As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice from Colonization to Standing Rock By Dina Gilio-Whitaker.

We were glad we read the book. It was a bit disjointed but offered good information. One comment the author made was that “colonialism is a precondition for capitalism” which generated some good discussion. Of course, capitalism requires a power differential, in contrast to the tribal focus on sharing power and honoring nature. But does classism require colonialism? Our education system latched onto and promoted capitalism. Monuments to capitalist industrial progress, such as railroads and dams, were a death knell to many Native American cultures, disconnecting them from their traditional land and trade routes.

Ecological justice has been a challenge for Native peoples since the ecology movement often doesn’t honor non-humans nor the importance of specific land and plants to their culture. For example, National Parks are set aside (often on Native land) and they are supposed to be uninhabited and empty, pristine. Who knew that some Japanese internment camps were on land where natives had been removed? The film Killers of the Flower Moon showed how Native Americans were pushed onto the worst land, but if the land turned out to have natural resources, Native Americans were removed by any means. There are 1,322 superfund sites and 532 of them are on Native land.

In Minnesota, some Native nations are trying to reclaim their lands and culture by restoring the Native diet. They have their own Department of Natural Resources and work with the state and county to secure food sovereignty through bison, rice, and gardens. The tribes are also working on youth mental health and getting Native resources into the schools.

Our discussion hit on a central question: what would economic/ecological justice look like with Native Americans at the center since it would be tied to the land? Often economic justice work lumps all minority groups together, which can blind these efforts to the unique history of Native Americans in the United States. One solution the author proposed was that the Rights of Nature be given legal personhood, just like corporations.

Evening book club meets next on Monday, April 14, to discuss Prequel by Rachel Maddow.