The Environmental Crisis on Native American Lands

At 3 Generations we have been telling the stories of the injustices suffered by Native Americans, their lands, and communities for over 10 years. We work to bring attention to the continued degradation of Indigenous lands and the vulnerability of native peoples. Many Indigenous Americans lack running water and sanitation. These resources are considered a basic human right.

An estimated 1 in 10 Indigenous Americans lack access to safe tap water or basic sanitation. Native American households are 19 times more likely than white households to lack indoor plumbing. In Canada, 61 Indigenous reservations have been under long-term drinking water advisories, some going as far back as 1995. Water contamination is also pervasive within these communities because oil and mining companies have left groundwater sources with elevated levels of toxic chemicals.

In the USA, Native reservations cannot raise money to fund any community project through property taxes as tribal territories are held in trust by the federal government. It is the United States government’s responsibility to care for Native reservation lands. In exchange for giving up millions of acres to the United States, tribes were promised a permanent homeland, and a livable reservation that would promote health and prosperity. But while the root causes vary depending on the Native American community, the overriding issue is the absence of an adequately funded comprehensive government policy to make good on treaty obligations. Tribal consultation, which is key to crafting tailored long-term solutions, is mostly absent.

3 Generations will continue to sound the alarm about Native American communities and the environmental issues they face until the US government rights the decades of wrongs they have perpetrated by denying Indigenous Americans the right to determine the fate of their lands. 

For information about this and any of our other issues. Please visit our website.

3 Generations works to bring attention to the injustices that Native Americans face in their ongoing struggle to determine the fate of their land, culture and values. This is a struggle that they have endured since the first European settlers came to North America over 500 years ago.

We recently shared information through social media and a blog post about the uncovering of unmarked graves of Native American children at former US and Canadian boarding schools. The forced assimilation of tens of thousands of children to these boarding schools in an attempt to kill Native American culture and their tribal system was a way for governments to try to remove them from their lands without actually having to fight them. 

The schools forbade the children from using their own languages and names, as well as from practicing their religion and culture. The children were taught that they must abandon their way of life because it was inferior to white people’s. In the schools they faced neglect, abuse and were susceptible to a wide range of illnesses. Many children died. The schools left a legacy of devastation and trauma but they failed to eradicate Native American cultures.

You can read our blog post on the topic Native Children Finally Coming Home here. We also have a number of social media posts about the memorials and marches in honor of the children who were lost to these schools and the push to bring their bodies home to their families and tribes. You can follow us on Facebook and Instagram to view them and to keep updated on further news.

To learn more about this and our other issues please visit our website 3generations.org.