The disregard which the American government has always had to Native American reservation and tribes is continually shocking, especially since they represent some of the most important remains of traditional culture left in the USA. They have already lost 99% of their land which they had originally. There is a remaining importance to make sure that they are protected from the worst of the climate crisis, something which the current government is failing miserably at.
In Louisiana, the Isle de Jean Charles band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw tribe has lost 98% of its land mass. This is due to erosion from severe storms, such as Hurricane Katrina. This has damaged the tribe’s culture and sacred places, in total affecting their entire way of life. Additionally, the Navajo Nation in the midwest desert has been greatly affected by increased instances of drought. The lower amounts of food resulting from the drought sadly causes depopulation, leading to the regions slowly losing their cultural identity. Especially with these regions lacking strong infrastructure to support themselves in times of climate crisis, the federal government has a duty to protect the native American reservations from the worst of the climate crisis.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), have traditionally received government funding, which they have used to attempt to try and support Native Americans, minimising the impacts of climate change. However, the tragedy lies within the fact that the current Trump administration will do its best to cut costs, such as their attempted funding freeze, which included stopping the funding for cleaning contaminated land in Native American regions. In his first term, Trump cut funding to the EPA drastically. His continued rhetoric of ‘drill, baby, drill’, whilst not directly always affecting reservations, demonstrates a lack of any sort of desire to take action to limit the physical impacts of climate change.
Although intervening so strongly does fundamentally contradict Republican policy of a minimal state, the fact that these reservations have always belonged to Native Americans means that the US government has a duty to protect them and their land. Without such intervention, they will struggle to survive as the climate crisis continues to worsen. Historically, such as the cases in Osage County in the 1920s which ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ was based off, the US government has acted appallingly towards Native Americans, taking an imperialist view in regard to taking over their land. Native Americans have already lost 99% of their historical land base, the remaining 1% must be protected by the US government.