Adrian Quijada Tohono O odham Community College

Transcription

1 Indigenous People at the US- Mexico Borderland: Challenges for Ecological Restora>on,, and Environmental Jus>ce Rachel Rose Starks Na=ve Na=ons Ins=tute University of Arizona id Year Conference National Congress of American Indians 2016 M Adrian Quijada Tohono O odham Community College Data Partners Roundtable June 27, 2016 Voice of America hdp:// peoples- given- interac=ve- map- to- help- secure- land- rights/ html

2 About Tohono O odham Community College (TOCC) Founded in 1998, TOCC is an accredited and land grant ins=tu=on. TOCC s mission is to enhance the unique Tohono O odham Himdag (Our way of life) by strengthening individuals, families, and communi=es through holis=c, quality higher educa=on services. New Program: Studies in Indigenous Borderlands, Fall 2016 Sells% Traditional O odham lands Tohono O odham U.S. reservation O odham villages in Mexico Tohono O odham Community College

3 About Na>ve Na>ons Ins>tute

4 Indigenous Nations of the United States-Mexico International Border Region See Inset B See Inset A Pascua Yaqui Kumiai Cucapá Tohono O'odham Pai pai Kiliwa Pápagos Ysleta del Sur Kikapués Cochimí P A C I F I C O C E A N Kilometers N Miles 21 S E A O F C O R T E Z Inset A 20 1 Pechanga 14 Jamul Pala Pauma and Yuima La Jolla Rincon San Pasqual Los Coyotes Cuyapipe Manzanita Campo La Posta Torres-Martinez Fort Yuma Santa Ysabel Inaja and Cosmit Capitan Grande 21 Cocopah Viejas Barona 13 Sycuan Indigenous Nations Inset B

5 Background Where we started Environmental effects of the border on tribes A Convergence of Borders: Indigenous Peoples and Environmental Conserva=on at the US- Mexico Border Environmental impacts of the border wall Indigenous Peoples and the US- Mexico Border wall

6 Environmental Jus>ce as Framework With ongoing concerns over climate change, environmental protec=on, and environmental health, many policy statements are being made, and programs are being implemented at many levels (par=cularly federal) to address the unique issues that arise at the US- Mexico border region. One framework for addressing concerns is through the lens of environmental jus=ce, which posits that socioeconomic minori=es are dispropor=onately harmed from environmental hazards, many of which are caused by environmental change.

7 Common Defini>ons of Environmental Jus>ce The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, na=onal origin, or income with respect to the development, implementa=on, and enforcement of environmental laws, regula=ons, and policies (EPA). Communi=es of color, which are oben poor, are rou=nely targeted to host facili=es that have nega=ve environmental impacts (NRDC). The natural and human environment should be restored to the benefit of all people and for other living things, and their future genera=ons, and no community should bear dispropor=onate risks of harm because of their demographic characteris=cs or economic condi=on (Sierra Club).

8 Environmental Jus>ce Is environmental jus=ce relevant? The analysis of harm to socioeconomic minori=es caused by environmental factors is fairly well established, and is in use in the border region. What about Indigenous peoples? Should they be subsumed in the category of minori=es? How is this different for Indigenous peoples? Land and culture in=mately linked Sovereignty and iden=ty are not explicitly addressed How is this different on the US- Mexico border? Interna=onal economic and poli=cal inequali=es affec=ng policy and ac=ons on environmental issues. Policy implementa=on and bina=onal collabora=ve efforts doesn't take in account Indigenous sovereignty and cultural iden=ty as part of the discussion. How do we link the DATA measurements for environmental jus=ce across the border? How do we put it in Indigenous hands?

9 Data Challenges Inequali=es affect environmental policy and DATA quali=es US: Na=onal level data collected through agencies influenced by tribal consulta=on policies. Tribal leaders in border regions have expressed that consulta=on is inadequate. MEXICO: Bureaucracies and protocols absent or different. IRBs are not well established in Mexico. INDIGENEOUS DATA: How do we standardize data across the border? Language Different environmental effects and regula=ons. Different poli=cal and economic condi=ons. What connec=ons and ins=tu=ons have survived all these condi=ons?

10 Na>onal Differences in Indigenous Policy UNITED STATES Na=ve na=ons are sovereign, governing en==es. Na=ve na=ons approach border policy as sovereign governments. MEXICO Indigenous communi=es lack formal recogni=on and rights within the Mexican government system to make and implement policy. In any nego=a=on with the federal government or with a state, Na=ve na=ons come to the table as governments, not merely as minority or interest groups. Indigenous governmental capaci=es are limited by structures that provide lidle more than consulta=ve rights to par=cipate in policymaking for border policy

11 Example: Border Water Policy Environmental jus=ce measures: dispari=es in access to clean water. The border makes it more complicated Ins=tu=onal mismatch between water agencies in Mexico and the United States. In order to discuss border water issues, a Mexican federal agency must nego=ate with an US state agency. Concentra=on standards for contaminants in Mexico and the United States differ, and enforcement of regula=ons is not as strict or consistent in Mexico, as it is in the United States. Different economic priori=es of the two countries result in different percep=ons of water. Federally recognized tribes in the US enjoy water rights. In Mexico, as a consequence of no formal recogni=on as sovereign na=ons, indigenous communi=es follow water regula=ons established for ejidos. Enforcement in the United States is stronger.

12 Moving Forward Indigenizing environmental jus=ce. Applying Indigenous environmental jus=ce at the borderlands. Involve TOCC students in the conversa=on. Edited volume on Indigenous environmental issues at the borderlands.

13 We Need Your Help More ideas for further work? Resources? Scholars? Funding?

14 Supported through a grant from the Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Jus=ce at the University of Arizona, which supports university and community partnerships to find socially just solu=ons to environmental challenges.