Op-Ed: The Fight Continues In Protecting The Greater Chaco Region
Photo: Pueblo Action Alliance
By Kaylene Loretto, PAA Cultural Lands Organizer and Lauren Howland, PAA Environmental Justice Organizer
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On November 15, 2021, The Department of the Interior (DOI) announced that steps will be taken to protect The Greater Chaco Region. This announcement was not only unprecedented but a pivotal moment for Indigenous peoples and grassroots organizations who have been advocating for the protection of The Greater Chaco Landscape for decades. However with this win, the work doesn't stop here.
The protection of The Greater Chaco Landscape provides insight to a much larger issue on how environmental violence impacts the health and wellbeing of the land, water, air, and peoples. For generations, the fight to protect the Greater Chaco has been passed down to the people in the area and beyond. As Pueblo peoples we recognize that the land, water, air and all beings that live on our Earth Mother are inherently interconnected and that the protection of The Chaco Region must also mean the protection of our peoples and future generations.
The Greater Chaco region holds significant historical, social, and cultural importance to Pueblo and Indigenous peoples that are continuously under threat by oil and gas industries. Negative impacts on human health directly stem from living under the largest methane cloud on the planet that currently hovers over the Four Corners Area. Oil and gas industries need to be terminated; our people and the land cannot go on living in these hazardous conditions. Through mobilizing efforts to protect The Greater Chaco Landscape on a federal and community level, The Frack Off Greater Chaco coalition and its dozens of members are seeing relief and action. These actions, especially on a federal level, are very promising.
We are seeing studies that have been funded by The Frack Off Chaco coalitions’ organizations, since the EPA has neglected to do any meaningful and correct studies of its own. We have collectively been gathering information from people concerned and impacted by extractive colonialism to be used in protecting The Greater Chaco region. A white paper has been created by a collaboration between Pueblo Action Alliance and the UCLA Tribal Law Clinic. This white paper aims to assert further protection of The Greater Chaco Landscape by addressing issues of oil and gas industries blatantly and intentionally overstepping tribal sovereignties. Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) is also cited in this white paper and brings attention to how tribal members of the area have continuously been left out of land management processes. FPIC will be a vital tool in the protection of The Greater Chaco Region and will help bridge the efforts that The Department of the Interior is considering to put in place, going forward. The research and studies created by Indigenous coalitions are now being called upon to be considered and implemented by the Department of The Interior. To have the DOI explicitly interested in utilizing Indigenous grassroots knowledge, studies and information is unprecedented.
The Greater Chaco Landscapes’ multiple extractive industries are contributing to the climate crisis we are in. These extractive industries are impacting the land, water, air and people in detrimental ways that cannot continue. We as Pueblo and Indigenous peoples have a promising opportunity to further assert ourselves as sovereign entities and to address the climate crisis happening on our Earth Mother. The potential efforts by The Department of the Interior, is a step towards not only having tribal sovereignty being upheld but also towards the protection of a landscape that is at the intersection of social, cultural and ecological significance. The fight for The Greater Chaco region is fighting for a healthier future for our children, which cannot be ignored and concrete action must be taken.
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For more information visit: Puebloactionalliance.org
For more information visit: frackoffchaco.org
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