Volume Two -> B. Indigenous Movements -> B.2. Indigenous Resistance to Government and Corporate Threats to their Environment

Resistance to national and corporate projects threatening water rights and their natural environment has been part of the indigenous movements in the countries listed under B.1 above. Opposition to hydro-electric projects in Norway and Canada, resistance to uranium mining in Australia and the USA, and protests against mineral extraction in Sweden are important in relation to land and water rights and genuine political autonomy. Threats to first peoples’ environments still constitute a major issue and source of political conflict.

Banerjee, Subhankar Arctic Voices: Resistance at the Tipping Point, New York, Seven Stories Press, 2012 , pp. 560

Narratives and assessments by 30 activists and researchers of struggle by indigenous peoples and environmentalists to prevent proposed exploitation of oil, gas and coal in Arctic Alaska.

Dekar, Paul The Australian No Uranium Mining Campaign, Vol. 16, issue 3 (Jul-Sep), 2000 , pp. 27-26

See also: Caroline Milburn, Australia: Women at forefront of Jabiluka resistance, 1999 pp. smaller than 0

Gedicks, Al International Native Resistance to the New Resource Wars, In Bron Raymond Taylor, Ecological Resistance Movements: The Global Emergence of Radical and Popular Environmentalism (C.1.a. General and International Studies) Albany NY, State University of New York Press, 1995 , pp. 89-108

Covers resistance by Cree and Inuit, supported by Kayapo Indians in Brazil and transnational green groups, to major hydro-electric project in Quebec.

Grenfell, Damian Environmentalism, State Power and “National Interests, In James Goodman, Protest and Globalisation: Prospects for Transnational Solidarity (A.6.a. General Titles) Annandale NSW, Pluto Press, 2002 , pp. 111-115

Covers ‘Stop Jabiluka’ campaign by Aborigines and environmentalists in Kakadu National Park.

La Duke, Winona Uranium Mines on Native Land, , 02/05/1979 pp. smaller than 0

On struggle in late 1970s by Navajos against proposed uranium and coal mining, stressing dangers of uranium mining.
See also her article Winona La Duke, Uranium Mining, Native Resistance and the Greener Path: The impact of uranium mining on indigenous communities, 2009 pp. smaller than 0 , on Navajo resistance in past and new threat from revived stress on nuclear power. (Includes references to Kakadu.)

Risong, Malin; MacDougall, David Sweden’s Indigenous Sami in Fight against Miners, , 09/08/2013 pp. smaller than 0

Saami in Sweden have right to use land for herding but no ownership rights. The dispute over iron ore mining has prompted calls for Swedish government to give legal recognition to Saami ownership rights.

Schwartz, Daniel; Gollom, Mark N.B. Fracking Protests and the Fight for Aboriginal Rights: Duty to Consult at Core of Conflict over Shale Gas development, , 09/10/2013 pp. smaller than 0

On New Brunswick protest blockade by Elsipogtog First Nation and supporters.

Indigenous Anti-nuclear Summit Declaration, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Indigenous Environmental, 1996

The Indigenous Anti-Nuclear Summit declaration that brought together a network of Indigenous Peoples from different areas that have been negatively impacted by the nuclear chain. This includes Uranium mining in the Grants Mineral Belt; northern Saskatchewan; the areas near the Sequoyah Fuels Uranium Processing Plant, and the Prairie Island Power Plant.

Websites recommended

Arctic Voices: Resistance at the Tipping Point New York Seven Stories Press, 2012

Narratives and assessments by 30 activists and researchers of struggle by indigenous peoples and environmentalists to prevent proposed exploitation of oil, gas and coal in Arctic Alaska.

Environmentalism, State Power and “National Interests Annandale NSW Pluto Press, 2002

Covers ‘Stop Jabiluka’ campaign by Aborigines and environmentalists in Kakadu National Park.

Indigenous Anti-nuclear Summit Declaration (https://www.ienearth.org/indigenous-anti-nuclear-summit-declaration/) Albuquerque, New Mexico Indigenous Environmental, 1996

The Indigenous Anti-Nuclear Summit declaration that brought together a network of Indigenous Peoples from different areas that have been negatively impacted by the nuclear chain. This includes Uranium mining in the Grants Mineral Belt; northern Saskatchewan; the areas near the Sequoyah Fuels Uranium Processing Plant, and the Prairie Island Power Plant.

International Native Resistance to the New Resource Wars Albany NY State University of New York Press, 1995

Covers resistance by Cree and Inuit, supported by Kayapo Indians in Brazil and transnational green groups, to major hydro-electric project in Quebec.

Sweden’s Indigenous Sami in Fight against Miners (http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=12431) , 2013

Saami in Sweden have right to use land for herding but no ownership rights. The dispute over iron ore mining has prompted calls for Swedish government to give legal recognition to Saami ownership rights.

Uranium Mines on Native Land (https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1979/5/2/uranium-mines-on-native-land-pthe/) , 1979

On struggle in late 1970s by Navajos against proposed uranium and coal mining, stressing dangers of uranium mining.
See also her article Winona La Duke, Uranium Mining, Native Resistance and the Greener Path: The impact of uranium mining on indigenous communities, 2009 pp. smaller than 0 , on Navajo resistance in past and new threat from revived stress on nuclear power. (Includes references to Kakadu.)

Threats to indigenous peoples’ land and rights from corporations and government around the world are growing as the search for resources becomes more desperate. This sub-section cannot provide a comprehensive bibliography – it aims simply to indicate some relevant sources.

Out of the Mainstream: Water Rights, Politics and Identity, ed. Boelens, Rutgerd; Getches, David; Gil, Armando, New York, Routledge, 2011 , pp. 384

Compares struggles over water in Andean communities of Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Bolivia and Native American communities in S .W. USA, noting the combined goals of cultural justice and socio-economic justice.

 

Anderson, Robert; Huber, Walter The Hour of the Fox: Tropical Forests, the World Bank and Indigenous People in Central India, Seattle, University of Washington Press, 1988 , pp. 173

Gandhi, Ajay Indigenous Resistance to New Colonialism, Vol. 25, issue 3 (Fall), 2001 , pp. 4-3

Notes opposition by indigenous activists (at ‘People’s Summit’ in Quebec City April 2001) to Free Trade Agreement of the Americas debated at official government Summit of the Americas elsewhere in the city, and reports some of speeches.

Paradigm Wars: Indigenous Peoples’ Resistance to Globalization, ed. Mander, Jerry; Tauli-Corpuz, Victoria, Los Angeles CA, University of California Press, 2007 , pp. 272

Documents how multinationals are targeting resources in indigenous lands and strong indigenous resistance. Section V discusses activism and social movements and what can be done.

Palma, Lillian A Struggle for Sacred Land: The Case of Wirikuta, , 06/09/2013 , pp. 5-4

Examines resistance by indigenous people in desert of Central Mexico to government granting mining concessions to Canadian First Majestic Silver in their protected zone, and wider support in Mexico for their cause.

The Politics of Resource Extraction: Indigenous Peoples, Multinational Corporations and the State, ed. Sawyer, Suzana; Gomez, Edmund, New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012 , pp. 336

Studies cover Peru, India (Orissa), Philippines, Nigeria (the Niger Basin), Chad and Cameroon, as well as Australia and Canada.

Chávex, Marxa; López, Claudia Women in Tariquía, Vol. 50, issue 4, 2018 , pp. 408-410

Explores women’s fight against oil extraction in the Bolivian Tariquía Reserve and the threat against forms of self-governance, of dispossession from the land and the environment this constitutes. The authors bring into the analysis the false division between the public and the private sphere. The threat of dispossession, in fact, is projected in daily life, as when women have to endure divisions within their families, occurrence that is considered a form of private and public violence.

Baird, Vanessa Virginia Pinares, , , pp. 61-62

Interview with indigenous human rights defender, Virginia Pinares, from Peru, who came to London to represent communities in the Andes actively resisting - for example by blockades - mining for copper concentrates and molybdenum, which is controlled by the Chinese company MMG. Pinares argues that her community is not against all mining, but against the environmentally reckless way operations are conducted and the minerals transported, and they also demand a stop to the violence used against environmental and human rights activists.  She stressed the need for environmentally protected zones, which could be used f or sustainable tourism. 

Fulmer, Amanda; Godoy, Angelina; Neff, Philip Indigenous Rights, Resistance and the Law: Lessons from a Guatemalan Mine, Vol. 50, issue 4, 2008 , pp. 91-121

This case study of the Marlin gold mine in Guatemala, which was a source of controversy among the local indigenous people, examines the role of national and international law as well as of international financial institutions and the concept of corporate social responsibility in major mining  projects in developing countries.

See also: 'Gold Mine's Closing leaves Uncertain Legacy in Guatemala Mayan Community;  Global Sisters' Report, 23 May 2016, pp. 20.

https://www.globalsistersreport.org/news/environment/gold-mines-closing-leaves-uncertain-legacy-guatemala-mayan-community-39986

Survey of the impact of the Marlin gold mine in Guatemala, owned by a subsidiary of Goldcorp, on the local Mam, one of the Mayan nations in the country. Some found jobs and temporary prosperity through the mine, whilst others campaigned against a breach of indigenous right to proper consultation, the challenge to Mayan customs and the environmental hazards. Catholic nuns joined with Mayan activists to found the 'Parish Sisters and Brothers of Mother Earth Committee' to resist the mine in 2009. The closing of the mine prompted further debate about the conduct and impact of the project. 

Websites recommended

A Struggle for Sacred Land: The Case of Wirikuta (https://www.opendemocracy.net/civilresistance/lilian-palma/struggle-for-sacred-l...) , 2013

Examines resistance by indigenous people in desert of Central Mexico to government granting mining concessions to Canadian First Majestic Silver in their protected zone, and wider support in Mexico for their cause.

Indigenous Rights, Resistance and the Law: Lessons from a Guatemalan Mine , 2008

This case study of the Marlin gold mine in Guatemala, which was a source of controversy among the local indigenous people, examines the role of national and international law as well as of international financial institutions and the concept of corporate social responsibility in major mining  projects in developing countries.

See also: 'Gold Mine's Closing leaves Uncertain Legacy in Guatemala Mayan Community;  Global Sisters' Report, 23 May 2016, pp. 20.

https://www.globalsistersreport.org/news/environment/gold-mines-closing-leaves-uncertain-legacy-guatemala-mayan-community-39986

Survey of the impact of the Marlin gold mine in Guatemala, owned by a subsidiary of Goldcorp, on the local Mam, one of the Mayan nations in the country. Some found jobs and temporary prosperity through the mine, whilst others campaigned against a breach of indigenous right to proper consultation, the challenge to Mayan customs and the environmental hazards. Catholic nuns joined with Mayan activists to found the 'Parish Sisters and Brothers of Mother Earth Committee' to resist the mine in 2009. The closing of the mine prompted further debate about the conduct and impact of the project. 

Indigenous Resistance to New Colonialism (https://www.culturalsurvival.org/ourpublications/csq/article/indigenous-resistan...) , 2001

Notes opposition by indigenous activists (at ‘People’s Summit’ in Quebec City April 2001) to Free Trade Agreement of the Americas debated at official government Summit of the Americas elsewhere in the city, and reports some of speeches.

Out of the Mainstream: Water Rights, Politics and Identity New York Routledge, 2011

Compares struggles over water in Andean communities of Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Bolivia and Native American communities in S .W. USA, noting the combined goals of cultural justice and socio-economic justice.

 

Paradigm Wars: Indigenous Peoples’ Resistance to Globalization Los Angeles CA University of California Press, 2007

Documents how multinationals are targeting resources in indigenous lands and strong indigenous resistance. Section V discusses activism and social movements and what can be done.

The Politics of Resource Extraction: Indigenous Peoples, Multinational Corporations and the State New York Palgrave Macmillan, 2012

Studies cover Peru, India (Orissa), Philippines, Nigeria (the Niger Basin), Chad and Cameroon, as well as Australia and Canada.

Virginia Pinares , 2020

Interview with indigenous human rights defender, Virginia Pinares, from Peru, who came to London to represent communities in the Andes actively resisting - for example by blockades - mining for copper concentrates and molybdenum, which is controlled by the Chinese company MMG. Pinares argues that her community is not against all mining, but against the environmentally reckless way operations are conducted and the minerals transported, and they also demand a stop to the violence used against environmental and human rights activists.  She stressed the need for environmentally protected zones, which could be used f or sustainable tourism. 

Women in Tariquía , 2018

Explores women’s fight against oil extraction in the Bolivian Tariquía Reserve and the threat against forms of self-governance, of dispossession from the land and the environment this constitutes. The authors bring into the analysis the false division between the public and the private sphere. The threat of dispossession, in fact, is projected in daily life, as when women have to endure divisions within their families, occurrence that is considered a form of private and public violence.

Environmental struggles involving indigenous peoples are also listed under C.2.b., C.2.c. and C.2.d.