Vol. 15, No. 1, Fall 2001

Reclaiming Our Responsibilities:
The Twelfth Annual Protecting Mother Earth Conference

Jacquelyn Ross

Twelve years ago, the Dine people in Dilkon, Arizona considered a request to house a waste incinerator operation on their land. As in many Indian communities, there was great pressure to accept this business proposition from outsiders. It looked enticing. Jobs and money were dangled like candy in front of a community with few opportunities for either. But the people researched the industry and discovered the hidden environmental costs of such a facility, and refused the incinerator.

This act attracted considerable interest in Indian country. Tribal people from all over the United States came to hear more from Dine C.A.R.E. (Citizens Against Ruining our Environment), the group that had had the courage to say "no." I attended that first Protecting Mother Earth conference. It was a modest affair, a campout held in a sheep field in Dilkon. The Dine people came out from their homes and cooked and watched over their visitors. In the midst of such caring, a coalition was born—the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN)—and the education and cooperation has been building ever since.

Every summer since has brought another conference where Indian people and their allies come together to talk about the impact of harmful technology on the natural world and how to protect what we have. This August, it was hosted by the En’owkin Centre and the Penticton Indian band of the Okanagan Nation. IEN, now affiliated with the Seventh Generation Fund, sponsors and organizes the conference with the generous assistance and guidance of the host community. Each day started with a sunrise ceremony and the sacred fire helped to guide people throughout the conference. Sweatlodge ceremonies were available in the evenings. At night, conference attendees were treated to music from traditional singers and impromptu hip-hop and song sessions organized by the Native youth.

Morning plenary sessions focused on "big picture" topics impacting Indians throughout the Americas. On the first morning, a panel of local chiefs and hosts addressed the assembly, welcoming the guests and reinforcing the importance of traditional tribal leadership values in the onslaught of development and harmful technology. Plenary sessions the following days included panels on sustainable agriculture, traditional systems, and the right to food; energy policy and impacts on traditional peoples; and reports and presentations from indigenous and non-indigenous organizations.
One of the most memorable speakers was Norma Kassie from the Gwich’in people. She moved the audience to tears as she addressed the environmental threat that proposed U.S. oil drilling would bring to the Arctic National Wilderness Refuge, the traditional hunting grounds where she had been trained by her grandfather. For a Native woman who had had her own dog team by the age of five, drilling represents disaster of the highest order. Kassie enumerated the many species of birds and other wildlife that depend on the refuge, and talked about their importance in a traditional Gwich’in diet. She requested the prayers and advocacy of all in attendance so that her land might remain whole and healthy.

Another outstanding speaker was Chief Steve Fobister from Grassy Narrows First Nations in Manitoba, Canada. Fobister, like many others in his community, has Lou Gehrig’s disease. Many community members have high levels of mercury in their blood. Pulp mills dumped contaminants into the local river system; as a result, the water is so loaded with mercury and other toxins that the fish cannot be eaten. Moose and rabbits are also showing the effects of contamination.

Jim Enote, a traditional Zuni farmer, gave a thought-provoking talk on the importance of traditional agriculture. He related a hilarious story about applying for official status as an organic farmer, only to be asked what crops he rotated in on his cornfields after the corn season. He told the officials that he rotated in corn. "Well, what about the next year?" "Corn." They told him that would not work and would deplete the soil. He responded that it had worked for his people for three thousand years so far. Enote discussed learning something and learning it well. "After forty years or so of farming, I’m starting to know what I’m doing. I’m starting to get it." He urged people to get some control over their food sources.

Afternoons at the conference were devoted to workshops on such topics as the dangers of incineration and alternatives, building a tool for air-sampling in your community, mining on indigenous lands, and climate justice and global warming. I participated on the Silent Poisons and Toxic Contaminants workshop panel. These workshops can be tremendous forums for sharing problems and walking away with good ideas for workable, culturally sensitive solutions. An interesting problem that came up in our workshop concerned the issue of backyard burning in an Alaskan village. Due to the lack of accessible recycling facilities and shrinking landfill space in the remote reaches of Alaska, many people dispose of their garbage by burning. This releases a host of contaminants into the atmosphere. How can people be encouraged to stop burning their garbage? What are viable alternatives? Several good suggestions came up, including working with product manufacturers to take their "empties" back out of Alaska on the return flight from supply runs.

I would like to encourage more Native Californians to attend this conference. Many of the discussion topics are relevant to our tribal lands and communities. In our busy world, it is a challenge to keep track of everything that is happening and this conference may help connect you to good resources and ideas. When people from different tribes come together in common purpose, wonderful things occur. News is shared. One’s vision and caring expands to include those new people that you will regard as family rather than distant relations. You will know you are not alone in your work and your devotion to the land.