Author Archive

Sacred Mountain Blockade: Protectors Halt Construction Mauna Kea

Indian Country Today: Not since the United States forced annexation of Hawaii in 1897 have traditional Hawaiians come together in such solidarity. On Wednesday, June 24, 750 activists blocked police and construction crews from reaching the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii’s tallest and most sacred mountain. Construction was to begin that day on the $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), which would have an eight-acre footprint on the mountaintop. The telescope project is under the management of the University of Hawaii....

8 tribes that are way ahead of climate-adaptation curve

Indian Country Today: Much has been made of the need to develop climate-change-adaptation plans, especially in light of increasingly alarming findings about how swiftly the environment that sustains life as we know it is deteriorating, and how the changes compound one another to quicken the pace overall. Studies, and numerous climate models, and the re-analysis of said studies and climate models, all point to humankind as the main driver of these changes. In all these dire pronouncements and warnings there is one bright...

Fill gaps in Keystone XL draft environment report or reject pipeline

Indian Country Today: Noting a lack of “critical information” about potential impacts to water supply, sacred sites and other aspects of tribal life governed by treaty and environmental stewardship, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) has urged the U.S. government to either fill the gaps in its environmental assessment of the Keystone XL pipeline or reject it entirely. “While grateful for the opportunity to submit these comments, it is with great concern that NCAI submits our comments related to the proposed...

Tribal Luminaries Participate in Massive Climate Change, Keystone Rally in Washington

Indian Country Today: Famed Native author Louise Erdrich is among the notables flocking to Washington, D.C. for a February 17 rally demanding governmental action on climate change. She is one of 72 people from Minnesotan who was scheduled to board what activists have dubbed the Earth Train from the Amtrak station in St. Paul, the Pioneer-Press reported. They are not only advocating against climate change but also demanding an end to the Keystone XL pipeline that cuts from the oil sands of Alberta, Canada to the Gulf...