Darren Ranco on Climate Change (2015)
This week I met with Dr. Darren Ranco, Phd. of the University of Maine to talk about Climate Change and the People's Climate March and its effects for indigenous people on a global scale. Check it out below!
The following is the transcript of the audio file:
DARREN RANCO ON CLIMATE CHANGE
FOR CENTURIES NATIVE AMERICANS HAVE BEEN RECOGNIZED FOR THEIR APPRECIATION AND CONSERVATION OF THE EARTH AS WELL AS ITS RESOURCES.
IN THE MORE RECENT FIFTY YEARS, MANY PROTESTS INVOLVING LAND AND RESOURCE ABUSE HAS TAKEN THE FOREFRONT IN MANY INDIGENOUS DEBATES REGARDING A SENSE OF COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY.
JUST IN SEPTEMBER INDIGENOUS PEOPLE FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE WERE LEADING ACTIVISTS IN THE PEOPLE’S CLIMATE MARCH HELD IN NEW YORK CITY. THE MARCH WAS DESIGNED TO SHOW THE WORLD WIDE CONCERN OF MAJOR ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN LIGHT OF THE UNITED NATIONS SUMMIT.
DARREN RANCO, A MEMBER OF THE PENOBSCOT NATION, CHAIR OF NATIVE AMERICAN PROGRAMS AND ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ANTHROPOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MAINE WEIGHS IN…
(SOT) RANCO: A LOT OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE’S PHILOSOPHIES THAT ARE ABOUT SELF DETERMINATION AND SOVEREIGNTY FROM A CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE THAT TEACHES, NOT RIGHTS BUT RESPONSIBILITIES TO YOURSELF, YOUR ENVIRONMENT, YOUR FAMILY, YOUR CLAN, YOUR COMMUNITY. AND I THINK THAT, THAT APPROACH IS A GREAT ARTICULATION. THAT’S WHY YOU SAW SO MANY PEOPLE THERE, PEOPLE WHO ARE, NOT TYPICAL COMMUNITY MEMBERS BUT PEOPLE WHO ARE REALLY REPRESENTING THE CUTTING EDGE OF THE ACTIVISTS THAT ARE OUT THERE WORKING ON CLIMATE ISSUES AND CLIMATE JUSTICE IN PARTICULAR.
INDIGENOUS PEOPLE HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO SET A STANDARD FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD IN THEIR POLICY-MAKING AND DESIRE FOR A MORE TRADITIONAL APPROACH.
(SOT) RANCO: INDIGENOUS PEOPLE MORE SO THAN OTHERS WHO ARE CAUGHT UP IN THE POLITICS AND CITIZENSHIP OF A LOT OF SETTLER NATION-STATES, A LOT OF COLONIAL/NEOCOLONIAL STATES THAT BY BEING COMMITTED TO PLACE AND YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO PLACES, PUTS INDIGENOUS PEOPLE REALLY AT THE CENTER OF PROTECTING THE EARTH. BECAUSE IF YOU’RE COMMITTED TO AND YOUR IDENTITY IS DETERMINED BY A PLACE, A REALLY SPECIFIC PLACE IN THE WORLD, I THINK THAT SENSE OF PROTECTION AND RESPONSIBILITY TO THAT PLACE IS WHAT WOULD REALLY DEFINE A MOVEMENT.
RANCO ALSO BELIEVES THAT THE FUTURE OF THE CLIMATE CHANGE MOVEMENT IS DEFINED AS A RE-COMMITMENT TO PLURALISTIC AND SELF-DETERMINED POLITICS. HE SAYS, THERE NEEDS TO BE ACTION.
(SOT) RANCO: JUST VOTING IS PROBABLY NEVER GOING TO BE ENOUGH.
RANCO ALSO ADDED THAT STUDENTS AND YOUTH MUST TAKE THE INITIATIVE BY CONNECTING THEMSELVES TO THEIR COMMUNITY. RANCO ADVISES THAT YOUTH SHOULD BECOME AWARE OF THEIR FOOD SOURCES, AND WASTE ISSUES TO BETTER UNDERSTAND SUSTAINABILITY.
(SOT) RANCO: BASIC THINGS OF LIFE, IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE YOUR FOOD IS COMING FROM OR WHEN YOU THROW SOMETHING AWAY AND WHERE THAT’S GOING, YOU’RE REALLY DISCONNECTED FROM THE WORLD AROUND YOU.
RANCO FEELS THAT MAINTAINING YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD AND CONNECTING WITH PEOPLE THROUGH SOCIAL NETWORKS ABOUT EACH OTHER’S ENVIRONMENT IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT
(SOT) RANCO: IF YOU THINK THAT EDUCATION IS NOT JUST A BUNCH OF FACTS BUT ACTUALLY A SERIES OF RELATIONSHIPS, WHICH I ACTUALLY DO, THEN I THINK YOUR COMMITMENT TO THESE RELATIONSHIPS IN TERMS OF YOUR EDUCATION WOULD CONTRIBUTE TO SUSTAINABILITY.
TO LEARN MORE, DR. DARREN RANCO IS SCHEDULED TO TEACH A COURSE DURING THE 2015 SPRING SEMESTER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MAINE TITLED AMERICAN INDIANS AND CLIMATE CHANGE. THE COURSE WILL DISCUSS THE LIFECYCLE, SUSTAINABILITY AND COMPARE TRADITIONAL ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE WITH WESTERN SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE WHILE EXPLORING THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF EACH SYSTEM.
I AM CHARLOTTE ROE, AND THIS IS NDN IMPACT.