Seeing Indigenous Peoples in Urban Environmental and Climate Justice

This chapter will explore environmental and climate injustice in urban areas with an intersectional lens, considering racial, political and place-based identities, aiming towards a reparative and transformative approach to planning and action. Environmental and climate injustice in urban areas are predominantly determined by the racial composition of populations, in combination with economic status. The primary focus for analysis in the United States has been Black and Hispanic populations. However, there has also been extensive discrimination against Indigenous populations in urban areas. Indigenous Peoples are both racialized and defined politically by their sovereignty, associated with federal recognition of Tribal governments and sought by state-recognized and not-yet-recognized Tribes. Indigenous Peoples are also identified by their relationships and responsibilities to their ancestral lands, including urban areas, and seek decolonization that enables practices associated with those lands. Climate relocation and climate gentrification work can enhance efforts towards justice with intersectional values and goals.