Indigenous climate efforts vital to fight against environmental destruction
ABC News
The Indigenous-led Land Back movement has become a climate justice tool for activists.
When the oil tanker Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound, hundreds of thousands of acres of water were threatened.
The 1989 spill, considered one of the most devastating environmental disasters in U.S. history, destroyed the livelihood of local Indigenous fishermen, local food sources, as well as the natural habitats of local fish, whale and bird species.
"The thing about the oil spill that a lot of people don't realize is that was like climate change happening to us overnight," said Dune Lankard, the founder of the Native Conservancy. The organization was born out of the devastation that the spill caused to the local economy and ecosystem.
The group was created by Lankard to protect the region from further devastation by corporate development. He's just one of the many environmentalists who argue that Indigenous traditions and tools can turn the tide on climate injustice through the Land Back movement.
