The main squeeze: Indigenizing Energy Systems
As the urgency to mitigate and build resilience against climate destabilization ramps up, the transition to renewable energy is at the forefront (goodbye fossil fuels!). If you’re reading this newsletter, it’s likely you already know how we feel about this transition - make it clean and make it just. While this task seems daunting, there are so many ways in which we can shift our understanding of what clean, renewable energy can look like, reframe the transition, and create a just and clean energy system that serves everyone.
New frameworks are critical to challenge our worldviews and create innovative solutions. The current systems under which we operate are often rooted in anthropocentric Western worldviews of extractive capitalism, and dominated through violence that erased people, cultures, languages, and values. It is undeniable that resource extraction and unlimited growth for profit is a cause of the climate crisis - and without challenging these values, it will be impossible to find solutions. We recently wrote an article about the Feminist Energy Systems framework, and we have also discussed decolonizing climate action. In this article, we are going to discuss what it can look like to indigenize energy systems.
Across the globe, Indigenous peoples have worked reciprocally with the land for millenia, yet are often displaced, more likely to lose their livelihoods, and are disproportionately affected by development - including the development of renewable energy sources. If we invest in so-called “solutions” that create and exacerbate issues for historically underrepresented populations, we will never secure a global, livable future. The switch to renewable energy not only needs to decrease dependence on fossil fuel sources, but must also improve and invest in communities. Adopting new frameworks, centering traditional values, and investing in BIPOC leadership can help ensure that we move in the right direction.
“Indigenous communities are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis because we maintain the closest ties to our natural environment. For the same reasons, we are closest to the solutions.” (Kaniela Ing, The Only Moral Path)
So, what does it mean to indigenize* systems? As the Woape Foundation states, “Indigenous peoples are the original stewards of the environment and provide an example of how to develop a just sustainable development future. While only comprising 5% of the terrestrial territory on Earth, Indigenous peoples protect over 80% of global biodiversity and have been instrumental in preventing the expansion of carbon-based energy extraction and protecting water and air.”
Underlying Indigenous worldviews, which can be used to shape new systems and frameworks, can generally include the following: equally valuing traditional and scientific knowledge; viewing nature as sacred and indivisible from humans and must be cared for, respected and nurtured; strong structures of solidarity and reciprocity; valuing local sovereignty, and communal ownership and management of commons (Velasco-Herrejon, Bauwens and Friant, 2022). Indigenizing systems, such as renewable energy, can involve centering and listening to Indigenous leadership and communities to create projects that build upon the communities’ values, lessening and healing environmental harms, and creating benefits that uplift and invest in the people.
“Indigenous communities are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis because we maintain the closest ties to our natural environment. For the same reasons, we are closest to the solutions.” (Kaniela Ing, The Only Moral Path)
Indigenizing systems is not an abstract or outdated concept, but is one that is applicable and in practice across the globe today. Below, we highlighted leaders in Indigenous energy projects that we hope will serve to inspire and guide more communities and allies to support indigenizing energy systems, which in turn can lead to creating new livelihoods, lessening financial burdens, and securing sustainable and clean energy sources for future generations.
Local: Hoʻāhu Energy Cooperative
We are longtime fans of Hoʻāhu Energy Cooperative. Locally owned and operated on Molokaʻi, Hoʻāhu’s mission is simple and powerful: “to produce locally owned, affordable, renewable energy for the benefit of our members, the community, and environment.” This will be Molokaʻi’s first community-owned, renewable energy resource project, and they plan to reduce the energy burden - residents pay rates 400% higher than the national average - on Molokaʻi’s majority Kānaka Maoli population. In 2022, Hoʻāhu received federal funding for technical assistance, training, energy and economic analysis, workforce and equity assessments, and grant application assistance. They are setting the groundwork and proving that it’s possible to create successful, community based renewable energy projects not just in Hawaiʻi, but globally.
National: Indigenize Energy Initiative
Indigenize Energy Initiative, IEI, is empowering Indigenous communities on Turtle Island (a.k.a. the continental United States). Their strategies for capacity building are vast - they work to provide everything from scholarships for solar installation training (a job that is projected to grow 105% in the next decade) to fundraising for solar projects. IEI is Native-led, and builds partnerships based on mutual trust to do work that “honors Native wisdom and lifeways, builds trust, catalyzes economic development and job creation, while caring for Mother Earth.” We like this so much we featured them twice in this month’s newsletter - get inspired by watching an interview with co-founder Cody Two Bears in our “What to Watch” section below!
International: Cowessess Renewable Energy Project
Canada is leading the charge towards Indigenous-led, renewable energy. The Cowessess Renewable Energy Project is one of the first wind-solar battery storage projects in Canada, developed by the Cowessess First Nation in partnership with Saskatchewan Research Council, with real benefits to the community: “The facility harnesses energy from both solar power and wind power, and as such, is referred to as a hybrid facility. This project was developed by Cowessess First Nation in 2013, and in partnership with the Saskatchewan Research Council; it provides enough power for 340 homes. SaskPower, the power authority in Saskatchewan, is contracted to buy electricity from the project for 20 years, with profits going to Cowessess First Nation. In addition, the project supports Indigenous businesses and trains and hires members of the First Nation to sustain the project.” (Indigenous Climate Hub) Cowessess is also working with other First Nations to create their own renewable energy projects. We love to see it!
*Note: Indigenous peoples are diverse, with different values, cultures, languages, worldviews and systems, and we don’t seek to generalize the experiences or worldviews of any people. This article is meant to be a general introduction to indigenizing systems, not a comprehensive or definitive list of all Indigenous worldviews