Native American Environmental Issues

How Did The Environment Affect The Native American Indians With Particular Reference To The Woodland Indians?

What if everyday in America there was not an action someone could take because someone of an opposite race sexually assaulted or domestically abused that person? Often news outlets only focus on major even in cities or towns, but never the reservations. With the lack of awareness of the number of rapes and domestic abuse victims on reservations, at large society is saying America doesn’t care due to reservations having sovereignty. Even with new laws signed into place by President Obama to deal with the rape and abuse problems to Native American women, that come from non Native Americans, the problem with this is it’s a pilot only on three tribes (Culp-Ressler,1).It is said it will expand soon, but how soon? America is not known for being

There are plenty of There are plenty of minority groups who are undeniably disparaged against but none as much as the Native American community. Not only did we take their lives and their land but we continue to disrespect the entire community every single day. Our negative attitudes, misconceptions, and offensive stereotypes that we direct their way are not only hate induced but have an extremely negative impact on the Native American Identity. Our poor media representation of the Native American community is overwhelmingly harmful to its citizens and does not seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. We are hearing quite a bit about the Native American community right now with the protesting going on in North Dakota. Oil big business has plans to build a pipeline that will transport crude oil across North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois. This project will undoubtedly have major environmental impacts on the land that is runs under. The oil company responsible for the project meticulously mapped out where this environmental blunder should be built, and it is unfortunately no surprise as to where they decided it should be. The underground pipeline is set to be built across thousands of acres of Native American land. Of course it is. The level of disrespect and blatant disregard we have as the majority monstrous with dealing with Native Americans. History is once again repeating itself. We are taking land that does not belong to us, destroying it, and then expecting a

Environmental justice links a number of social movements—anti-racism, Aboriginals rights, and the mainstream environmental movement—and addresses the problem of environmental racism (Gosine & Teelucksignh, 2008, p. 11). The concept of environmental justice in the U.S was associated with the struggles over toxic waste sites and the call for equal treatment of all communities, radicalized or not (p. 9). It was about looking at human health rather than preserving areas deemed as “playgrounds for the rich.”

Pember, Mary Annette. "Initiative Grants Access to STEM Curriculum." Diverse: Issues in Higher Education 27.3 (2010): 7-8. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Oct.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe currently fights to save its only water source from natural gas and oil contamination. This troubling current event has a somewhat forgotten historical analogue where very similar themes presented themselves. The Kinzua Dam Controversy, which took place in the 1950’s and early 1960’s, resulted in the displacement of over 600 Seneca Indian families and the acquisition of a large tract of traditional Seneca Land for dam building. Additionally, the acquisition of Seneca land represented a breach of “The Treaty with the Six Nations of 1794,” which explicated prevented such action by the US Government. The dam and its construction, which primarily benefitted Pittsburg, inspired a heated discourse concerning the ethics of native relocation.

Over the course of the expedition, Lewis and Clark developed a ritual that they used when meeting a tribe for the first time. The captains would explain to the tribal leaders that the their land now belonged to the United States, and that a man far in the east – President Thomas Jefferson – was their new “great father.” They would also give the Indians a peace medal with Jefferson on one side and two hands clasping on the other, as well as some form of presents (often trade goods). Moreover, the Corps members would perform a kind of parade, marching in uniform and shooting their guns. Fifty years before Lewis and Clark, the Blackfeet Indians had a reputation of being hospitable to Europeans, who occasionally even

To a Native American, ones heritage can define who an individual is and may become. When America was being populated by Europeans there was an effort to alter the way of life for Native Americans forcing them to adopt new ideas and abandon their traditions. This has led to modern Native Americans feeling like they have lost a large piece of their identity. Native Americans struggle in mainstream society because they have dealt with great trauma and don’t have the tools to help them cope in healthy ways. They have been torn from their homes and heritage, as there was “centuries of forcible removal of Native American children from their homes in order to be assimilated into mainstream American culture” (Wyant). The result of these kinds of actions

During pre-European times, Puebloan and Apachean environmental impacts were minimal when compared to white impacts, which began in the Southwest in the 16th century . From the 18th to early 19th centuries, grazing from Spanish and Mexican livestock had some effects upon the local landscape (Pilsk, 2001). Anglo settlement in the late 1800s which introduced grazing, mining, logging, irrigation, and invasive species began to have significant cumulative effects upon the landscape.

After reaching the coast, many captives were confined to slave forts, slave castles, or outdoor holding pens. The slaves could then spend anywhere from days up to a year in these factories awaiting a horrible, yet unknown journey ahead of them. The living conditions for the male and female captives in these forts, castles, or holding pens were horrible. They were treated like a piece of trash. Some of the captives were assimilated into the waterside markets, and some were separated from their life. The captives were turning into the “independence beings into human commodities.” Independence beings into human commodities mean that the traders for captives were turning the captives into a property. When the traders turned the captives into a

In the United States, sources of pollution such as toxic waste dumps, incinerators, manufacturing plants, and other facilities are typically located in lower income neighborhoods—often African American and Latino—because poorer communities do not have the political and legal clout that wealthy communities do. People might argue that by placing environmental hazards in poor communities, it gives them an opportunity for employment where otherwise they can try to look for employment elsewhere but not get hire for the same reason they are building polluting machines and hazardous buildings in their neighborhood. Yes, it is an opportunity for employment but at what cost, by putting them in danger. This can easily be alleviated by evenly distributing the pollutants around the city, state, or country not targeting only a certain population but all populations. Another ethical option to help with the issue is increasing environmental standards for consumers by revising laws on pollutants that are permissible and not permissible. Of course, there are pollutants that we as a society need in order to keep up with today’s waste and population but limiting the unnecessary ones that only benefit a very small portion of the population will make even a small difference. We have to keep in mind that by addressing the issue of

Political Urban Ecology examines the connection between racism, the distribution of resources, and the political rights of non human organisms that share our environment. Urban in this case denotes not just the large scale agglomeration of people but the complex and varying activities of people that impact the environment. Political describes the political aspect as it relates to class and race structures, as well as environmental justice in the form of democratic representation of the environment. The historic distribution of land and resources has created wealth and prosperity for a few, who are not being held accountable for the environmental cost, these same people have a disproportionate amount of political clout that allows them to maintain

Hazards and pollutants are apparent in a variety of outcomes. Possible outcomes include asthma, cancer and chemical poisoning (Gee and Payne-Sturges 2004: 1647). Furthermore, “Although debated, the main hypothesis explaining these disparities is that disadvantaged communities encounter greater exposure to environmental toxins such as air pollution, pesticides, and lead” (Gee and Payne-Sturges 2004: 1647). Therefore, disadvantaged groups, such as people of color and the poor, experience greater environmental risks. Additionally, “Blacks in particular are exposed to a disproportionate amount of pollution and suffer the highest levels of lead and pesticide poisoning and other associated health problems” (Jones and Rainey 2006: 474). People of color, essentially, compete to live healthily. For example, African-Americans and Africans alike, struggle with the negative affects of oil refineries and unresponsive governments. The same can be said for Hispanics in California and the natives of Ecuador, who are forced to cope with the pollution of the Texaco oil refineries (Bullard 2001: 4). Environmental racism not only exploits natural resources, it abuses and profits from the communities involved. Governments and polluting facilities will continue to capitalize on the economic susceptibilities of poor communities, states, nations and regions for their “unsound” and hazardous operations (Bullard 2001: 23).

As stated in the thesis, environmental injustice mostly affects minority communities. In a map presented by the Los Angeles Times, in Southeast LA there are 26 communities- which 83.9% of the inhabitants are of minority groups (Southeast, n.d.). Similarly, another map released by EPA from the 1990 U.S. Census illustrates that in places where there is 80 to 100% of people of color there is at least 2

Living in a highly industrialized world that is ruled by capitalism, the concern for the environment often takes a back seat. Individuals or companies nowadays prioritize achieving optimal profit without putting into mind what their respective actions or productions may have an effect on the environment. They do not realize how important the role of our environment plays in the quality of human life. We can say that a good environment leads to a better quality life, while a bad environment could lead to a harmful and unproductive life. Now, it becomes unfair and unjust when the risks and costs of a company affect a certain group of people and on the opposite side of the spectrum another group of individuals enjoy the benefits without costs. The individuals that are affected badly are usually from Third World Countries where the distribution of risk and costs are not even (Low and Gleeson 1999). This is where Environmental Justice comes in. Environmental Justice mainly concerns the welfare of human beings (Low and Gleeson 1999). Talking about cities where capitalism surges from, it has been argued that these cities are ‘unfairly structured’ (Low and Gleeson 1999). Basically, what this is saying is that the wealthier you are, the better or cleaner the environment. On the other hand, if you are poor, then the environment around you will have more health risks. This kind of injustice or disparity is what adds fuel to the fire of environmental justice. In