JUNE 2023 Newsletter

Dear Relatives,


We hope your summer is off to a great start! For our network, June has been a month filled with celebration and action. The Indigenous Environmental Network kicked off #PrideMonth by celebrating our Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ relatives and the unique gifts they bring to our movement and sacred spaces. 


In the collective fight to protect Mother Earth, IEN recognizes that Indigenous sovereignty and Black liberation are intertwined, and fundamental for a Just Transition. Our team spent #Juneteenth honoring Black relatives along with their history, joy, and excellence.


Moreover, on the longest day of the year, #SummerSolstice, we welcomed and embraced another season filled with movement, change, and abundance. 


Finally, our team continues to make our voices heard, in local, national and international spaces, fighting for Mother Earth, Indigenous Peoples, and all living things!

Events

June 8, 2023: #StopMVP Rally in Washington DC
 


The Indigenous Environmental Network joined other grassroots organizations such as POWHR, 7 Directions of Service, WV Rivers, 350, Third Act, and many others in action to voice their unwavering opposition to Biden’s approval of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which included language to halt all lawsuits and regulatory delays to complete and fastrack the construction of Mountain Valley Pipeline.
 

IEN and the groups that joined the June 8 rally to #StopMVP are part of People V. Fossil Fuels (PvFF), a 1200-member coalition movement grounded and bound together to defend our homelands, farms, fields, and forests to preserve, renew, and defend the planetary systems that future generations deserve. 
 

Hundreds of people from Appalachia and across Turtle Island gathered in front of the White House to call President Biden out for his lies and betrayal towards the environmental justice and frontline communities he made campaign promises to. 

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June 5-15, 2023: UNFCCC #SB58 Session in Bonn, Germany 

IEN sent a seven member delegation to the 58th session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (#SB58) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bonn, Germany. 


IEN joined forces with the It Takes Roots delegation to collectively hold a firm line to reject the push for #FalseSolutions such as market mechanisms, carbon offsets, and climate geoengineering in global climate policy negotiations. IEN participated in various panels, side events, and actions to boldly call out the greenwashing, commodification and financialization of nature against Indigenous Peoples and Mother Earth and as always, defending the inherent rights, sovereignty, and jurisprudence of Indigenous Peoples.


IEN also participated in the Facilitative Working Group (FWG) of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform (LCIPP) which is a body that was established to further operationalize the LCIPP and facilitate the implementation of its three functions related to knowledge, capacity for engagement, and climate change policies and actions. 


Furthermore, IEN and It Takes Roots delegates delivered a letter to the UNFCCC Secretariat, sharing our experiences and concerns regarding health, safety, and human rights at COPs. 


Following SB58, the UNFCCC announced a new registration mandate that requires participants to disclose industry ties and affiliations. This comes as a result of  years of campaigning to #KickBigPollutorsOut from various grassroots and civil society organizations to address extractive industries interference in global climate policy. 


Check out our co-hosted webinar that provides a deep-dive analysis of #SB58. [link removed]: [link removed]

For years, Paiute-Shoshone relatives have been fighting to protect their ancestral burial sites in Payahuunadü (Owens Valley, California) from desecration to expand Highway 395. 


The California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) has pushed the project forward despite concerns and protests from local Tribes (Lone Pine, Kern Valley, Timbisha, Independence, Big Pine, Bishop, and Mono Lake.) Despite planning this project for more than a decade, Caltrans has not conducted adequate consultation with the Tribes. There were attempts at consultation in 2014, but these talks never resulted in any significant changes to the project plans based on input from Tribal leaders.


As a result of community organizing, on June 29, 2023, construction halted on the culturally sensitive area of the highway expansion! Paiute-Shoshone relatives remain vigilant and continue to demand that CalTrans seek consultation and come to a mutual agreement with the tribes in Payahuunadü. 


Sign this petition : [link removed] and learn more about this ongoing fight and how to support these relatives in their fight to protect tribal burial sites on their homelands : [link removed].

Board Spotlight

Members of IEN’s Board of Directors and Leadership Team gathered on Anishinaabe Lands, in Bemidji, MN, to kick off our strategic planning process. The Indigenous Environmental Network’s Board of Directors has recently grown to a nine-member all Indigenous Board, representing a diversity of expertise and Tribal representation across Indian Country.

In the News

Wounded Knee Matriarchs’ Legacy Paves the Way for Future Indigenous Women Leadership : [link removed]
As we continue to celebrate the 50th anniversary year of the Wounded Knee Occupation of 1973, it is imperative the historical record is clear: in contrast to most news reporting and photographic documentation of the 71-day event – the call to Wounded Knee was answered by many Indigenous warrior women. Continue reading : [link removed]… 

20-Year Moratorium Reaffirms Pueblo and Diné Solidarity to Protect Chaco Canyon : [link removed]
For years, many Pueblo and Diné tribal leaders have worked together to build solidarity to protect the shared sacred landscape of Chaco Canyon from desecration by extractive industries. That hard work showed recently, when the U.S Department of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland declared a 20-year federal moratorium on new oil, gas and mining development, establishing a ten-mile buffer zone around Chaco Canyon prohibiting new extraction. Continue reading : [link removed]…

Sovereignty Wins: SCOTUS Affirms Indian Child Welfare Act : [link removed]
On June 15, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision on the Haaland v. Brackeen case in a 7-2 decision upholding the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) as constitutional. In an unprecedented move, big oil law firm Gibson Dunn–representing fossil fuel conglomerates like Energy Transfer and Enbridge– failed in their ludicrous attempt to attack ICWA as a means to curtail Tribal sovereign interests interfering with fossil fuels projects. In a huge win for Indian Country, the Court sided with Tribal sovereignty and rejected all of the petitioners’ arguments seeking to invalidate and overturn ICWA. Continue reading : [link removed]…


Front Line Communities Strongly Denounce Another Attempted End Run to Weaken NEPA & approval of MVP in Dirty Debt Ceiling Deal : [link removed]
The promises that Joe Biden made during his campaign to address  climate and environmental injustices meaningfully and quickly were the reasons millions of Indigenous, BIPOC, fence- and front-line communities cast their ballots for him in 2020. Two and a half years in, it’s undeniable that his promises were the usual political pandering to whatever community or demographic he was in front of at the time.  He strongly rejected the approval of the Willow Project, but ultimately the Department of the Interior (DOI) approved it. He promised to decrease lease sales on public land for oil/gas/mining/logging, yet the number of permits and projects has increased. Continue reading : [link removed]…


Supreme Court Rejects Navajo Nation’s Water Rights Trust Claim : [link removed]
The U.S. Supreme Court said the United States is not required “to take affirmative steps to secure water for the Tribe” because that provision is not explicitly stated in the Navajo Treaty of 1868, according to its ruling in a 5-4 vote in Arizona v. Navajo Nation. The case was the third and final federal Indian law case this term. Continue reading : [link removed]… 
 

US Army Corps Revokes Permit for Minnesota Mine, Cites Threat to Downstream Tribe's Water Standards : [link removed]
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has revoked a crucial federal permit for the proposed NewRange Copper Nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota, a project popularly known as PolyMet, saying the permit did not comply with the water quality standards set by a sovereign downstream tribe. Continue reading : [link removed]… 
 

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The Indigenous Environmental Network is seeking an experienced and energetic Financial Manager to join our team. The Financial Manager will play a crucial role in providing financial resource functions for IEN. These functions include accounting, financial management and analysis, budget analysis, benefits and risk management. CLICK HERE TO APPLY and learn more : [link removed] about this position!

There's always more to read, view, and learn - follow us on social media and the web - ienearth.org : [link removed] : [link removed] : [link removed] : [link removed]   
Established in 1990, the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) is an international alliance of Indigenous Peoples whose mission it is to protect the sacredness of Mother Earth from contamination and exploitation by strengthening, maintaining, and respecting Indigenous teachings and natural laws. IEN works with Indigenous grassroots community organizations, Tribal governments, Indigenous national organizations, multi-cultural alliances, Tribal universities and colleges, as well as Tribal Knowledge holders and spiritual leaders. We work to empower and build the capacities of Indigenous Peoples and frontline communities to develop mechanisms to demand environmental justice, protect our sacred sites, land, air, water, the health of our people and all living things, and to build sustainable communities.

Thank you for sharing our newsletters and our social media whenever possible.

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The Indigenous Environmental Network - PO Box 485 - Bemidji - MN - 56619

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