一名暴风雨保护工人站在阿拉斯加纳帕基亚克的Yupik Eskimo村的岸边,在那里永久性融化导致侵蚀和洪水。当地领导人正在考虑搬迁村庄。

一名暴风雨保护工人站在阿拉斯加纳帕基亚克的Yupik Eskimo村的岸边,在那里永久性融化导致侵蚀和洪水。当地领导人正在考虑搬迁村庄。通过Getty Image Mark Ralston / AFP

面试

为什么保护部落权利是应对气候变化的关键

美国印第安人国民议会主席小鹿夏普与耶鲁环境360about how climate change is hitting Native Americans especially hard and why protecting tribal sovereignty is critical for tackling the climate crisis.

两个世纪forced removal and relocation经常划定的土地使美洲原住民uniquely vulnerable气候变化。来自北部亚利桑那州,霍皮族面临的大巨星枯萎的农作物和杀死牲畜,到达路易斯安那州南部,比洛克西 - chitimacha-choctaw看到他们的祖先土地succumb to rising seas,美国原住民部落处于气候危机的最前沿。

In an interview with耶鲁的环境360年,美国印第安人国民议会主席小鹿夏普(Fawn Sharp)讨论了美国的土著人民如何因气候变化的影响(包括巨型,洪水,洪水,热浪和干旱)的影响以及他们正在进步的地方如何损害。夏普(Sharp)在华盛顿(Washington)担任副总统的奎诺(Quinault)印度国家正在计划搬迁两个海滨村庄到更高地面,以逃避洪水的恶化 - 这一举动由昆诺特和其他部落谈判的全州碳税的收入资助。

夏普(Sharp)寻求更大的支持,以帮助美国各地的部落应对气候变化。她还敦促联邦和州官员在建造新的矿山,管道,高速公路和其他将影响部落土地,神圣地点和墓地的基础设施时寻求部落的同意,她说这是赋予部落以应对气候的关键。改变。

With President Biden restarting the White House Council on Native American Affairs and appointing Deb Haaland to lead the Department of the Interior, the first Native American to do so, Sharp is optimistic that “we’re going to be able to ensure that tribal sovereignty is not only respected, but implemented in a way that will allow us to effectively adapt and mitigate the impacts of climate change.”

小鹿锋利

小鹿锋利National Congress of American Indians

耶鲁环境360:研究表明,部落国家特别容易受到气候变化的影响。您在哪里看到那件事?

小鹿锋利:I’ve certainly seen it play out in my homeland. I was initially elected as a tribal president for the Quinault Nation back in 2006. And at that time, I convened a gathering of our tribal citizens to try to identify the top priorities within our nation, including the survival of our sockeye salmon. We call it a “blueback” salmon, which is unique to the Quinault River and its tributaries, and it was in sharp decline.

我聚集了我们的[部落]科学家和我们的员工,试图确定导致下降的原因。我了解了海洋酸化以及海洋温度的变暖。我们的科学家在海洋温度中做了不同的尖峰,它与我们目睹的鲑鱼的急剧下降完全一致。

the University of Washington had been monitoring the Anderson Glacier, which feeds the Quinault River. And I saw pictures showing — just over the course of about a 60-year period — a visual stark contrast in how rapidly this glacier was receding and disappearing. I took a helicopter flight, probably in my second term of office, and as we came over the ridge in the helicopter, the Anderson Glacier was completely gone. I had seen visuals of a glacial sheen, and I was expecting to see a glacier, or a remnant of a glacier. But when we came over the ridge, there was just a large pool of murky water and not a shred of a glacial sheen. And I cannot explain what that felt like to come face-to-face with a mountain, expecting to see a glacier, and there was nothing but murky water.

今年夏天,我们有极度的热量。奎诺湖的温度高达109度。我看到有报道说,在那次热浪的四天的同一窗口中,雷尼尔山失去了三英尺的积雪。我害怕思考我们在西北太平洋地区必须在这里经历的一些热浪正在对剩下的冰川做什么。

“ [气候变化]广泛。一切都在印度国家,这已成为我们的重中之重。”

另一个例子是,我站在海岸上,看到两只半英里的目光,这是我们海岸线上死去的海洋生物的两英里,这是由于氧气耗尽和斑点(在从2013年到2016年的太平洋],正如他们所说的那样。

在我担任Quinault Nation总统的15年中,由于几乎所有与气候有关的活动,我都必须宣布多个紧急状态沿海洪水,,,,严重的降雨和滑坡]。我们只是一个部落国家。

E360:美国的其他部落面临类似的威胁?

锋利的:我已经去了阿拉斯加多次旅行,并与阿拉斯加部落领导人会面。他们在提供非常全面和详细的报告方面做得非常出色,以解决气候变化对阿拉斯加土著人的所有各种影响 - 无论是他们的粮食安全,[传统]药物,他们收集的植物,他们狩猎的动物,他们的生活方式,需要搬迁的村庄。

路易斯安那州的部落不得不面对飓风的严重影响,当然还有龙卷风和海洋上升。加利福尼亚的部落正在面对梅加菲尔。我记得当我们经历了西北部的第一批巨型速度之一时,我记得向我的孩子解释,现在看来火灾季节没有结束,而巨型杂志并不是很少见的。这是每年的发生。

And this is happening all across Indian country. At the National Congress of American Indians, we have regular board meetings where our regional vice presidents report on the issues affecting their people. And at our last annual convention, every region raised issues of climate change.

例如,大湖地区的部落正在看到对稻田的影响[从温度升高和极端降雨]。东北部的部落正在面对气候变化对传统食品和药物的影响。因此,这是广泛的。一切都在印度国家,这已成为我们的重中之重。

“一次又一次,我们感到失望的是,即使在我们的异议中,机构也会采取单方面行动。”

E360:您说部落主权对于应对气候变化至关重要。你能解释一下为什么吗?

锋利的:It’s important for people to understand that one of the attributes of our inherent sovereignty is our ability to have a decisive say when it comes to our land, territory, resources, and people. But there’s still a level of paternalism and a level of political inequality. When it comes to protecting our resources, the United States still will take unilateral action affecting our land, territories, and sacred sites.

the classic example of that is the conflict at Standing Rock [Indian Reservation in South and North Dakota]. There, a tribal nation was attempting to protect their water source, their sacred sites, and they objected, along with tribes all across the country and allies globally, [to the construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline]. Over those objections, over that science, over the legal objections, over the policy objections, the United States unilaterally permitted that activity.

When we get to the point where there’s not only an embracing of the principles of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, but we implement them in a way that respects tribal sovereignty, then tribes will be fully armed and able to adopt both adaptation and mitigation strategies to defend their people, their homelands, and their traditional ways of life against the imminent threat of climate change.

白宫美国原住民事务理事会已在拜登政府的领导下重新启动。他们增加了一个国际委员会。我们还与美国国务院直接互动。And we think, with this administration, with this Secretary of the Interior [a member of the Pueblo of Laguna in New Mexico], we’re going to be able to ensure that tribal sovereignty is not only respected, but exercised in a way that will allow us to effectively adapt and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Native American protestors face private security guards at a work site for the Dakota Access pipeline, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, in 2016.

Native American protestors face private security guards at a work site for the Dakota Access pipeline, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, in 2016.Robyn Beck / AFP通过Getty Images

E360:the federal government currently has a responsibility to consult with tribes in making decisions that affect their lands, but you’re pushing for the government to have to seek tribal nations’ consent. Can you explain the distinction, and why you think it’s important?

锋利的:咨询是至今与部落国家相关的机制。这只是检查一个行政盒子的问题,上面写着:“是的,我们确实咨询了一个部落国家。”但是,在我们的异议中,代理商将采取单方面行动,并说:“我们咨询了,但这是我们的决定,就像他们对站立摇滚一样。通常,这似乎是预定的行动方案。我们真诚地来到桌子上。我们咨询。我们提出了最好的科学前进,最好的法律论点,但是我们通常会以我们没有政治平等的感觉走开。我们有信心,我们有希望,但是一次又一次,我们感到失望的是,即使在我们的异议中,代理商也会采取单方面行动。

相比之下,同意的想法是我们将拥有一定程度的政治平等的想法。就像美国永远不会与加拿大或墨西哥政府互动,坐下来谈话,然后进行单方面行动一样,我们希望在某个时候,美国将开始实施与我们同意的想法。

E360:除了站立岩石外,您还将同意视为保护部落土地和神圣地点的工具吗?

锋利的:橡树平面[在亚利桑那州圣卡洛斯·阿帕奇部落的土地上提出铜矿的地方]是另一个地区,突出了直接在神圣地点上对开发活动的反对程度。而且,如果一个部落对我们的祖先从远古时代开始从事文化和宗教活动的这些地方就没有决定性的话,那么我们将在什么情况下从事文化和宗教活动?

“由于气候危机的规模远远超过了公共财政,因此我们一直在积极追捕直接责任的人。”

[圣卡洛斯·阿帕奇人]绝对没有发言权,他们不得不提起诉讼,去法庭,并试图捍卫那些在时间开始时赠予其祖先的权利。这些权利是固有的。这些权利几乎是世界各地的所有其他国家,在签署《联合国土著人民权利》的声明时,这些权利已承认。因此,我们要问自己,在什么情况下我们可以对像橡树公寓这样的神圣之类的东西有决定性的说法?

E360:您认为,印度事务和FEMA目前为部落气候弹性提供的资金,保护社区免受灾难的影响是不足的。这是为什么?

锋利的:气候危机的规模远远超过了公共财政。当您考虑用于处理巨速,飓风,洪水的所有美元时,这些仅仅是气候变化的症状。而且,尽管看来是世界末日,但我们甚至都没有采取至少应对气候变化影响的行动:恢复我们的鲑鱼栖息地,恢复对生态系统的平衡。

8月初,拜登总统宣布通过FEMA部署34亿美元,以解决气候变化。随着这些美元在代理水平上实施,在FEMA中,有50个州将有资格获得资金,六个领土和只有三个部落国家。这意味着将99%的印度国家排除在这些新美元的大量部署之外。

因为气候危机的规模远远超过了公共财政部,所以我们一直在积极追捕那些直接负责的人。In Washington state, the policy points that we tribal nations negotiated in [the state’s recent climate bill] were ultimately legislated into law with the passage of the Climate Commitment Act this year through the Washington State Legislature and, of those statewide dollars that will now result from pricing carbon, 10 percent are going to go to tribal nations.

“我们的祖先预言了有一天会有一天的时代。人类不能继续以其生活和生存的方式生活。”

We secured $50 million to relocate our villages to higher ground. We secured dollars for tribal nations to address megafires and forest fires. So, we did not wait for the state or the United States Congress to hold industry accountable. We’re well aware that the scale of the crisis is exceeding the public treasury, and the only way we are going to secure the necessary resources to defend our lands, our territory, and people is by holding those who are directly responsible accountable.

在没有领导力和反对化石燃料行业的压倒性大厅的情况下,部落国家已经能够取得成功。我们将继续上那门课程。

E360:您为什么认为土著人民在应对气候变化方面有好处?

锋利的:我们站在许多祖先和几代人的肩膀上。尽管我们有多代创伤,多代贫困,多代政治,经济和社会边缘化,但我们也具有多代的力量和韧性,智慧,智慧和教义。

Our ancestors have foretold of a time where there will be a day of reckoning. Humanity cannot continue to live the way it’s been living and survive. And we’ve known that when that day of reckoning comes, tribal nations will be positioned to share with the world, as full participants, our knowledge and our standing and moral authority to bring life back into balance. And not just for humanity, but for all things living and the spiritual connection that we have.

我们的祖先教我们鲑鱼无法离开河流,然后前往国会大厅和大厅进行立法。因此,我们是冠军,并且一直是冠军,因为他人如此愿意和如此傲慢地利用自然世界,短视,短期,非常狭窄的兴趣,利润和收益。尽管我们放弃了整个美国数百万英亩的土地,但我们从未放弃过我们的精神联系。这一新一代,即这一代年轻人,正在诞生。

我不仅目睹了土著年轻人,而且整个地球的青年都达到了将要采取决定性行动的领导人的水平。他们将尊重包容性。他们非常积极地希望确保这一代人将采取的任何气候策略都将是积极进取的。这将是包容的。它将尊重所有人的权利。

我认识到,作为部落领袖,全国许多部落领导人也是如此。我们促进了这一点。尽管我们这一代人可能会制定解决气候变化的策略,但下一代以及随之而来的那些将实施和执行我们今天所做的许多工作。

这次采访已被编辑,以进行长度和清晰度。