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By Winona LaDuke
Special to News From Indian Country 10-09
 We have a shot at being self-determining or we can be the victims. This is a time of tumultuous change, economic downturns, accelerating climate destabilization and the depletion of oil supplies, meaning loss of access to cheap petroleum. If we don’t act, we will be caught in a very difficult place as Indigenous peoples.
We need to make decisions about the future of our communities and what that future will look like. Will we continue to rely on the outside industrial economy for our food, energy and other basic needs or will we look to create our own local economies as a way to determine our own destiny?
The Native Peoples Native Homelands Climate Change Workshop is an
opportunity to have a meaningful discussion about our future. Tribal
peoples and scientists from across the United States will gather at the
Workshop at Mystic Lake Casino and Hotel from November 18-21. Sponsored
by the NASA Tribal College and University Project, American Indian
Higher Education Consortium, and a number of Tribal Colleges and tribal
organizations, the Workshop will bring the next generation of
leadership, Native students, into the effort of mitigating climate
change and building adaptation strategies.
The impacts of climate change are already being felt in our
communities. The tribal village of Kivalina has taken action to sue l4
oil and coal companies because it is literally falling into the ocean.
Extended droughts and volatile weather are causing more havoc in our
communities, and economists around the world are predicting that up to
20% of world gross domestic product (i.e. money) will be used to
address climate change related disasters by 2020. The U.S. economy (and
in particular, the urban infrastructure, if Katrina and New Orleans are
an example) will find itself under more severe stress in the climate
challenged times ahead.
Now is the time to act. We can start by assessing our current
economies. Food and energy consume massive portions of our tribal
economies -- nearly half of the average tribal economy is spent outside
the reservation on energy and food. This creates a huge economic leak.
We can set a goal to re-localize tribal economies by developing energy
efficiency, renewable energy and sustainable food.
Perhaps one of the easiest ways to begin is through weatherization and
efficiency. When you consider that tribal communities face climate
change impacts first and foremost due to our remote and rural
locations, weatherization and efficiency are essential. Another step is
to restore traditional foods. Our indigenous crops were developed in a
pre-fossil fuel world, meaning they are drought and frost resistant and
resilient in the face of climate change. And, they don’t need petroleum
intensive fertilizers or extensive irrigation to grow.
Nationally, there is a great deal of work taking place in our
communities to re-localize food, energy and to build resilient and
sustainable economies. The Navajo people of the Shonto Chapterhouse are
one example of a community taking action. The Shonto chapter is the
first Native community to begin developing a locally owned renewable
energy utility. This utility will only be complimented by the current
work of the Navajo Nation to promote green jobs through the Navajo
Green Jobs Economy Commission. This is the first tribal commission
created specifically for the promotion of green jobs in Indian Country.
Great Plains tribes, from Cheyenne River to Rosebud, are also taking
action by developing wind power on their reservations. A set of planned
100 Megawatt projects will tap into one of Indian Country’s most
prolific resources, the wind. Solar heat is also taking hold in our
communities. One solar heating panel can save a family up to 40% of
winter utility costs. Lakota Solar Enterprises, based on Pine Ridge,
has manufactured and installed solar heating panels on reservations
across the upper Midwest.
A well-spring of local projects, from the Dream of Wild Health in
Minnesota to the Mvskoke Food Sovereignty Initiative in Oklahoma, are
bringing traditional foods back to the people and the land. Only 100
years ago, our communities produced almost all of our own food. Today,
we only produce less than 20%. The food we eat today travels far -- an
average of 1,500 miles from producer to table. As the price of oil
rises, so does the price of food, and this trend will only continue. We
cannot afford the rising cost.
We need to join together as Indigenous peoples to plan our own future,
to hear and learn from each other on how we are addressing climate
change and peak oil, and how together we can build strategies for our
survival. Come and join us at the Native Peoples Native Homelands
Workshop.
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