The Environmental Crisis on Native American Lands

3 Generations has always known that environmental and climate justice cannot happen without including Native voices. While communities of color, especially Native Americans, are disproportionately impacted by environmental degradation and climate change, they are not in positions of power to make decisions about their individual and community well-being. Many large nonprofits and foundations are fighting for conservation at the expense of Indigenous rights and sovereignty.

The environmental justice movement in the United States has always had a problem with diversity. Environmentally focused non-profits continue to be entrenched in whiteness, including their staff and board composition. Also, funders who support the environmental movement in the US still remain overwhelmingly white.

The composition of environmental nonprofits and the individuals within funding institutions has a direct impact on the voices that are heard, or not heard, and the approaches that are taken, or not taken, to advance environmental justice and combat climate change. For Native communities, this means that their traditional ecological knowledge is often dismissed, trivialized, and minimized in environmental discussions. 

This status quo of the environmental and climate justice movements must not continue. Without including Native voices, there can’t be vibrant environmental change in this country.

We will continue to share information about this and many other social justice issues on our social media and website. Thank you for your continued support of our work.