Indigenous Environmental Network

⬇️ Training for Native organizers! ⬇️

🗣️ We are excited to announce that applications are now open for our next National Native Organizer Training!

🪶 Our national trainings are for Native organizers and leaders who are committed to engaging our communities with strategies guided by intertribal Indigenous values.

🗓️ This next, in-person training will be held from Monday, November 11 to Saturday, November 16 in Federal Way, Washington.

❤️ We encourage Tribal and Native community leaders from rural, reservation, or urban communities as well as staff from Native nonprofits and Tribal entities to apply!

✨The deadline to apply is 11:59 PM EST Monday, September 2

Find out more and apply here: https://airtable.com/appgJdfUYdQRA0XYA/shrNn6nfGG3s1InAw

Indigenous sovereignty is a climate solution. As stewards of over 80% of the world’s biodiversity, Indigenous Peoples’ leadership is key to ensuring our planet’s future.

Happy International Youth Day! 🌎 Today's youth are tomorrow's leaders, ancestors in training, and the driving force for a better world. May we continue to empower, support, and guide our youth to be healthy, healed, and catalysts for change and innovation!

On the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, we celebrate the wisdom and resilience of Indigenous Peoples around the globe! 🌎 Making up over 6% of the world's population, we are both culturally and linguistically diverse, yet united by our collective commitment to protecting Mother Earth. ✊🏽🌲🪶🌊

‘Keep It In the Ground' advocates for the divestment of destructive and exploitative practices and an investment in regenerative and sustainable systems. It means transitioning from and phasing out of fossil fuels entirely!

Yesterday concluded our 18th Protecting Mother Earth Conference! We want to give a huge thank you to our host, Eastern Cherokee Organization, and to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians for their warm welcome and invitation to host this event on their ancestral lands.

We extend our deepest gratitude and appreciation to all the event organizers, volunteers, cooks, daycare workers, vendors, fire keepers, translators, security, speakers, IEN staff and board, and all those who had a hand in helping making this event possible.

We were overjoyed to be back in community with all those in attendance. Many participants traveled far to join us and we wish everyone safe travels in their return home.

Yesterday we kicked off the 18th Protecting Mother Earth Conference with a warm welcome from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ Principal Chief Michell Hicks.

On the Qualla Boundary, campers are set up, the Sacred Fire has been lit, traditional meals providing nutrients for all, and deep dialogues about environmental justice issues affecting Indian Country. Today we continue for the second day of the conference!

📸: Nehdahness Greene

After six years of dormancy, the Protecting Mother Earth (PME) Conference has returned to Cherokee territory. Held previously in 1996, the conference returns to Cherokee lands after 28 years since they last hosted the PME conference in the Big Cove Community, where ‘Our Rivers are Life’ was the theme.

There in the Great Smoky Mountains along the banks of the Oconaluftee River, with the Eastern Cherokee Organization (ECO) as our hosts, with the full support of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), we are preparing to welcome Indigenous Peoples, activists and Land and Water Protectors from as far away as Europe, Brazil and the Arctic Circle to the gathering on the Qualla Boundary land trust, in the verdant homelands of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

Cherokee, situated on the Qualla Boundary, is the capital of the EBCI, one of three federally recognized Cherokee Tribal Nations and the only one in North Carolina. The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians is headquartered in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, as is the Cherokee Nation, the largest of 574 federally recognized tribes. The people of the EBCI are primarily descendants of Cherokee ancestors, known as the “Hideaway Cherokee,” who resisted or avoided forced relocation to what was Indian Territory during the infamous relocation era of Indigenous displacement throughout what is now the US.

Learn more about the Qualla Boundary and our host for this year’s PME ⬇️

18th Protecting Mother Earth Conference hosted on the Qualla Boundary, a Land of Rich History and Resistance | Indigenous Environmental Network 18th Protecting Mother Earth Conference hosted on the Qualla Boundary, a Land of Rich History and Resistance by JoKay Dowell, Special Projects CoordinatorAfter six years of dormancy, the Protecting Mother Earth (PME) Conference has returned to Cherokee territory. Held previously in 1996, the confere...

If you are attending our Protecting Mother Earth Conference please take a moment to review these final reminders before you arrive. We look forward to seeing many of you at the Qualla Boundary in Cherokee, North Carolina, home of the Eastern Band of Cherokee!

We are just three short days away from the 18th Protecting Mother Earth Conference, hosted on the Qualla Boundary! As many participants have started or will soon begin their travels to attend, we invite you become familiar with our Code of Conduct Policy and Procedures. Read it in full at ienearth.org/PME2024

Please remember this is a cultural and spiritual gathering.

In some Indigenous languages, ‘auntie’ and ‘mother’ are the same word. Aunties play a critical role in strengthening families, communities, and our Mother Earth. On this we honor and give gratitude to all the aunties who inspire, protect, and empower us.

Important info regarding Day 1 of the PME from our friends at Eastern Cherokee Organization!

We are one week away from the 18th Protecting Mother Earth Conference! As the PME approaches please look through these slides and visit our website to know what to bring, what we will provide and other important information! Learn more at ienearth.org/PME2024

An Indigenous Just Transition (IJT) means respecting and weaving Indigenous knowledge and leadership into the process of creating a sustainable future. IJT recognizes our inherent rights, sovereignty, and assertion of self determination over our ancestral waters, land and territories, and all natural landscapes, inclusive within our own laws, values, customs and traditions.

Learn more ➡️ ienearth.org/justtransition

We are a short 9 days away from our 18th Protecting Mother Earth Conference!

We hope to see you there!

For more information and to pre-register visit ienearth.org/PME2024

❗️ Attention Indigenous Peoples, frontline defenders and allies across Turtle Island and beyond❗️

We are excited to share that pre-registration for the 18th Protecting Mother Earth (PME) Conference is open! This year, the PME will take place on the Qualla Boundary, in the heart of the great Smoky Mountains on Cherokee Lands!

Join us for a four day spiritual gathering filled with plenaries, workshops, demonstrations, evening socials and more!

For more information and to pre-register visit ienearth.org/PME2024

Questions? Email [email protected]

See you in Cherokee, NC!

The burning of fossil fuels releases 80% of the world’s total carbon, making it the number one driver behind the current climate crisis. Keeping fossil fuels in the ground is the number one solution needed to address climate change today.

Just over a year after the NDP formed a new government, the province seemed to reaffirm its commitment to protecting old growth. The Ministry of Forests released maps detailing 2.6 million hectares of candidate deferrals — forests where it said it intended to temporarily pause logging, in government-to-government discussions with First Nations. When successive announcements emphasized that B.C. had deferred 1.7 million hectares of old growth in 2022, and then 2.4 million hectares by late 2023, it was clear the province was showcasing its apparent success.

But the reality tells a much less optimistic story etched in the new clearcuts and roads dotting the land, especially in the central interior. The satellite monitoring tool Forest Eye shows hundreds of old growth logging alerts from the past several years, amounting to nearly 30,000 hectares.

What the B.C. government doesn’t want you to know about old growth deferrals While B.C. fumbles on its commitments, old growth falls; forest defenders are arrested; mills close; and ecosystems are pushed further toward the brink of collapse by major timber companies.

! Mokuʻāina o Hawaiʻi (the State of Hawai'i) just banned deep sea mining! Thank you to the Indigenous Hawaiians who led this struggle and have now protected 3,069 square miles of the Pacific from destructive seabed mining, a threat to ecosystems, marine jobs, and the spiritual heritage of Pacific peoples!

The 18th Protecting Mother Earth conference is approaching fast!

For more information and to register, visit http://ienearth.org/PME2024

See you in Cherokee, NC!

❗️ Attention Indigenous Peoples, frontline defenders and allies across Turtle Island and beyond❗️

We are excited to share that pre-registration for the 18th Protecting Mother Earth (PME) Conference is open! This year, the PME will take place on the Qualla Boundary, in the heart of the great Smoky Mountains on Cherokee Lands!

Join us for a four day spiritual gathering filled with plenaries, workshops, demonstrations, evening socials and more!

For more information and to pre-register visit ienearth.org/PME2024

Questions? Email [email protected]

See you in Cherokee, NC!

From protecting our waters from contamination and our lands from exploitation, Indigenous Peoples continue to rise up to fulfill our Original Instructions and defend Mother Earth. We express our solidarity with those fighting against and demanding an .

Who’s ready for the upcoming 18th Protecting Mother Earth conference?

For more information and to register, visit ienearth.org/PME2024.

See you in Cherokee, NC!

❗️ Attention Indigenous Peoples, frontline defenders and allies across Turtle Island and beyond❗️

We are excited to share that pre-registration for the 18th Protecting Mother Earth (PME) Conference is open! This year, the PME will take place on the Qualla Boundary, in the heart of the great Smoky Mountains on Cherokee Lands!

Join us for a four day spiritual gathering filled with plenaries, workshops, demonstrations, evening socials and more!

For more information and to pre-register visit ienearth.org/PME2024

Questions? Email [email protected]

See you in Cherokee, NC!

Trying to reduce your own use of plastics or that of your business can be daunting with so many products marketed as being safer and more sustainable than regular plastic. Many manufacturers claim their bioplastics products break apart faster in the environment, are made from safer materials, and have smaller climate change impacts. With no federal standards defining or regulating bioplastics, companies have free rein to label whatever they want as “biodegradable” and “compostable.” As you can imagine, this lack of regulation has led to misleading marketing meant to falsely convince the public that certain products are environmentally friendly.

So, are any bioplastic products good alternatives to regular plastic? And, if so, how can you tell? Beyond Plastics is filling that knowledge gap for consumers and businesses that are genuinely trying to make environmentally responsible decisions.

This report provides an overview of bioplastic materials currently on the market, the voluntary standards that govern their design, and scientific research findings to date on their safety to help individuals make evaluations of their options. It also covers the waste management issues associated with bioplastics and provides a checklist to guide decision making.

We’ve supplemented the report with an easy, trifold guide that can be printed out and distributed to local businesses, as well as a shareable educational video (below) that walks you through bioplastics terminology, myths, and decision-making guidance. You can also find “Hold the Plastic, Please: A Restaurant’s Guide to Reducing Plastic” — a Beyond Plastics publication from 2022 — for more information on the considerations and benefits of shifting from single-use to reusable food ware and packaging. The restaurant guide offers detailed, practical, and inspiring advice for how to reduce the use of plastic in restaurant operations and how to effectively convey those changes to customers, reporters, and the general public.

Are Bioplastics Really Better Than Traditional Plastics? Many manufacturers claim their bioplastics products break apart faster in the environment, are made from safer materials, and have smaller climate change imp...

Women and femmes are the backbones of society, nurturing the seeds of our future and fostering strong, healthy, and thriving communities. Under the leadership of women and femmes is when Mother Earth is balanced again.

We are three weeks away from the Protecting Mother Earth Conference, at Qualla Boundry, North Carolina!

This year is our 18th PME and on August 1 we will start bright and early with the Sacred Fire, traveling all the way from Nisqually territory from our last gathering.

Join us for the four day spiritual gathering filled with plenaries, workshops, demonstrations, evening socials and more! We welcome Indigenous Peoples, frontline grassroots groups, and tribal nation representatives – allies and CJ/EJ advocates across Turtle Island.

For more information and to pre-register visit ienearth.org/PME2024

Questions? Email [email protected]

See you in Cherokee, NC!

❗️ Attention Indigenous Peoples, frontline defenders and allies across Turtle Island and beyond❗️

We are excited to share that pre-registration for the 18th Protecting Mother Earth (PME) Conference is open! This year, the PME will take place on the Qualla Boundary, in the heart of the great Smoky Mountains on Cherokee Lands!

Join us for a four day spiritual gathering filled with plenaries, workshops, demonstrations, evening socials and more!

For more information and to pre-register visit ienearth.org/PME2024

Questions? Email [email protected]

See you in Cherokee, NC!

“Today is a sad day for Indigenous Peoples and justice everywhere. The U.S. Parole Commission’s denial of parole for Leonard Peltier, America’s longest serving Indigenous political prisoner, is a travesty,” said Nick Tilsen, president and CEO of NDN Collective. “They denied parole to a survivor of genocidal Indian boarding schools as he struggles to survive this unjust incarceration, they insist on holding him for a crime for which they have no physical evidence against him.”

✊🏽 NDN Collective will continue to demand freedom for Leonard Peltier as his attorneys file an appeal of this decision and push for a grant of clemency from President Joe Biden.

📖 Read Full Press Release: ndnco.cc/lpprd
🔗 Link in Bio under "Read Latest Press Release"

Do you want to take action and support the campaign?

🤳 Text “FreeLeonardNow’’ to 50302 to receive latest updates and join the movement.

“Brand Israel” created a narrative upholding Israel as a progressive safe haven in the Middle East for women and q***r people and demonizing surrounding Arab countries,especially Palestine, as inherently violent toward marginalized genders and sexuality. Palestinians adapted the term “pinkwashing” to identify and criticize Israel’s tokenization of q***r people to justify genocide.

“Pinkwashing” is a term that has historically been used to criticize the commercialization and corporatization of breast cancer awareness movements. By propagandizing Palestinians as inherently violent and oppressive, Israel attempts to justify its brutality and genocide against Palestine.

⬇️ Read more ⬇️

Pinkwashing: Climate Justice Feminists Should Care about Liberating Palestine | Indigenous Environmental Network By Jordan Harmon - Policy Analyst – Legislative Advocate (Muscogee (Creek) Nation) As Two-Spirit and Indigi-q***r people on Turtle Island, we often approach q***r and trans liberation as interconnected with the broader decolonization movement and liberation from Western patriarchy, white supremacy...

TWO-SPIRIT LIVES ARE SACRED!

Despite ending yesterday, we want to encourage our followers in continuing their celebration of q***rness year-round!

Regardless of age, every young person has the inherent power to protect and defend Mother Earth, and their actions today lay the foundation for a better future for the next seven generations. Today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders!