“We have no greater concern than the future of this planet and the life upon it.”
In many ways this statement sums up the essence of Indigenous wisdom, a worldview that recognizes human connection to the planet and also emphasizes respect and responsibility for the Earth.
These words, however, are not quoted from the speech of an American Indian leader. They were taken from the 1988 report, “Earth System Science: A Closer View,” by a NASA advisory council, the Earth Systems Sciences Committee. The committee was tasked in 1983 with creating direction for NASA’s Earth Sciences Program.
This report is part of the “Bretherton Report,” named after committee chairman Francis Bretherton of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Released in two volumes, “Earth System Science: An Overview” (1985) and “Earth System Science: A Closer View” (1988), the report is considered a seminal contribution to the discipline of Earth System Science and its approach to climate
Havasupai Councilwoman Carletta Tilousi Appointed To White House Environmental Justice Council
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Return the National Parks to the Tribes David Treuer
Image above: Glacier National Park, in Montana, as seen from the Blackfeet Reservation, near Duck Lake.
This article was published online on April 12, 2021.
I. The End Result of Dirty Business
In 1851, members of a California state militia called the Mariposa Battalion became the first white men to lay eyes on Yosemite Valley. The group was largely made up of miners. They had been scouring the western slopes of the Sierra when they happened upon the granite valley that Native peoples had long referred to as “the place of a gaping mouth.” Lafayette Bunnell, a physician attached to the militia, found himself awestruck. “None but those who have visited this most wonderful valley, can even imagine the feelings with which I looked upon the view,” he later wrote. “A peculiar exalted sensation seemed to fill my whole being, and I found my eyes in tears.” Many of those who have followed in Bunnell’s foot
By Ron Dungan/KJZZ
April 5, 2021
Tourists visit Havasu Falls in 2019. Havasupai officials estimate 80% of the tribe’s income is earned through tourism. (Photo by Mariana Dale/KJZZ)
They call themselves the People of the Blue-Green Water.
They’re the Havasupai, and they live at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, alongside an azure creek known for its swimming holes and waterfalls. It’s about an 8-mile hike or horseback ride to get there. The only other way in is to raft the Colorado River, then walk. A lot. Or take a helicopter.
More than a year into the pandemic, it’s hard to find anywhere that has escaped COVID-19, but this tribe – with a population of roughly 650 members – has utilized its isolation as a defense. But that has meant sacrificing the tourism business the Havasupai rely on.
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