Climate Control and Native American Knowledge Exploitation


Written by: Chelsea North


Screenshot from ‘A Message To Humankind form the Wisdom Weavers’ YouTube trailer https://youtu.be/wyrT5HjnQ94


            It is no secret that Native Americans have a strong connection to the land around them. The land holds a sacred meaning and is a key component to their culture as whole. The Saint Regis Mohawk Reservation lies along the border to Canada and pollution is encroaching on their land. Paola Rosa-Aquino’s article ‘To Share or not to Share: Tribes Risk Exploitation When Sharing Climate Change Solutions’ explains the issues that the tribe of this area is facing with increasing pollution from nearby facilities.
            Paola explains that the nearby industrial facilities are the result of shifting changes in the plants and animals in the Saint Regis Mohawk region and as a whole greatly affecting the way the tribe is able to practice cultural ceremonies. Not only this, but also the tribes’ fish population and medicinal plants are being contaminated and destroyed by the pollution. Paola continues by pointing out that this is not the only issues the tribe is facing however. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe are negotiating best solutions to handle the pollution issues without disrespecting the tribe itself and their culture.
            Paola explains that Native people may be part of the solution to the increasing climate changes, “Indigenous peoples comprise only 5 percent of the world’s population, yet their lands encompass 22 percent of its surface. Eighty percent of the planet’s biodiversity is on the lands where they live,” (Rosa-Aquino, 2018). However, though the knowledge of indigenous people could help, they would make their culture vulnerable by sharing their practices, rituals, and knowledge. Paola points out that it is possible that the native people could be susceptible to disrespect of their knowledge and values. Tribes risk being blocked from their own access to their knowledge and resources, they risk being exposed to the public and in whole risk being exploited.

This isn’t a first time that government agencies have approached native people for input on how to resolve certain environmental issues. Several times already tribes have contributed to trying to heal the world and it seems that it is understood that indigenous people play a large role in helping us make earth better again. Paola provided a link to ‘A Message to Humankind’ a trailer created by “Wisdom Weavers of the World” that allows the world to see tribal elders from all over the world come together and discuss the environmental issues we are all facing today. Though it seems that native people are the solution it is unclear how their knowledge will remain sacred and remain in their grasp. It is an ongoing issue that seems controversial amongst Native people in respect to keeping their knowledge out of the wrong hands.





Sources

A Message to Humankind from the Wisdom Weavers of the World. (2018, November 16). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/wyrT5HjnQ94

Rosa-Aquino, P., & Rosa-Aquino, P. (2018, November 21). Tribes have climate wisdom - and good reason not to share it. Retrieved from https://grist.org/article/indigenous-knowledge-climate-change-solution/

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