Spring 2021
March 11
"Environmental Justice in Indian Country and Moving Toward a Transformational Land Ethic"
In her acclaimed book As Long As Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice from Colonization to Standing Rock, author Dina Gilio-Whitaker interrogates the centuries long history of injustices against American Indians, understanding genocide and land theft as processes of environmental injustice. She contends that this history along with Native people’s unique political relationship to the state changes the meaning of environmental justice compared to other populations. Through the lens of what she calls an “Indigenized” EJ and the story of the Standing Rock DAPL struggle, Gilio-Whitaker looks at ways Native activism and resilience still animate Native life today. Her talk will also lean into current work on a forthcoming book that examines accountability and what an ethical relationship to land looks like in the U.S. settler state.
Dina Gilio-Whitaker (Colville Confederated Tribes) is a lecturer of American Indian Studies at California State University San Marcos, and an independent educator in American Indian environmental justice policy planning. At CSUSM she teaches courses on environmentalism and American Indians, traditional ecological knowledge, religion and philosophy, Native women’s activism, American Indians and sports, and decolonization. She also works within the field of critical sports studies, examining the intersections of indigeneity and the sport of surfing. As a public intellectual, Dina brings her scholarship into focus as an award-winning journalist as well, contributing to numerous online outlets including Indian Country Today, the Los Angeles Times, High Country News. Dina is the author of two books; the most recent award-winning As Long As Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice from Colonization to Standing Rock. She is currently under contract with Beacon Press for a new book under the working title Illegitimate Nation: Privilege, Race, and Accountability in the U.S. Settler State.