Environmental Justice on Native American Land

Over the past several decades, the environmental justice movement has reshaped environmentalism by demanding consideration not simply for wilderness conservation and species preservation, but for complex social problems like environmental racism – in short, the disproportionate exposure of communities of color to toxic contamination and environmental degradation. These struggles have been meaningful within Native American communities for centuries, throughout the colonial project that disrupted possession of and relationships to land, through active genocide, assimilation or relocation policy, and/or government seizure and contamination of land and resources. This course aims to examine and illuminate the historical context of environmentalism and environmental justice as it relates to Native land; the current political and environmental challenges faced by those living on Native land; and our own personal and academic relationships to these struggles through group discussion and intensive independent research.