Tribal Climate Change Guide

The Tribal Climate Change Guide is part of the Pacific Northwest Tribal Climate Change Project (TCCP). The TCCP is part of the L.I.G.H.T. Foundation (LF), is an independent, Indigenous-led, conservation 501(c)(3) nonprofit established on the Colville Indian Reservation in the traditional territory of the Nespelem Tribe in present-day north central Washington State. LF supports the restoration and cultivation of native Plant and Pollinator Relatives and the culturally respectful conservation of habitats and ecosystems which are climate resilient and adaptive. For more information about LF, visit: https://thepnwlf.org/. For more information about the Tribal Climate Change Project, visit: https://tribalclimate.uoregon.edu/. If you would like to add information to this guide, please email kathy.lynn.or@gmail.com.

A River Was Just Granted the Same Legal Rights as a Human Being

Type

Literature

Publication

Javelosa, J., Norman, A. 2017. A River Was Just Granted the Same Legal Rights as a Human Being.

Year Published

2017

Organization

NGO

Description

In a world-first, New Zealand’s third largest river has just been granted the same legal rights as a human being. The new legislation essentially combines Western legal precedent with Maori mysticism. According to the Maori —a tribe of the Whanganui in the North Island who has been fighting to assert their rights over the river since the 1870s —their efforts to protect the river stems from the deep spiritual connection of the tribe to nature. “The approach of granting legal personality to a river is unique […][It] will have its own legal identity with all the corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a legal person,” says Attorney-General Chris Finlayson.

Geography

New Zealand

Website

https://futurism.com/a-river-was-just-granted-the-same-legal-rights-as-a-human-…

The Tribal Climate Change Guide is supported through partnerships between the University of Oregon Environmental Studies Program and the North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative, the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals and the Environmental Protection Agency Region 10 Tribal Program.
Questions about this Guide should be directed to kathy@uoregon.edu.