141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

281939
Climate change, public health and indigenous peoples

Monday, November 4, 2013 : 4:55 PM - 5:15 PM

Winona LaDuke , Honor the Earth, Callaway, MN
As global climate destabilization intensifies, Indigenous communities are facing increased health threats, as a result of loss of food systems, loss of ecological habitat, and the crisis of climate changing. Our permafrost is melting, our oceans are acidifying, and traditional foods are endangered. Some thirty percent of the Navajo nation hauls water, one third of all tribal members of the US northern plains communities live in trailers, and fuel poverty already impacts most Indigenous peoples in northern reserves. At the same time, Native American reservations hold about one third of all western low sulfur coal reserves – which, in the present realm of climate change and mitigation, essentially need to be left in the ground. Our organization, Honor the Earth, advocates two prongs of action – and both involve challenging an extremely destructive economic paradigm that undermines Indigenous governance. The first is to mitigate the impacts of climate change by reducing fossil fuels. The second is to relocalize food systems. Our traditional foods are our medicines. Our ancient corn varieties have twice the protein and half the calories of market corn and are more drought and frost resistant. Tribes need to take jurisdiction over production, genetic integrity, processing purchasing and composting. This winter's emergence in Canada of a movement called Idle No More, has linked many Indigenous environmental and social justice struggles. Building on this promise for catalyzing for greater environmental justice transformation, we will discuss our strategies for re-indigenizing the economics of Native America.

Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health education
Diversity and culture
Environmental health sciences
Other professions or practice related to public health
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Describe two prongs of action the organization Honor the Earth advocates that involve challenging the economic paradigm that undermines Indigenous governance Discuss strategies for re-indigenizing the economics of Native America

Keywords: Indigenous Populations, Environmental Justice

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Winona LaDuke (Anishinaabe) is an internationally acclaimed author, orator & activist. A graduate of Harvard & Antioch with advanced degrees in rural economic development, LaDuke has devoted her life to protecting the lands & lifeways of Native communities.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.