Even “subtle alterations to climate and environment” can drastically alter daily lives in Indigenous communities, said Cunsolo. Cunsolo has researched the impacts of climate change on Inuit communities, drawing from knowledge held by Inuit elders in northern regions of Newfoundland and Labrador. According to academics and activists, climate change and Alberta’s ongoing reliance on resource extraction threaten physical, cultural and spiritual ways of life in Indigenous communities. In addition to supporting plants and animals, trees supply many Indigenous communities with vitamins and minerals through their sap. “(Sap) is one of the things that Indigenous peoples use to sustain themselves.”Rapid industrialization and colonialism have continuously threatened Indigenous ways of living, Cardinal said.

Source: thestar September 13, 2018 01:04 UTC