Readings on Race and Justice: Indigenous Peoples

John Marshall's landmark 1823 decision in Johnson v. M'Intosh gave the European sovereigns who "discovered" North America rights to the land, converting Native Americans in one stroke into mere tenants. In 1991, while investigating the historical origins of this highly controversial decision, Lindsay Robertson made a startling find in the basement of a Pennsylvania furniture-maker--the complete corporate records of the Illinois and Wabash Land Companies, the plaintiffs in the case. Drawing on these records, Conquest by Law provides, for the first time, a complete and troubling account of collusion, detailing how a spurious claim gave rise to a doctrine--intended to be of limited application--which led to the massive displacement of Native Americans and the creation of a law that governs indigenous people to this day.

Increasing biodiversity loss makes the call for effective nature conservation sound louder and louder. Most remaining biodiversity-rich areas are inhabited or used by indigenous peoples and local communities. In recent years a new paradigm of nature conservation with respect for the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities was put forward. This study investigates how nature conservation initiatives interact with the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, taking a human rights and legal anthropological perspective.

In recent decades, the various strands of the food movement have made enormous strides in calling attention the many shortcomings and injustices of our food and agricultural system. Farmers, activists, scholars, and everyday citizens have also worked creatively to rebuild local food economies, advocate for food justice, and promote more sustainable, agroecological farming practices. However, the movement for fairer, healthier, and more autonomous food is continually blocked by one obstacle: land access. As long as land remains unaffordable and inaccessible to most people, we cannot truly transform the food system. The term land-grabbing is most commonly used to refer to the large-scale acquisition of agricultural land in Asian, African, or Latin American countries by foreign investors. However, land has and continues to be "grabbed" in North America, as well, through discrimination, real estate speculation, gentrification, financialization, extractive energy production, and tourism.

"Our present ecological crisis is the greatest man-made disaster this planet has ever faced -- its accelerating climate change, species depletion, pollution and acidification of the oceans. A central but rarely addressed aspect of this crisis is our forgetfulness of the sacred nature of creation, and how this affects our relationship to the environment. There is a pressing need to articulate a spiritual response to this ecological crisis. This is vital and necessary if we are to help bring the world as a living whole back into balance"--Back cover.

Indigenous leaders and other visionaries suggest solutions to today's global crisis * Original Instructions are ancient ways of living from the heart of humanity within the heart of nature * Explores the convergence of indigenous and contemporary science and the re-indigenization of the world's peoples * Includes authoritative indigenous voices, including John Mohawk and Winona LaDuke For millennia the world's indigenous peoples have acted as guardians of the web of life for the next seven generations. They've successfully managed complex reciprocal relationships between biological and cultural diversity. Awareness of indigenous knowledge is reemerging at the eleventh hour to help avert global ecological and social collapse. Indigenous cultural wisdom shows us how to live in peace--with the earth and one another. Original Instructions evokes the rich indigenous storytelling tradition in this collection of presentations gathered from the annual Bioneers conference. It depicts how the world's native leaders and scholars are safeguarding the original instructions, reminding us about gratitude, kinship, and a reverence for community and creation.

In this unique anthology, women from around the world write about the movement to change the current, industrial paradigm of how we grow our food. As seed keepers and food producers, as scientists, activists, and scholars, they are dedicated to renewing a food system that is better aligned with ecological processes as well as human health and global social justice. Seed Sovereignty, Food Security is an argument for just that--a reclaiming of traditional methods of agricultural practice in order to secure a healthy, nourishing future for all of us. Whether tackling the thorny question of GMO safety or criticizing the impact of big agribusiness on traditional communities, these women are in the vanguard of defending the right of people everywhere to practice local, biodiverse, and organic farming as an alternative to industrial agriculture.

"Each spring when the ice clears, the Anishinabe (Chippewa) harvest fish from the lakes of Wisconsin and Minnesota. Their ancient subsistence fishing and hunting tradition is protected by treaties and reinforced by Federal Court rulings, but for years they were met by stones, racial epithets, and death threats hurled by local sports fishermen, resort and cottage owners, and other white neighbors. Walleye Warriors tells the exciting and empowering story of how a multi-race and class alliance of Anishinabe, local residents, and activists defused these dramatic and tense confrontations by witnessing and documenting them.

Co-published with UNESCO A product of the UNESCO-IHP project on Water and Cultural Diversity, this book represents an effort to examine the complex role water plays as a force in sustaining, maintaining, and threatening the viability of culturally diverse peoples. It is argued that water is a fundamental human need, a human right, and a core sustaining element in biodiversity and cultural diversity. The core concepts utilized in this book draw upon a larger trend in sustainability science, a recognition of the synergism and analytical potential in utilizing a coupled biological and social systems analysis, as the functioning viability of nature is both sustained and threatened by humans.

'A brilliant, gripping narrative.' Ralph Nader This eagerly awaited non-fiction debut by acclaimed Native environmental activist Winona LaDuke is a thoughtful and in-depth account of Native resistance to environmental and cultural degradation. LaDuke's unique understanding of Native ideas and people is borne from long years of experience, and is deepened by inspiring testimonies from local Native activists sharing the struggle for survival. LaDuke speaks forcefully for self-determination and community. Hers is a beautiful and daring vision of spiritual and environmental transformation.

A powerful and poignant novel tracing the lives of seven generations of Anishinaabe (O)bwe/Chippewa).'...an impressive fiction debut....skillfully intertwines social history. oral myth and character study...." Publishers Weekly.

When it became public that Osama bin Laden's death was announced with the phrase "Geronimo, EKIA!" many Native people, including Geronimo's descendants, were insulted to discover that the name of a Native patriot was used as a code name for a world-class terrorist. Geronimo descendant Harlyn Geronimo explained, "Obviously to equate Geronimo with Osama bin Laden is an unpardonable slander of Native America and its most famous leader." The Militarization of Indian Country illuminates the historical context of these negative stereotypes, the long political and economic relationship between the military and Native America, and the environmental and social consequences. This book addresses the impact that the U.S. military has had on Native peoples, lands, and cultures. From the use of Native names to the outright poisoning of Native peoples for testing, the U.S. military's exploitation of Indian country is unparalleled and ongoing.

When she invites us to "recover the sacred," well-known Native American organizer Winona LaDuke is requesting far more than the rescue of ancient bones and beaded headbands from museums. Calling as ever on her lyrical sensibility and caustic wit, moving from the popular to the politic, from the sacred to the profane, LaDuke uses these essays not just to indict the current situation, but to point out a way forward for Native Americans and their allies. 

Volume 1: Pilgrims and tourists / produced and directed by Christopher McLeod ; written and co-produced by Jessica Abbe (57 min.) -- Volume 2: Profit and loss / produced and directed by Christopher McLeod ; written and co-produced by Jennifer Huang (57 min.) -- Volume 3: Fire and ice / produced and directed by Christopher McLeod ; written and co-produced by Jennifer Huang (57 min.) -- Volume 4: Islands of sanctuary / produced and directed by Christopher McLeod ; written and co-produced by Jessica Abbe ; co-produced by Jennifer Huang (57 min.)