Michael Charles speaks to Reclaim Earth Day

Cornell Professor Michael Charles, Diné (Navajo) scholar and Provost’s New Faculty Fellow and Assistant Professor in Biological and Environmental Engineering, spoke these words as the opening address for Reclaim Earth Day on the Ithaca Commons April 22, 2024. They are reprinted here with his permission and with our gratitude, to be taken up in right action.

You may also be moved to action by Michael Charles’ address to COP27 in Egypt on November 17, 2022, “All is Beautiful Again,” republished by Indigenous Climate Action.

Yá'át'ééh…

I've been asked to give a land acknowledgment today to open up our event, but I do not come from these lands. My name is Michael Charles, I am a Dine' citizen of Navajo Nation and my ancestors come from the Four Corners region in the Southwest. I cannot invite or welcome you as I am also here as a guest and am still learning, like all of you, what it means to be in relation with these relatives of the Haudenosaunee and in particular, the Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ'.

I thank them for their kindness to me as a guest here on their homelands and hope that my acknowledgment of the Haudenosaunee is through my actions of reciprocity to them and the lands and waters that they've stewarded over millennia. I offer my actions in hope that they honor their deep histories and impactful presence today and in the future. Today, my words are an invitation to all of you to build, or continue to build, that reciprocity within your own lives, and to act in acknowledgment of Nahasdzáán, our Mother Earth, and the original peoples to this area by striving to be good guests and good relatives.

I want to begin by highlighting the vulnerability of Indigenous Peoples in the context of climate change because it also highlights the value of their voices in the discussions geared towards climate justice. With the rapid climate changes that we are currently experiencing, Indigenous Peoples are already needing to adapt their cultural practices to survive. The knowledge that we've carried from generation to generation is at risk of no longer accurately teaching our future generations about the world around us. This causes us to lose parts of our identity and the connection we have to our ancestors through shared practice and tradition. When environmental impacts occur, those who live closest to the land have the most to lose. Our identities are tied to the land, our lifestyles are tied to the land, our economic systems are tied to the land. And although we may experience different climate effects in different regions, we understand that everything is connected. As our Arctic relatives lose permafrost due to global warming and the territories where they hunt and gather diminish, this ice melt is the same waters that are rising in the Pacific, threatening the shorelines and territories of our Island relatives. And as they adapt to manage the increase in water and storms, our people in the deserts will continue to adapt and fight to survive against increasing drought. These impacts show the direct effects of climate, although we know power and politics will also continue to threaten our Indigenous rights to our homelands and the safety of our people. We are already seeing Indigenous peoples murdered around the globe for standing up for their homes, their lands, and their rights. Colonialism has already displaced many of us once, so the question I pose is: will history repeat itself?

Now, despite our vulnerabilities - we are not victims. We are solutions. We are guardians and stewards of our shared Mother Earth, protecting 80% of global biodiversity and nearly 20% of carbon sequestered by tropical and subtropical forests. Resilience is in our blood. We only exist today because of the survival and resilience of our ancestors against colonialism. I am only here because my great-great grandparents fought to survive the Long Walk and forced removal led by General Custer. I am only here because my grandparents survived boarding schools, when many other children didn't. We are here for a reason and the more we are included and given a voice, we will be able to use that resilience to also enable your existence, our existence, and that of our future generations. The solutions that we have are embedded in our cultures, our languages, our songs, and our ceremonies. These solutions aren't just a list of useful practices, like re-learning how to use controlled burns to mitigate wildfires. It's a way of seeing the world differently and shifting societal values. Compared to the history of mankind, climate change is a consequence of recent human activity. Those who continue to practice the traditions of their ancestors have wisdom and insight into how to solve the issues at hand. Therefore, we must protect and include Indigenous Peoples across all climate action. I always say the cheapest solution to climate change is by protecting Indigenous Peoples and ensuring they have rights to steward their lands and waters. Although we must act quickly against the climate crisis, we must also act together or we will continue to produce unintended and unjust consequences. 

There is so much value to the conversations that I'm sure you have had today and will continue to have in your climate organizing circles around divestment, organized actions, and institutional accountability. I'm happy to continue any of these conversations anytime. However, today I want to highlight the term decolonization. This term gets thrown around so often that I'm not sure even we as Indigenous Peoples know what it's supposed to mean anymore. What I want to leave you with today is a reminder to remember your relationships and reconnect regularly.

Remember the land beneath your feet as a relationship. Remember the water that brings us life as a relationship. This reminds us what we are fighting for when it comes to the pursuit of sustainability. Spend time with your plant and animal relatives, no matter where you are. Think about how your spirit connects to the beings around you, your ancestors, and the health of the world around you.

This is how we will learn to decolonize - especially for those who do not come from Indigenous communities. Luckily for us, we all have the same mother and original teacher.

We are on a journey towards restoring the beauty in this world. In my community, as Dine', we remind each other to walk in beauty.

Walking in Beauty is a direct result of taking the time to heal. It's a life-way that ensures that our steps are respectful of the land, that our steps bring us strength to fight our fears whether they be physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. Walking in beauty means we walk with humility, understanding that our movements are not led by our egos but by our love for justice and our love for our people. When we act with humility, we also honor all the work that has been done before us. We understand that our work has already been elevated by the work of our ancestors and the generations who fought for justice before us. It brings perspective to our work and can help us walk with patience. This patience can look like taking time to understand the roots of issues, understanding the thoughts and feelings of those who disagree with us, and it also can look like being slow to respond with words to those who are harsh with us. Walking in beauty means taking time to build relationships, understanding other people and celebrating them and the cultures that they practice. It means walking for future generations, understanding that we may not see all the results of our work, but it may serve our grandchildren or serve as a building block for the next generation of the movement. Most importantly, walking in beauty teaches us to treat others with kindness and love - it's an outward reflection of our own healing.

A Dene elder, my northern Athabaskan relative, once told me a prophecy that he was told when he was a young man. Forgive me for my paraphrasing, but I tell this story often because what he told me struck my heart deeply. He told me, "It was spoken that the white man would come. First, for gold and oil. And we'd invite them to our lands, and they would take. And take. They would harm us and leave us with little, if anything at all. And we would remain and return to our practices. But, the white man will return again. This time for food and clean water. And how will we respond? We will forgive them and we will give them food and water."

I cannot give a better example of what it means to walk in beauty. That is love. That is forgiveness. That's the power of reconnecting to each other and reconnecting to the land. So although we're here to make a statement, to demand better from our governments and institutions, to take on the battle of decarbonization - let's not forget the power of healing our spirits. My guess is that through reconnection, reciprocity and healing - decarbonization is sure to follow. And that's not to say that we shouldn't continue to put pressure on those in power and take on the fight against climate change -- it's just a reminder of why we're doing it in the first place.

I want to conclude with the Dine' Blessingway - translated into English.

In beauty we walk

With beauty before us we walk

With beauty behind us we walk

With beauty above us we walk

With beauty around us we walk

Hózhó náhásdlįį.

Hózhó náhásdlįį.

Hózhó náhásdlįį.

Hózhó náhásdlįį.

When we walk in beauty, we can walk together towards our destination, where all is beautiful again. 

Ahehee'

You may also be moved to action by Michael Charles’ address to COP27, “All is Beautiful Again,” republished by Indigenous Climate Action. This piece was originally published in the ECO Newsletter on November 17, 2022 at COP27 in Egypt.