Indigenizing Environmental Justice: Case Studies from the Pacific Northwest

Abstract

Abstract

Environmental justice research and movements aim to achieve the fair treatment of individuals regardless of their race, ethnicity, income, or educational levels with respect to environmental laws, regulations, and policies. However, despite the recent theoretical, empirical, and policy advancements in environmental justice, there is still a gap pertaining to Native American and indigenous communities. Why does this gap exist? The concept of environmental justice does not fit the indigenous experience perfectly because it does not incorporate indigenous principles. Indigenous principles are practices and ethics derived from the intersection of traditional ecological knowledge and the relationship of living and nonliving things. The goal of this research is to identify indigenous principles that drive the environmental justice movement in the Pacific Northwest—specifically in the state of Washington. Past and current environmental justice cases that occurred against or in favor of the Coast Salish tribes and nations in the state of Washington were analyzed and coded to develop an environmental justice atlas. The identification of these indigenous principles and pillars of environmental justice allows policy makers and scholars to indigenize environmental justice and shift its focus from distributive, process, procedural, and recognition justice.