Op-Ed: Growing Beyond Gold: Why Indigenous Sovereignty is Integral to Climate Work By Clara Feldman
There is unity among all things in this world—a web of interconnection that endures the strongest of storms. Humans are intimately related to the natural world, but we have been distanced from this space through centuries of colonial ideology and capitalist ventures. The violence and resource extraction that cleaved this separation persists today. In light of the escalating climate crisis, the relationships between humans and all of the natural world are becoming clearly visible as a greater number of communities begin experiencing effects of the climate crisis that can no longer be ignored. The relationship between humans and the Earth should be one of mutuality; but we have done more harm than good to this planet and the consequences of that behavior are visible. As ice shelves fall, fires rage, and storms tear apart communities worldwide, coalitions of climate activists such as Sunrise Movement and Extinction Rebellion are working to challenge the capitalist ideologies that create injustices
25 Headwaters Magazine
across social and ecological spheres. Rather than focusing solely on consumer-responsibility and individual action, climate groups are turning focus towards conglomerates and institutions that enable ecocide and exploitation. Coupled with this shift in focus is activists’ attempts to ensure that environmental justice is at the core of their work. In doing so, an abundance of Indigenous wisdom and leadership has found space to blossom where it was once stamped out. Progressive groups within today’s broader climate movement are increasingly aware of how necessary it is to highlight Indigenous leadership in all aspects of policy and activism work. Colonialism and capitalist systems that dominate our world do not focus on cultivating a sustainable relationship with the earth and are contradictory to Indigenous ways of knowing, which makes Indigenous leaders powerful agents for guiding and reshaping the ideologies that ground the climate movement. Representative of how Indigenous liberation and cli-
