The Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) is a group of indigenous and local environmental justice advocates, mainly in the United States. Members have spoken about Native American concerns at international events, including the United Nations Climate Change conferences in Copenhagen (2009) and Paris (2016). IEN holds an annual meeting each year to discuss goals and projects for the future; the meeting is hosted in a different indigenous nation every year. The network focuses on protecting the environment as a way to honor spiritual beliefs. IEN became well-known for organizing efforts to oppose the Keystone Pipeline and the Dakota Access Pipeline during protests related to the Dakota Access Pipeline.

History

The Indigenous Environmental Network was formed in 1990 to highlight environmental and economic problems faced by Indigenous people in North America. Its creation happened during the annual Protecting Mother Earth gatherings, which began in 1990 on the Navajo Nation in Dilkon. At this time, a group of activists who later became Diné CARE had recently stopped a proposal to build a hazardous waste incinerator. The IEN also began meeting in the home of Lori Goodman in the Navajo Nation, where she hosted discussions in her kitchen.

The environmental justice movement aims to solve issues of environmental racism, which occurs when people of color and other groups, such as Indigenous people, are unfairly affected by harmful environmental conditions, lack of access to safe and healthy food, and being left out of decisions that affect their communities.

The movement opposes the overuse of natural resources by governments and others. This includes dumping waste, building toxic waste sites, or creating harmful projects like pipelines on Native American reservations and First Nations lands. Indigenous people often see these projects as a violation of their right to make decisions about their lives and protect their religious traditions.

The Indigenous Environmental Network focuses on helping Indigenous communities through local efforts. It prioritizes protecting land, air, water, sacred places, and natural resources. To achieve this, the network organizes campaigns, raises public awareness, and builds community connections. The IEN meets locally, regionally, and nationally to discuss social justice issues, with a main focus on North America.

In the early 1990s, the IEN was concerned about the increase in toxic and nuclear waste storage near Indigenous lands. After addressing these dangers, the network raised awareness among young people and tribal communities, leading to larger campaigns and public actions. Every year, the IEN holds a conference called "Protecting Mother Earth Gatherings," which educates people and creates plans to protect Indigenous lands.

In 1995, the IEN started hiring staff to represent its goals. These workers help protect Indigenous people through local communities and tribal environmental workers. Over time, the IEN became a group that works to improve tribal communities by preserving sacred places.

One well-known example of IEN’s work was protesting the North Dakota Pipeline project, which would cross parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and end in Illinois. The IEN helped organize international actions, such as stopping investments in harmful projects and holding days of protest against fossil fuels that harm Indigenous lives.

Indigenous Rising Media is an IEN project that defends Indigenous rights. It focuses on protecting the Earth and working toward a fairer, more sustainable future. The project shared information about the North Dakota Pipeline on its website to help Indigenous people understand the risks they face.

Recently, the IEN took part in the Peoples Climate March in Washington, D.C., on April 29, 2017. The event aimed to show the dangers of climate change, and the IEN supported it. The march was organized by Dallas Goldtooth, an activist opposing the North Dakota Pipeline, and Carrie Fulton, an African-American environmental justice organizer. The march happened on the 100th day of Donald Trump’s presidency and protested changes to environmental protection policies.

Goals and beliefs

• Help Indigenous Peoples learn and grow so they can create plans to protect the environment, their health, and all living things—the Circle of Life.
• Restate the importance of traditional knowledge and the respect for natural laws.
• Acknowledge and support ways of living and working that are good for the environment, help Indigenous communities stay healthy, and build strong, lasting homes for them.
• Work to influence rules and laws that affect Indigenous Peoples at all levels, including local, tribal, state, regional, national, and international.
• Involve both young people and older generations in all parts of this work.
• Protect the right of Indigenous Peoples to practice their cultural and spiritual traditions.

Some activities, like coal mining, oil drilling, and fishing or hunting in the United States, are said to harm Native lands and values. IEN works to teach the American public about environmental issues that strongly affect Indigenous Peoples. One example was a day on October 13, 1996, when IEN asked Americans to use as little energy as possible. This was meant to help people think about how much energy they use daily and how this affects Native communities.

In 1991, at Bear Butte, South Dakota (a sacred place for many Plains Indians), IEN created an Environmental Code of Ethics. Key ideas include that Indigenous Peoples have deep cultural connections to their land, and Native Americans in the United States and Canada often live on reservations if they want to keep their traditions. Many Indigenous Peoples also have religious or family ties to specific areas of land. These strong connections make it harder for them to leave, increase the value of the land, and make them strongly against polluting it in any way.

Spiritual activism

The IEN explains that one of its goals is to protect and care for places that are sacred to indigenous communities in North America. To address unfair treatment of these groups, the organization focuses on preserving areas that have historical, cultural, and spiritual importance. They believe their work is inspired by their respect for Mother Earth and their effort to help people remember their connection to the natural world.

The group holds meetings called "Protecting Mother Earth Gatherings" to share ideas and strategies for defending indigenous lands and communities. At a conference named "Rights of Mother Earth" in April 2004, they stated their aim to develop a legal system that treats nature and Earth as important entities with rights. They also supported a way of thinking based on indigenous knowledge and a belief that all living things on Earth should be treated equally and with respect for their shared connections.

Environmental justice

In 2014, the group started receiving more public attention after beginning a protest against the Keystone XL oil pipeline. Earlier, in 2011, people became worried that the pipeline might pollute nearby water sources. These concerns grew when the pipeline’s construction was delayed. IEN was one of the larger groups involved in the debate, working with other environmental organizations like the Sierra Club and 350.org.

In 2015, IEN gained more media attention as protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline became more visible. The pipeline is now complete, except for the part planned to be built under Lake Oahe, a major water source for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota. After a federal order required protesters to leave the pipeline’s construction sites, IEN said they would not follow the order to delay the project. Dallas Goldtooth, an IEN organizer, told a reporter, “We are staying here, committed to our prayer. Forced removal and state oppression? This is nothing new to us as native people.”

Tom B.K. Goldtooth, IEN’s founder, said after President Donald Trump signed an order to continue building the pipeline, “Donald Trump will not build his Dakota Access Pipeline without a fight. The granting of an easement, without any environmental review or tribal consultation, is not the end of this fight—it is the new beginning.”

IEN holds annual conferences called the “Protecting Mother Earth Gatherings.” The first conference was in 1990 in Bear Butte, South Dakota. The conferences have changed locations each year.

At these conferences, IEN members discuss the group’s goals and projects for the upcoming year. Their decisions are usually published online after each conference ends.

Past conference locations and projects include:
• The 1992 conference in Celilo Falls, Oregon, a former major salmon fishing site before dams were built on the Columbia River, near the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.
• The 1993 conference at the Sac and Fox Reservation, Oklahoma, where IEN helped stop a plan to build a nuclear waste site.
• The 1994 conference on the Mole Lake Indian Reservation, Wisconsin, where Exxon planned to open a large zinc-copper mine upstream from the Mole Lake Chippewa’s wild rice beds.
• The 2001 conference (the 12th Protecting Mother Earth Gathering) in Penticton, British Columbia, Canada, the first IEN conference held outside the United States.
• The 2004 conference was again held near Bear Butte, South Dakota.

In 2009, IEN started the “Red Road to Copenhagen” initiative. A group attended the 15th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP-15) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen. The initiative’s statement said, “This initiative will bring traditional knowledge from Indigenous peoples in North America who live in areas affected by climate and energy issues, and connect this knowledge to climate policy.”

IEN focuses on organizing people of all ages and across tribes. It has separate groups for young people and elders. An Elders Council helps guide the group, while a Youth Council works to involve young Indigenous people and connect urban youth culture with environmental issues.

IEN members were involved in the 2016 Dakota Access Pipeline protests, including media coverage and setting up a media tent at the Oceti Sakowin camp.

The POPs Treaty, now called the Stockholm Convention after being signed in Sweden in 2001, was created to ban certain pesticides and chemicals. During the treaty’s development, IEN shared with delegates how Indigenous peoples wanted the treaty to help them. IEN met with people from around the world to explain how Indigenous communities are affected by POPs and what they hoped the treaty would achieve.

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) is a policy meant to protect forests by giving financial rewards to forest owners for preserving them. Many environmental groups, like Greenpeace and Conservation International, support REDD. However, the policy requires moving Indigenous people from forests that are targeted for protection, which has caused controversy. IEN opposes REDD, saying it violates Indigenous peoples’ rights to control their own land.

IEN also opposes carbon taxes.