From ... in Environmental Climate Change — Mar 19, 2025

Self-Determined: Climate Resilience Is Sacred

As a tidal wave of authoritarianism crashes across the U.S., it may seem as if nothing is sacred. But in these moments of uncertainty, it is the sacred to which we must return. For the Indigenous peoples of Moananuiākea—across the water fro

As a tidal wave of authoritarianism crashes across the U.S., it may seem as if nothing is sacred. But in these moments of uncertainty, it is the sacred to which we must return.

For the Indigenous peoples of Moananuiākea—across the water from our relatives on Turtle Island and around the globe—our fight for justice is rooted in our ancestral connection and kinship to the land, water, and earth. Our kūpuna (ancestors) have long practiced sustainable stewardship values, including mālāma ʻāina (care for the land) and kuleana (responsibility) to restore both our environment and our communities. Real climate justice work requires honoring Indigenous knowledge and empowering grassroots efforts to protect our sacred relationship with Mother Earth.

As we navigate a volatile economic and political environment, our resolve must be clear: Climate justice cannot take a back seat. We cannot abandon the decades of work to create healthier environments, regenerative systems, and economic opportunities in tribal, Indigenous, and rural communities across the country.

The fight for climate and environmental justice has always been led by Indigenous, Black, and frontline communities because we have always been the first to experience environmental harm. The forced displacement of Indigenous peoples from our lands was one of the earliest acts of environmental injustice, literally paving the way for extractive industries that have since poisoned land, air, and water. Today, fossil fuel projects continue to bring violence to Indigenous communities. As a result, Indigenous communities around the globe have always been—and continue to be—on the front lines, protecting our land and our communities.

Climate justice is not a separate battle from racial justice, Indigenous rights, gender equity, or economic justice—it is the throughline that connects them all. Take, for example, the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives (MMIWR+), which is fueled in large part by transient male workers in fossil fuel extraction camps near reservations. The MMIWR+ crisis is inseparable from environmental exploitation. Ending pipeline construction and mining projects is not just an environmental imperative; it is a necessary step to halt violence against Indigenous communities, against women, and against our two spirit relatives.

When we view social issues through the lens of climate justice, we create pathways for real, systemic change. Investing in renewable energy and land stewardship is not only about sustainability; it is about sovereignty, community resilience, and protection from the rising tide of authoritarianism.

Knowledge for the Future

Indigenous communities have long held the key to climate resilience. Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) offers regenerative models of land and water stewardship, ensuring sustainability for future generations. One example is Sacred Storm Buffalo in South Dakota, an organization revitalizing Lakota culture, increasing job and food security, and reconnecting people back to our land through regenerative buffalo ranching.

Buffalo are native to this land, and therefore have a symbiotic relationship with it. Their presence creates biodiversity in many ways. They graze the grasses down to different heights, providing nesting grounds for birds. They also roll around and pack down the soil in depressions in the ground known as wallows, which fill with rainwater and offer breeding pools for amphibians as well as sources of drinking water for wildlife across the landscape. And buffalo travel long distances to graze and find water, their sharp hooves churning the earth along the way, breaking up roots and aerating the soil to allow for new growth.

Pre-colonization, 60 million buffalo roamed North America, supporting both the ecosystem and Indigenous lifeways. The U.S. government nearly wiped out the buffalo in a deliberate strategy to starve Indigenous people. Today, Native-led projects like Sacred Storm Buffalo are restoring buffalo populations, reviving local economies, and rebuilding biodiversity.

Similarly, Kumano I Ke Ala (KIKA) in Hawai‘i is restoring Indigenous farming techniques to grow staple foods like kalo (taro). Before Western contact, Hawaiʻi was a fully autonomous island nation, supporting nearly a million people through the ahupuaʻa system—a sophisticated land-management approach that connected mountain agriculture to shoreline aquaculture, ensuring ecological balance and abundant resources.

Pre-colonization, Native Hawaiians used regenerative farming techniques such as diverting stream water to nourish wetland crops before returning nutrient-rich water to the ocean, which in turn sustained thriving fishponds. Colonization and exploitative plantation agriculture—particularly sugarcane—dismantled this system and caused widespread environmental and cultural devastation. The U.S. military and modern tourism industry has exacerbated environmental harm even further, creating the conditions that led to the devastating Maui wildfires and continue to cause shocking levels of homelessness among Native Hawaiians.

Today, KIKA is revitalizing traditional farming practices, restoring ecosystems, and producing culturally appropriate food to support Hawaiian communities. And by teaching youth 21st-century versions of traditional farming practices, they’re also strengthening cultural identity and mental health, providing young people with a sense of belonging.

These are just a couple examples of Indigenous-led efforts proving that climate solutions already exist—and make sense for our environment, our communities, and our economy. Indigenous communities are developing solutions to mitigate the climate crisis based on real-time experiences coupled with generational knowledge that is rooted in relationships with their environment.

Supporting Solutions

With government agencies and programs being gutted on a mass scale, leaving countless organizations and efforts unsure of their futures, the role of the private sector has never been more urgent. Private foundations, high-net-worth individuals, and philanthropic organizations must step in to close the funding gap and ensure that communities on the front lines of the climate crisis are not abandoned.

We need strategic investment in climate resilience, Indigenous land stewardship, community-led sustainability projects, and the frameworks and strategies that Indigenous, Black, and frontline organizers have spent decades developing. The Bloomberg Foundation, for instance, has committed billions to combat climate change—this must become the norm, not the exception.

Philanthropy alone is not enough. We must also strengthen grassroots networks by increasing our resilience efforts. Every community should be asking: How can we become more climate resilient? How can we build mutual aid networks that support people during climate disasters? How can we use climate action as a tool for broader social change and economic empowerment? How does our existing work shift if we look at it through a climate justice lens?

Indigenous communities are developing solutions to mitigate the climate crisis based on real-time experiences coupled with generational knowledge that is rooted in relationships with their environment. Investment in climate justice in Indigenous and rural communities helps those communities become energy sovereign, it helps communities access affordable and healthy food, and it creates regenerative economic opportunities. It just makes sense.

Mitigating climate change is not a new endeavor for Indigenous, tribal, and rural communities. We already hold the knowledge necessary to navigate the next phase of the climate crisis. What we need now is unwavering support—from philanthropists, from organizers, and from every person who believes in a just future.

Climate justice means food security for all, clean air and water for all, the development of clean energy on tribal lands, and protection for our Mother Earth. Climate justice is racial justice, Indigenous sovereignty, and the path to liberation for all people and Mother Earth. We must lock arms and stand for all that is sacred now.

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Self-Determined: Climate Resilience Is Sacred

Knowledge for the Future

Supporting Solutions

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Knowledge for the Future

Supporting Solutions

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