Indigenous Voices

We reviewed the peer-reviewed English-language research articles between January 2015 and September 2020 for examples of Indigenous peoples’ involvement in marine governance and management using the analytical lens of environmental justice.
Authors Meg Parsons (Māori (Ngāpuhi)), Lara Taylor (Māori (Ngāti Tahu Ngāti Whaoa, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngai Tahu), Dutch and Pākehā descent.), and Roa Crease (Ngāti Maniapoto, Filipino, Pākehā).

Grounded in the relationship between sustainability and epistemological justice, this paper presents a systematic review of literature regarding the incorporation of Indigenous and local knowledge into sustainability and environmental education.
Authors Sofía Druker-Ibáñez, and Lizethly Cáceres-Jensen.

This review explores how issues of intersectionality are addressed in environmental and sustainability education (ESE) literature, focusing on how gender is discussed in relation to other social identities such as class, race, sexuality, and ability. The analysis draws from feminist and decolonizing frameworks, and uses intersectionality to examine how ESE literature addresses issues as interconnected.
Authors Naomi Mumbi Maina-Okori, Jada Renee Koushik, Alexandria Wilson (Opaskwayak Cree Nation).

The Article focuses on the clash of rights between energy extraction companies investing abroad, and persons in indigenous communities whose lands are being condemned or disturbed to facilitate these companies' extraction activities. As the Article explains, international treaties force the State to protect both these interests and set up norms, backed by international judicial interpretations, that prioritize the economic benefits of resource extraction in the name of public benefits. Consequently, when the rights of investors and communities clash, governments almost categorically side with the interests of foreign investors, at the sacrifice of the interests of local communities.

Environment & Society (2150-6779). Sep2018, Vol. 9 Issue 1, p40-56. 17p. Author Anne Spice (Tlingit member of Kwanlin Dun First Nation)
This article tracks how the state discourse of "critical infrastructure" naturalizes the environmental destruction wrought by the oil and gas industry while criminalizing Indigenous resistance.

Arguing for the importance of robust public participation and meaningful Tribal consultation to address the cumulative impacts of federal projects, we bridge interdisciplinary perspectives across law, public health, and Indigenous studies.
(Mario Atencio, Hazel James-Tohe, Samuel Sage, and David J. Tsosie are Diné and are members of the Navajo Nation.)

As our planet faces more frequent and severe environmental threats due to climate change (including threats to biodiversity), environmental justice will be essential to ensure that the costs and burdens of combating these threats are shared equally, borne by all people worldwide in a fair and equitable manner. If the past is any indicator, however, environmental problems—and their “solutions”—disproportionately affect poor communities and communities of color, including Indigenous communities. Despite these past injustices, Indigenous lands, which make up only 20 percent of the Earth’s territory, contain 80 percent of the world’s remaining biodiversity—evidence that Indigenous peoples are among the most effective stewards of the environment.
Author Jennifer B. Rasmussen.

Springer Link Open Access Book Explores how co-governance and co-management agreements between Maori iwi and the New Zealand Government can achieve Indigenous environmental justice (IEJ).
Authors Meg Parsons (Māori (Ngāpuhi)), Lara Taylor (Māori (Ngāti Tahu Ngāti Whaoa, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngai Tahu), Dutch and Pākehā descent.), and Roa Crease (Ngāti Maniapoto, Filipino, Pākehā).