Frank, T. (2022, December 2). Indigenous tribes in U.S. will get $75 million for climate relocation. Scientific American. Retrieved January 20, 2023, from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/indigenous-tribes-in-u-s-will-get-75-million-for-climate-relocation/
Three Indigenous tribes—two in Alaska and one in Washington—are each receiving $25 million from the Biden administration in a voluntary relocation program which seeks to move homes, buildings, schools, facilities, and more out of areas threatened by climate change. The two tribes in Alaska, Newtok Village and the Native Village of Napakiak, are facing coastal erosion and ocean storms, while the tribe in Washington, Quinault Indian Nation, is threatened by sea level rise, flooding, storms, and tsunami hazards. A few other tribes in Alaska, Louisiana, California, and Maine are also getting lesser amounts of money from the Biden administration as well. The total funding for this initiative is $115 million, but the Bureau of Indian Affairs has estimated that Indigenous tribes will need $5 billion total, much more than they’re being offered, for sufficient relocation efforts.
While I think it’s important that the government help fund these relocation efforts and preserve Indigenous communities, I still think this is a saddening “solution.” So many Indigenous cultures value the environment much more than post-colonial America does, and their practices often emphasize sustainability and harmony with the land. Moreover, for many tribes, their ancestral land is considered sacred and spiritually important. While relocation might be necessary to protect from the impacts of climate change, it’s heartbreaking that some of the most historically environmentally conscious communities have to move from sacred ancestral lands just to stay alive. In studying and striving for environmental justice, I think it’s important to recognize the history of different cultures and to appreciate their care for the land, especially as these communities become most impacted by climate change, a human-caused crisis that they often didn’t really contribute to.
I completely agree with you because I think it is nice that the government is doing something, but money does not make everything better, especially if it is not enough. Instead of funding, I wonder what else we can do to preserve their land? If they were forcibly moved by colonists, like I am sure almost all of them were, can we give them their original land back?
Thanks for reading! You bring up a difficult debate that I won’t pretend to have the answer to. I think the first step to addressing environmental injustice towards Indigenous people is to start combating climate change and implementing greener solutions so fewer people end up displaced. As for efforts to “given them their original land back,” I’m not sure what the best plan of action would be. It’s a hard issue to address given how modern colonial and Indigenous societies have evolved with respect to the land.