it’s kinda crazy i haven’t seen ppl bring it up in the noDAPL discourse, but like…i feel like ppl don’t realize, aside from the fact that tribes have treaty rights and sovereign rights and human rights that all require access to clean drinking water and the ability to act as caretakers of their lands….tribes are an additional 5 rungs up the morals ladder or whatever bc they ROUTINELY request permissions/assistance in investing in renewable energy and are ROUTINELY passed over.
example: in northern Montana, the wind blows really hard pretty much every day. like, it blows so hard that it can blow empty boxcars off the train tracks. so some ppl thought it would be good to build wind turbines out there. the Blackfeet tribe was like, hey yeah we wanna have wind turbines on our rez, we have high winds and wanna invest in cleaner and more affordable energy. then they got passed over and the wind turbines were built just outside the reservation boundaries, in a white border town.
another example: the Northern Cheyenne tribe DID actually build wind turbines, which is awesome. they have also fought really hard to have pristine air quality. but nearby coal mining has totally fucked over the surrounding area (which are Cheyenne treaty lands), and some towns on the rez still don’t have clean drinking water (they have to haul it from springs bc the tap water comes out orange and is undrinkable). as recently as earlier this year, there were still applications in for expansion of coal mining in the area (despite YEARS of consistent protest from the tribe), including on a sacred site.
tribes work really hard to invest in clean energy, and to take care of their homelands, despite continued disrespect and desecration of their lands by others. another example is the MULTIPLE tribal colleges that have invested in clean energy, like solar panels (including the Blackfeet tribe’s college).
so yes, we have EVERY RIGHT to say no to dirty energy on our lands
How on earth would you feed a city of over 200,000 people when the land around you was a swampy lake? Seems like an impossible task, but the Aztec managed it by creating floating gardens known as chinampas, then they farmed them intensively.
These ingenious creations were built up from the lake bed by piling layers of mud, decaying vegetation and reeds. This was a great way of recycling waste from the capital city Tenochtitlan. Each garden was framed and held together by wooden poles bound by reeds and then anchored to the lake floor with finely pruned willow trees. The Aztecs also dredged mud from the base of the canals which both kept the waterways clear and rejuvenate the nutrient levels in the gardens.
A variety of crops were grown, most commonly maize or corn, beans, chillies, squash, tomatoes, edible greens such as quelite and amaranth. Colourful flowers were also grown, essential produce for religious festivals and ceremonies. Each plot was systematically planned, the effective use of seedbeds allowed continuous planting and harvesting of crops.
Between each garden was a canal which enabled canoe transport. Fish and birds populated the water and were an additional source of food. [x]
This is literally so cool. Not only does it contribute to spacial efficiency, but the canals would easily keep pests, weeds, and possibly even diseases out of the respective plots. Companion planting and bio-intensive planting would be so much easier. Water-wise systems would be inherently present. Plus it looks so super neat aesthetically. I am just all about this.
Indigenous civilizations invented sustainable development way before there was a term for it.
