Indigenous Voices in the Climate Movement
By Irene Zhao, Sidwell Friends School
Long before the beginnings of the modern-day environmentalist movement, Native Americans perfected a lifestyle that allowed their people to flourish in harmony with the Earth. Indigenous peoples continue to practice conservation today, remaining mindful of the limitations of natural resources and cultivating crops that keep the soil fertile for generations to come.
As corporations continue to pillage the planet in the name of profit, Indigenous homes and lands are still the first to be plundered, and Indigenous peoples the first to defend their planet. For example, Oak Flat, an Apache Nation sacred site in Arizona, currently faces the threat of destruction. Despite years of Indigenous protest, multinational mining company Resolution Copper ...