Indigenous Environmental Network

Indigenous Environmental Network
Formation 1990
Headquarters Bemidji, Minnesota
Exec. Dir.
Tom B.K. Goldtooth
Website ienearth.org

Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) is a network of Indigenous, grassroots environmental activists, primarily based in the United States. Members have also represented Native American concerns at International events such as the Climate talks in Copenhagen, 2009, and Paris in 2016. IEN also organizes an annual conference; each year the conference is held in a different Indigenous Nation.[1]

IEN has 6 main goals:[2]

In 1991, at Bear Butte, South Dakota (a sacred site to many of the Plains Indians Peoples, the IEN established an Environmental Code of Ethics.[1] Key points include that indigenous people culturally, and Native Americans politically, are tied to their land; Native Americans in the United States and Canada are restricted to reservations if they want to maintain any kind of political nation idea; and that Indigenous people often have religious or ancestral ties to specific tracts of land.[1] This unique relationship makes them less likely to leave, makes the land more valuable, and makes them even more staunchly opposed to polluting it in any way.[1]

Past conference locations and projects include:

In 2009, IEN began the "Red Road to Copenhagen" initiative. Delegates attended the 15th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen. The Initiative statement read: “this initiative will bring accumulated traditional knowledge of Indigenous peoples from North America coming from climate-energy impact zones and persons experienced in linking an indigenous rights-based framework to climate policy.”[4]

IEN prioritizes multigenerational and inter-tribal organizing, and has specific youth and elders groups. IEN is governed party by an Elders Council. Their Youth Council solicits involvement by young Indigenous people and tries to make connections between the urban culture of the youth and the environmental issues the communities face.[5]

In 2016, members of IEN have been involved in the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, notably in the media coverage and in establishing the media tent at the Oceti Sakowin camp.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Brook, Daniel (Jan 1998). "Environmental Genocide: Native Americans and Toxic Waste". American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Vol. 57, No. 1. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Inc. 57: 105–113. JSTOR 3487423.
  2. 1 2 "The Indigenous Environmental Network". About IEN. IEN. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  3. Grossman, Zoltan (November 1995). "Linking the Native Movement for Sovereignty and the Environmental Movement". Native Americans and the Environment. Z Magazine 8(11): 42–50. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  4. "IEN COP15 delegation Information". IEN.
  5. "The Indigenous Environmental Network". About IEN. IEN. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  6. Begay, Jade (September 28, 2016). "Indigenous Women Leaders of Dakota Access Pipeline Resistance to Speak Out For Protection of Earth and Water". About IEN. Common Dreams. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
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