Building a Clean Energy Future

March 26, 2024 / aztec8888 / Leave a comment

As you know, very few things matter to me — and to this organization and to the planet we all hope our future generations can continue to inhabit — as much as a just transition to clean energy. That’s why we support communities fighting on the frontlines against harmful extractive projects, like the Standing Rock Nation and the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony as they resist the Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL) and Thacker Pass lithium mine, respectively. It’s also why we continue to ally with Native-led groups promoting climate solutions which encompass Indigenous knowledge and respect tribal sovereignty.

To that end, this week I traveled to the Muscogee Nation near Tulsa, OK, to attend the second annual Tribal Energy Equity Summit. I was honored to speak at this important gathering, hosted by the Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy. It brought leaders from tribes and organizations across Turtle Island together with representatives from the federal government to share our viewpoints and advance equitable clean energy solutions. As part of my attendance, I sat down with Chéri Smith, the alliance’s president and CEO, to talk about the importance of Indigenous agency in creating a clean energy future for tribes. Please watch our short video, meet Chéri, and learn more about her organization’s mission.

Watch: I sat down with Chéri Smith, President and CEO of the Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy, to talk about the importance of Indigenous agency in creating a clean energy future for tribes.

It’s been — if you’ll pardon the pun — an energizing week! The summit afforded me a great opportunity to network with like-minded people and organizations, meet new friends, and reconnect with old ones. I was especially happy to share space with Dennis “Bumpy” Pu‘uhonua Kanahele, head of the Nation of Hawai’i, which maintains its status as a sovereign government under international law, independent of the United States.

As our presence at the same summit that also hosted a pair of representatives from the White House indicates, this was a diverse gathering which welcomed a multitude of perspectives on how we can solve tribal energy issues in a just way and begin to remediate the climate crisis. As you know — and as exemplified by DAPL’s violation of our treaty lands, which hold so much potential for renewable energy development — those two issues are inextricably linked. I’m excited to see where we’ll go from here!

Speaking of DAPL: many of you have reached out to us after reading about my participation in the ongoing trial to determine whether the federal government should reimburse the State of North Dakota for exorbitant costs it alleges it incurred by over-policing our peaceful NoDAPL movement in 2016 and 2017. This article and this one can provide you a bit more of my perspective. I’ll also plan to report back to you with further thoughts once we hear of a judgment.

Wopila tanka — as always, thank you for supporting environmental justice!
Chase Iron Eyes
Director and Lead Counsel
The Lakota People’s Law Project

Coalition Building

February 22, 2024 / aztec8888 / Leave a comment

You’ve heard from me a few times already this year about the importance of coalition building to achieve a new level of effectiveness — not just in our own work, but in the work my Indigenous relatives are undertaking at tribal nations across Turtle Island. To that end, today I share with you about a trip I took to spend a few days earlier this month with people I greatly respect at the Wind River Reservation in so-called Wyoming.

The seventh largest reservation in the U.S., the Wind River Nation encompasses more than 2 million acres of incredible wildlands, and it’s home to people from both Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes. I went to visit a few friends there, including Wes Martel, who you may remember from his keynote speech at the Great Plains Water Alliance’s Winter Water and Climate Conference, featured in our 20th Dakota Water Wars chapter. I also spent time with Jason Baldes, a central figure helping to return American Buffalo to Wind River and other tribal nations. I encourage you to watch “Homecoming,” a short documentary on PBS, about his wonderful work.

Watch: Buffalo return to Wind River in “Homecoming,” a PBS short documentary featuring the voice and good work of Jason Baldes.

To you, the inextricable link between Native people and buffalo is likely no mystery. Jason speaks to this eloquently in the documentary.“To restore that animal to our communities means that we can begin to heal,” he says. “From atrocities of the past, from loss of land, from loss of culture, loss of language. It’s foundational to who we are.”

That’s just one example of good Indigenous storytelling emanating from Wind River. While there, I also discovered the great music of Christian Wallowing Bull, a talented Northern Arapaho singer-songwriter featured in the new documentary film “Lone Wolf,” which premiered in California a few days ago. I then spoke with Dave Herring, the film’s director. I hope that you’ll watch their film and be as inspired by Christian’s story as I was.

As you can see, we’re taking extra time this year to build connections with people, organizations, and tribal nations. In order to create a better society, it’s critical to advance not just our own priorities as Lakota People, but also those of all our relatives with their own traditional knowledge systems, art, and dreams. Between us, we’ve got much more in store to share with you. Stay tuned!

Wopila tanka — My continued thanks for supporting all Indigenous people, art, and culture.
Chase Iron Eyes
Director and Lead Counsel
The Lakota People’s Law Project

Lakota People’s Law Project
547 South 7th Street #149
Bismarck, ND 58504-5859

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Climate Alteration: Words Are Important

January 23, 2024 / aztec8888 / Leave a comment

Global Warming: a very passive title to address a very lethal problem.
Example: It is getting a little warm outside, nothing to worry about.

Climate Change: a perfect setup to generate perfect rebukes.
Example: The climate is always changing. climate is just doing what climate has always done and human activity has nothing to do with it.

Climate Crisis: a very selective term. It is only a crisis for the people immediately affected. Also falls into the maligned category of ¨alarmist¨

The term I adopted:
Climate Alteration: A very pointed terminology to address the impact human activity is having on the global climate. Our activities are altering climate systems on a global scale causing extreme weather events. Yes, temperatures on average across the globe are rising and this disturbance is causing extreme temperatures (hot and cold) extreme drought, extreme flooding, and extreme storms. The rise in global temperature has upset the balance. This alteration has been building up slowly as the oceans absorbed most of the extra heat. But now, plain to see for everyone paying attention to weather-related news or looking out their own windows, extreme weather is pushing organisms and plants to extinction. Our crops are being destroyed. The range of many insects, birds, and animals has shifted.
Here on this thread are the thousands of articles, references, and comments that illustrate Climate Alteration. We have documented how some are being innovative in developing mitigation strategies. Some are also being manipulative and stupid and we are intelligent enough to research and decide for our communities what we need to do if our governments do not act.

As animals and plants are forced to shift their range because of extremes in weather, so do people.

By now, you’re likely well aware of the climate crisis and its significant dangers to Indigenous communities the world over. The problem is especially magnified on islands and in coastal regions, where sea level rise can wipe away traditional homelands and make climate refugees of those who have been displaced. That’s true even right here on Turtle Island, where hundreds of Native communities — in South Dakota, Alaska, Florida, Hawai’i, Washington, and Louisiana — face existential threats.

And now, the first community to supposedly be moved from harm’s way — the Jean Charles Choctaw Nation — is facing a new set of problems. Just before the new year, the tribe filed a landmark civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) against the state of Louisiana. In 2016, HUD granted Louisiana $48 million in aid to resettle the tribe. But, its complaint asserts, Louisiana failed to properly implement the grant and has ethnically and racially discriminated, violated tribal sovereignty, excluded cultural components central to a proper relocation program, and provided poor replacement housing.

The Jean Charles Chactaw Nation has always lived here, on the Isle de Jean Charles. The climate crisis and resultant rising sea levels have endangered the tribe’s homeland and forced many members to move to inadequate replacement housing in a new location. Photo credit: Chantel Comerdelle.

The Jean Charles Choctaw Nation has resided on the Isle de Jean Charles for five generations, since the ancestors of its citizens escaped the Trail of Tears in the early 1830s amid President Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act. Its homelands and burial grounds are located in a region facing perpetual devastation and erosion by storms and sea level rise. Since 1955, the Jean Charles Choctaw Nation has lost over 98 percent of its lands to the encroaching ocean.

It’s also worth noting that the tribe is located in Terrebonne Parish, a region notorious for oil extraction, high pollution rates, and environmental justice violations. The Parish and over 90 percent of its property are largely controlled by non-local fossil fuel and chemical companies. The infamous “Cancer Alley” is just upstream.

Watch this short documentary detailing the tribe’s relocation.

By filing its complaint with HUD, the Jean Charles Choctaw Nation is looking to the federal agency to investigate the grant-funded resettlement program, currently run by Louisiana’s Office of Community Development (OCD). The tribe hopes HUD will order OCD to respect tribal needs and authority as the program’s implementation proceeds.

The lawsuit is also significant in that, while the tribe has state recognition from Louisiana, it does not have federal recognition, which would extend access to more grants, disaster assistance, and various legal powers — including constitutional protections and self-governance recognized by the United States. Lakota Law will keep an eye on this case and report back to you. As always, we’re grateful to you for standing in solidarity with every community of color on the frontlines of environmental justice.

Wopila tanka — thank you for your unwavering dedication!
Chase Iron Eyes
Director and Lead Counsel
The Lakota People’s Law Project

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Why the Current Paradigm Does Not Work

November 22, 2023 / aztec8888 / Leave a comment

“A lot of people from American society don’t understand our connection, our intergenerational connection, and how deep it runs within us to the land and the Earth,” Logan said.

Logan described a thanksgiving speech, or Ganö:nyök, that the Seneca recite to recognize the natural world around them.

“We start at the Earth and we go all the way up to the sky, to the creator, and it covers everything from the water, the plants, food, medicine, trees, birds, animals, everything in the natural environment,” Logan said. “If any one of those things goes away, eventually we will perish.”

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/22112023/new-york-clean-hydrogen-indigenous-nation-sees-threat/

Creating sustainable energy does not mitigate the problem.
I used to get into these tremendous arguments with my father about progress.
To summarize my stance: I used to take the bus because I did not have a car. I suffered through strange men groping me, people smoking, waiting in the rain for late busses, limiting my shopping because I could not carry a lot of stuff. It was sometimes unbearable.
I was able to buy a car and at first, it was incredible. I had freedom! I had safety! It was convenient and I could go shopping in many places and load everything in the trunk!

But then one rainy day I drove by a crowded bus stop and realized all I had done was trade some problems for other problems. I now had a vehicle in which I had a traffic accident: someone ran into me and the car had to be repaired. I could get parking tickets so I always had to hunt around for parking space, and in some places, I had to pay for parking. I had insurance to pay, and I had to spend my Sundays washing the car. I had maintenance and car repairs. Instead of a monthly bus pass, I now had a car loan to pay off. I had a driver’s license to renew at the DMV. I had a yearly car registration to renew. I had to have a car inspection to get the registration renewed. I worried about someone trying to steal the car, so I bought an expensive car alarm system. Instead of being able to dose off when riding in the bus, I had to stay alert at all times when driving the car. I now got stuck in traffic jams on the freeway and ended up taking a longer time to get home from work than if I had taken the bus!
When I added it up, I actually had more problems than when I rode the bus.

Energy is not created or destroyed – it just changes form.

https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Law_of_conservation_of_energy

IMHO

I think this law applies to everything we do. There is no such thing as progress. We just change out one set of actions for another, one set of problems for another. We are not getting anywhere from where we started. We are making things worse.

We used to know how to make the things we needed, but now we are dependent on people and systems for everything.

We used to be able to drink water from the rivers and fish/hunt for our food.
Now we use self-checkout at stores that sell us contaminated and processed unnutritious food.

We used to work in our fields growing the food from sun up to sundown.
Now we sit in cars in traffic for hours to get to work and then back home so we can afford a gym membership to try and stay fit.

We used to sit on our front porches on hot summer evenings because we had no air conditioning and would talk to our neighbors to get the daily gossip.
Now we are isolated in air-conditioned homes with security systems behind locked doors.

So, back to the article I cited. Little has changed in relation to the land and indigenous people. They have a pristine forest with old-growth trees. How are they able to still live there and the land has not been destroyed? – that is the big question.

We are clearly missing some knowledge.
We come along and want to build a potentially polluting ¨Green¨ plant right next to their land because, you know, progress.

We live an unsustainable, nonregenerative lifestyle. That is why their forest is beautiful and all the other land is polluted, exploited, and dead.

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Energy Solutions

September 7, 2023 / aztec8888 / Leave a comment

Since 2017, Lakota Law’s team has worked with leadership at the Standing Rock Nation to help bring clean energy to my homelands. We’ve now assessed solar potential on a dozen tribal government buildings, and for the past few months we’ve worked overtime to help my tribe prepare to apply for historic sums of grant money. President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act has earmarked as much as $100 million for individual low income communities — including tribal nations — to transition to low-carbon technologies.

Like most good things, finding the right way to take advantage of the massive solar and wind potential in the Dakotas has taken a significant investment of time and money — but we’re getting there! As they say, it takes money to make money, and that’s one reason I’m reaching out to you today. Please help us push through the homestretch of this grant and assessment process. Every dollar you can give now will help us save the tribe and its members so much more down the line. This could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for tribes to take a leadership role in the transition to cleaner, greener energy.

I’ve been working for years to increase solar and wind production on the Standing Rock Nation. High energy costs from our utility can leave our people without power during the Dakotas’ harsh winters. That’s not acceptable.

As part of the Inflation Reduction Act, a $7 billion solar grant called “Solar for All” will make up to five $25-100 million grants available to different tribes or tribal consortia. The Lakota People’s Law Project aims to ensure that Standing Rock and several other South Dakota tribes can make their best case to collect and use a portion of these funds to install solar panels that will help the people pay less and stay safe.

That last part is important. In yet another example of injustice toward Native communities, tribal members at Standing Rock pay 33 percent more for electricity than people living just an hour away in Bismarck, North Dakota. That’s money most can’t afford to pay, which can result in life-endangering power shut-offs during winter months when midwestern temperatures can dip well below zero.

By collecting and storing energy from the abundant sun above the plains, tribal governments and communities can save — and even earn by sending power back to the grid. And by building out a cohesive clean energy system, Standing Rock and other South Dakota tribes can demonstrate a sustainable model for other tribal nations and communities to follow. I consider this to be one of the most important things I’ve ever worked on, and I deeply value your continued solidarity as we pursue this plan.

Wopila tanka — my gratitude for all of your care and support,
Phyllis Young
Standing Rock Organizer
The Lakota People’s Law Project

Protecting Our Land

August 10, 2023 / aztec8888 / Leave a comment

Today, I share with you our new blog and video delving into the long, disturbing history of mining on Indigenous lands on Turtle Island. As we’ve written to you previously, the sacred lands of our Paiute and Shoshone relatives at Peehee Mu’huh (or Thacker Pass) in Nevada are under imminent threat from a massive new lithium mine. They did not give their consent for this project, and now it could despoil sacred ceremonial grounds, historic massacre sites, and sensitive habitat home to several protected species.

In our new, short video — which you can find near the top of my blog — Paiute elder Dean Barlese discusses the importance of protecting our shared world.

Thacker Pass isn’t the only mining project currently endangering Native homelands. The Yaqui people are struggling to effectively resist another massive lithium mine in Sonora, Mexico, and according to the Associated Press, our southern neighboring nation has become the world’s deadliest location for environmental activists. And in our sacred Black Hills right here in the Dakotas, lithium is joining gold, uranium, and other precious elements on the list of mining interests we’ve been confronted by for 150 years.

I encourage you to read my blog to learn more, and watch the accompanying video to get additional perspective from Dean Barlese, a respected Paiute elder. Our thoughts today are also with all those on Maui in the Kingdom of Hawaii. We are praying for the safety of all living things in that beautiful place as they confront deadly fires powered by fast winds fueled by yet another hurricane.

This is, of course, all related. Storm frequency and intensity rise in conjunction with the out-of-balance relationship we have with Unci Maka, our Grandmother Earth. Our society’s failure to listen to Indigenous knowledge and plan ahead accordingly exacerbates the climate crisis and puts the future in peril for my generation and those to come. The youth say it. The elders are saying it. It’s time to make big changes before it’s too late. That’s why your advocacy with our cause is so important. It’s up to us — working together — to change the game.

Wopila tanka — thank you, always, for your care and attention.
Tokata Iron Eyes
Spokesperson
The Lakota People’s Law Project

The Power of Indigenous Knowledge

May 6, 2023 / aztec8888 / Leave a comment

Greetings from Pine Ridge. I’ll keep this email short and sweet — but only because I want you to spend your reading time on today’s blog! I’ve also recorded a short video, which you’ll see near the top of the blog page. What’s my topic? I’m highlighting the importance of Indigenous knowledge in tackling the climate crisis in the wake of the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report and convening of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

Click above to watch a short video and read my blog about the importance of Indigenous knowledge when it comes to solving the climate crisis.

Please do read the blog, but here’s one of my key points. The climate crisis is real, it’s serious, and it’s existential — but that’s not a reason for pessimism. In order to win this fight, we must listen to one another, celebrate the good work being done, and tap into our resilience as human beings. We should recognize the victories we’re achieving now and incorporate both science and the understanding Indigenous communities have had for Unci Maka — our grandmother Earth — for thousands of years.

We know about resilience, and we aren’t scared of the apocalypse. In the era of colonization, we’ve already been living through it for generations. We haven’t lost our faith or our capacity for optimism, and we’re not going to give those up now. I invite you to hear my perspective and take on this challenge with me so the generations to come can tell an inspiring story of reconnection and recovery.

Wopila tanka — thank you for caring for Unci Maka!
Tokata Iron Eyes
Organizer
The Lakota People’s Law Project

On this day in 2016…

November 22, 2022November 24, 2022 / aztec8888 / Leave a comment

I had arrived in Bismarck, North Dakota. Scroll back to the beginning of this blog and you can read about the history of events at Standing Rock. Some things have changed, many things have stayed the same. The things I witnessed there made me profoundly angry and sad. I saw militarized police practicing with their new gear how to do crowd control. I experienced racism and hatred from the local population in town. I witnessed how some people infiltrated the camp and tried to cause destruction from within the movement. They were largely unsuccessful because of the people´s spirit. This was a sacred space. I talked to the spirits one freezing night. It was those spirits that I called on for help last year while I was being held against my will in the COVID-19 ward in the hospital. Yes, after traveling to such a sacred place you experience the power of the spirits.

In 2017, I left the U.S. and moved to Costa Rica. The history is very different here. They do not have an army. I wish everyone a holiday season when they remember the spirits and their ancestors and fight to maintain their freedoms and way of life. A way of life that is non-destructive of the environment and other people. These are dangerous times.

California Solidarity

October 25, 2022 / aztec8888 / Leave a comment

Han, Mitakuyepi. I’ll start by thanking every one of you who supported our Oceti Vote event this past weekend. Your friendship helped to create something very special — a successful Native voter outreach campaign and also a true celebration of our Lakota culture. Today we’re submitting the many voter registrations we gathered, and we’ll have a lot more to share with you once we’ve all had a chance to look back at everything.

In the meantime, I’d like to draw your attention to something important from our sister org, Let’s Green CA! They’ve created a solidarity action to protect the Juristac — the ancestral lands of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, Indigenous People in what is now called Northern California. As Santa Clara County evaluates an environmental impact report on a proposed sand and gravel mining project, your input could help protect the sacred! So, because you live in California, today I ask you to stand with my relatives on the west coast of Turtle Island and tell the County: no mining at Juristac!

The Lakota People’s Law Project and Let’s Green CA! (which also just got a climate equity bill signed into law in California) take both environmental and Indigenous justice extremely seriously. The two are inextricably intertwined, because far too often, Indigenous communities wind up on the frontlines battling extractive industry which demonstrates no regard for Unci Maka, our Grandmother Earth, nor for us as this land’s first inhabitants and stewards.

The Amah Mutsun Band’s fight to protect the Juristac from being torn asunder by miners sounds a lot like our fight to stop gold, uranium, and lithium mining in our sacred He Sapa — the Black Hills. Our relatives in so-called Nevada have a similar fight on their hands with the lithium mining at Thacker Pass. And then there are all the oil pipelines — Dakota Access, Keystone XL, Line 3 — you have helped us resist.

It’s critical that we continue to stand in solidarity with one another every step of the way, each time any project imperils Unci Maka and the future we wish to create for the next seven generations. By widening our circle, we increase our power. So, please do keep tabs on the good work of Let’s Green CA! and show your support by submitting a comment to protect the sacred at Juristac. Rest assured that together, we can and will continue to win justice — for Indigenous People and for our Grandmother Earth.

Wopila tanka — thank you for your friendship and solidarity!
DeCora Hawk
Field Organizer
The Lakota People’s Law Project