For Native nations and activists, the Green New Deal holds promise. Its commitment to principles of environmental justice is highly relevant to us, but can only work if articulated in a way that addresses our specific concerns. We might think of this as “Indigenizing” environmental justice and see the Green New Deal as decolonizing work.
We need to imagine new frameworks for law and policy that articulate with specificity what Native people envision as a more just system, one that accurately represents our interests. This can best be accomplished by reinforcing the inherent sovereignty of tribal governments — recognizing our nationhood and political relationship with the U.S.
The bill promises to obtain free, prior and informed consent for “all decisions that affect indigenous peoples and their traditional territories, honoring all treaties and agreements with indigenous peoples, and protecting and enforcing the sovereignty and land rights of indigenous peoples.” This pledge alone is a radical shift toward justice, and yet there are ways to bolster it and build upon it for the future.
The Green New Deal’s insistence on free, prior and informed consent goes a long way toward Indigenizing environmental justice. Adding language that reinforces the United States’ endorsement of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples would further this goal.
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