Nature & Spirit symposium for a Q&A on how John Muir's vision of wilderness as sacred ground continues to shape how we seek spiritual nourishment in nature today.