"Treaties Offer New Aid In Environmental Fights"

"Century-old treaties are increasingly being used to fight climate change and environmental issues for everyone, not just tribes."

"Treaties are not just for tribes anymore.

Native treaty rights are becoming powerful tools for protecting the environment against government mismanagement and destructive private industries, as worldwide efforts intensify to halt climate change and protect the environment.

With the right to hunt, fish and gather on lands ceded to the federal government, treaties also offer growing leverage on state and federal governments to ensure the health of the habitats upon which those rights were granted.

“Tribes exercising treaty rights is not a one-sided thing,” said Paul DeMain, citizen of the Oneida and Ojibwe tribes and a board member of Honor the Earth, an Indigenous environmental advocacy organization."

Mary Annette Pember reports for Indian Country Today June 2, 2021.

Source: Indian Country Today, 06/03/2021