11
Oct
Indigenous Peoples’ Day: A Time for Reflection, Reorientation, and Respect for the Natural World
(Beyond Pesticides, October 11-14, 2024) Indigenous Peoples’ Day is celebrated this year on Monday, October 14, 2024 and has been described as follows: “[T]hroughout our Nation’s history, Indigenous peoples have faced violence and devastation that has tested their limits. . . Today, Indigenous peoples are a beacon of resilience, strength, and perseverance as well as a source of incredible contributions. . . They challenge all of us to celebrate the good, confront the bad, and tell the whole truth of our history. And as innovators, educators, engineers, scientists, artists, and leaders in every sector of society, Indigenous peoples contribute to our shared prosperity. Their diverse cultures and communities today are a testament to the unshakable and unbreakable commitment of many generations to preserve their cultures, identities, and rights to self-governance. That is why, despite centuries of devastation and turmoil, Tribal Nations continue to thrive and lead in countless ways.” This language is taken from a Proclamation issued by President Biden, first in 2021 and then again last year.
The federal holiday on October 14, known as Columbus Day, has for many been reoriented to recognize that the “discovery” of America was, in fact, an invasion of the Western hemisphere by Europeans who took unceded land and undermined culture, self-governance, and a way of life. In fact, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), adopted in 2007, found that:
“[I]ndigenous peoples have suffered from historic injustices as a result of, inter alia, their colonization and dispossession of their lands, territories and resources, thus preventing them from exercising, in particular, their right to development in accordance with their own needs and interests.”
In explaining why the United States has never “endorsed” the Declaration, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) wrote: “The UNDRIP is not legally binding on States and does not impose legal obligations on governments, but like all human rights instruments, it carries moral force. While not endorsing the UNDRIP, the United States has agreed to support the Declaration.”
Indigenous Peoples’ Day has increasingly become a day to remember the people of those nations indigenous to their country. Indigenous cultures—because they arose as part of the land—have a history of generating food, clothing, medicines, and other necessities without destroying the land that provides them. As Kaipo Kekona shared with the Beyond Pesticides 39th Pesticide Forum, it is critical for us to learn from history—including the positive lessons from those ancestors who lived in harmony with their surroundings.
In Indigenous Peoples in North America: An Overview of Progress and Report of the Regional Dialogues for the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the author writes: “Numbering over 370 million people in over 70 countries around the world on every continent, Indigenous Peoples are practitioners and knowledge-bearers of distinct cultural, ecological, spiritual, health and healing practices, as well as systems of governance. Yet tragically, the rights of Indigenous Peoples have been violated worldwide through processes of colonization involving forced relocation as well as removal of children from their families. Large numbers of children were often placed in residential schools, where they suffered severe psychological and physical abuse.”
Indigenous agriculture arises from the ecology of a place, so the successful practices in Hawai’i are not necessarily the same as those Great Plains or Eastern North America or the Andes. But all offer wisdom that could protect us all from the health, biodiversity, and climate emergency that faces us. In the words of the indigenous authors of the White/Wiphala Paper on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems, “Since millennia, Indigenous Peoples have been protecting their environment and biodiversity. Today scientists are telling us that 80 percent of the remaining world’s biodiversity is in our lands and territories. We didn’t know this. Our ancestors did not know about biodiversity, ecology, ecosystem services, or CO2 trapping, but they knew that protecting the ecosystems, environment, and biodiversity were essential for our well-being and sustainability. Our elders, mothers and fathers taught us this as a way to exhibit good behaviour in the community.”
According to A-dae Romero-Briones (Cochiti/Kiowa) of the First Nations Development Institute, “There are stark differences between agricultural systems in indigenous communities and agricultural systems in contemporary communities. The first being the idea of collective resources. In an indigenous community, there are some things that just cannot be commodified – land, water, air, animals, even the health of the people, all of which are considered collective resources. Collective resources require collective and community management. Contemporary agriculture doesn’t have the same base. In contemporary agriculture, there are individualized, commodified resources like land, you can buy water, at one point in our history you could even buy somebody’s body and health.”
Indigenous systems of agriculture and the wisdom they embody are threatened by industrial agriculture, especially toxic chemical use. Indigenous agriculture depends on biodiversity—both in the plants and animals used for food and in the ecosystem in which they are grown. Although indigenous agriculture is more resilient to climate changes, recent extreme climatic events threaten peoples who can no longer move with the changing seasons.
In a recent report, EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) told the agency that although it “adhered to applicable tribal consultation policies when it conducted consultations for the three RUP [restricted use pesticide] actions that we reviewed, the EPA could update guidance to enhance the meaningful involvement of tribal governments in decision-making processes that affect Indian Country.” The investigation was specifically directed toward RUP actions, but the OIG’s advice that EPA define what constitutes “meaningful” involvement with tribes suggests that the agency might begin to learn from tribes about how indigenous farming and land management practices could avoid the use of pesticides that are so dangerous for health, biodiversity, and climate.
Letter to EPA
On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, I urge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to recognize that indigenous agriculture and landcare provide a model for a truly sustainable relationship with the land. These practices must be integrated into the agency’s decision making that now allows unreasonable levels of harm to health and the environment despite the availability of alternative practices and products. By ignoring this fact in registering pesticides, EPA promotes unsustainable practices, increasing crises with health, biodiversity, and climate—and undermines the opportunity for humans to live sustainably on Earth.
Indigenous cultures—because they arose as part of the land—have a history of generating food, clothing, medicines, and other necessities without destroying the land that provides them. It is critical for EPA to learn from history—including the positive lessons from those ancestors who lived in harmony with their surroundings.
Indigenous agriculture arises from the ecology of a place, so the successful practices in Hawai’i are not necessarily the same as those Great Plains or Eastern North America or the Andes. But all offer wisdom that could protect us all from the health, biodiversity, and climate emergency that faces us. In the words of the indigenous authors of the White/Wiphala Paper on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems, “Since millennia, Indigenous Peoples have been protecting their environment and biodiversity. Today scientists are telling us that 80 percent of the remaining world’s biodiversity is in our lands and territories. We didn’t know this. Our ancestors did not know about biodiversity, ecology, ecosystem services, or CO2 trapping, but they knew that protecting the ecosystems, environment, and biodiversity were essential for our well-being and sustainability. Our elders, mothers and fathers taught us this as a way to exhibit good behaviour in the community.”
Indigenous systems of agriculture and the wisdom they embody are threatened by industrial agriculture, especially toxic chemical use. Indigenous agriculture depends on biodiversity—both in the plants and animals used for food and in the ecosystem in which they are grown. Although indigenous agriculture is more resilient to climate changes, recent extreme climatic events threaten peoples who can no longer move with the changing seasons.
In a recent report, EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) told the agency, “EPA could update guidance to enhance the meaningful involvement of tribal governments in decision-making processes that affect Indian Country.” The OIG’s advice that EPA define what constitutes “meaningful” involvement with tribes suggests that the agency might begin to learn from tribes about how indigenous farming and land management practices could avoid the use of pesticides that are so dangerous for health, biodiversity, and climate. A starting place is the understanding that, in the words of A-dae Romero-Briones (Cochiti/Kiowa) of the First Nations Development Institute, “In an indigenous community, there are some things that just cannot be commodified—land, water, air, animals, even the health of the people, all of which are considered collective resources.”
I urge you to begin meaningful dialogue with tribes to learn how pesticide use can be avoided by adopting indigenous practices. When needs can be met without using pesticides, such use causes “unreasonable adverse effects on the environment”—the statutory standard for regulating pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act—and should result in the cancellation of the pesticide use.
Thank you.
Letter to U.S. Senators and Representative
Indigenous agriculture and landcare provide a model for a truly sustainable relationship with the land. By ignoring this fact in registering pesticides, EPA promotes the opposite, increasing problems with health, biodiversity, and climate–not to mention the possibility of humans living sustainably on Earth.
On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, I urge you to require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to engage in constructive dialogue with Native American Tribes to incorporate indigenous agriculture and landcare practices in its assessment of pesticide registrations that allow unreasonable harm to people and the environment, despite the viability of truly sustainable indigenous methods. These indigenous practices must be integrated into the agency’s decision making. By ignoring these practices in registering pesticides, EPA promotes unsustainable practices, increasing crises with health, biodiversity, and climate—and undermines the opportunity for humans to live sustainably on Earth.
Indigenous cultures—because they arose as part of the land—have a history of generating food, clothing, medicines, and other necessities without destroying the land that provides them. It is critical for EPA to learn from history—including the positive lessons from those ancestors who lived in harmony with their surroundings.
Indigenous agriculture arises from the ecology of a place, so the successful practices in Hawai’i are not necessarily the same as those Great Plains or Eastern North America or the Andes. But all offer wisdom that could protect us all from the health, biodiversity, and climate emergency that faces us. In the words of the indigenous authors of the White/Wiphala Paper on Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems, “Since millennia, Indigenous Peoples have been protecting their environment and biodiversity. Today scientists are telling us that 80 percent of the remaining world’s biodiversity is in our lands and territories. We didn’t know this. Our ancestors did not know about biodiversity, ecology, ecosystem services, or CO2 trapping, but they knew that protecting the ecosystems, environment, and biodiversity were essential for our wellbeing and sustainability. Our elders, mothers and fathers taught us this as a way to exhibit good behaviour in the community.”
Indigenous systems of agriculture and the wisdom they embody are threatened by industrial agriculture, especially toxic chemical use. Indigenous agriculture depends on biodiversity—both in the plants and animals used for food and in the ecosystem in which they are grown. Although indigenous agriculture is more resilient to climate changes, recent extreme climatic events threaten peoples who can no longer move with the changing seasons.
In a recent report, EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) told the agency, “EPA could update guidance to enhance the meaningful involvement of tribal governments in decision-making processes that affect Indian Country.” The OIG’s advice that EPA define what constitutes “meaningful” involvement with tribes suggests that the agency might begin to learn from tribes about how indigenous farming and land management practices could avoid the use of pesticides that are so dangerous for health, biodiversity, and climate. A starting place is the understanding that, in the words of A-dae Romero-Briones (Cochiti/Kiowa) of the First Nations Development Institute, “In an indigenous community, there are some things that just cannot be commodified – land, water, air, animals, even the health of the people, all of which are considered collective resources.”
Please urge EPA to begin meaningful dialogue with tribes to learn how pesticide use can be avoided by adopting indigenous practices. When needs can be met without using pesticides, such use causes “unreasonable adverse effects on the environment”—the statutory standard for regulating pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act— and should result in the cancellation of the pesticide use.
Thank you.
