As corporations grow their profits and exploit the environment, indigenous communities are the first to feel the effects. Eventually, industrial pollution will be a problem for all of us, so we can work to stop it now.
The BP oil spill of 2010 damaged the land and resources of the Pointe-au-Chien tribe of Louisiana that had sustained the tribe for centuries. The tribe sued BP, but four years later the case was dismissed.
The government did not carry out justice for the Pointe-au-Chien tribe, but there are so many other horrendous examples of industrial pollution that are allowed and sometimes even promoted by the government. In 2020, Louisiana state representative Ryan Bourriaque introduced a bill to allow Venture Global, a national gas company, to build a 280-mile pipeline through Louisiana, including the Tunica-Biloxi tribe’s land. The proposed path of the pipeline went through historically sacred burial grounds.
However, direct impacts of industry like these examples are not the most common offenders of the health of tribal communities. In reality, industrial pollution anywhere will not be concentrated; it will spread. And as one of the most vulnerable communities in the nation, indigenous people will always be affected by industrial pollution anywhere.
As pollution travels through the air and water, indigenous health is endangered. Dr. Álvaro Fernández-Llamazares, a researcher at the Helsinki Institute of Sustainable Science, found that “Indigenous Peoples are largely and heavily affected by polluting activities both through their exposure and vulnerability, and that much of this pollution is linked to broader patterns of colonization.”
Studies found that Louisiana’s tribes experience “high rates of diabetes, cancer, and high blood pressure…from industrial contamination.”
Essentially, until all pollution stops, indigenous people will always be the most at risk.
Corporate sustainability can counter industrial pollution. By being carbon-negative, promoting local intelligence, fostering the distribution of essential services, and generally investing in sustainability, local businesses will help protect the indigenous communities of Louisiana.
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Love Your City acknowledges that the land of New Orleans, which we inhabit, is in the original ancestral homelands of the native tribes of Louisiana. We pay respect to the native tribes of Louisiana in the past, present, and future, and will continue to honor and affirm their presence on their homeland.