Decolonization or Extinction: Indigenous Red Deal Lays Out Plan to Save the Earth

On Earth Day, we speak with two of the more than two dozen Indigenous authors of a new book that looks at the history of resistance against colonialism and capitalism and lays out a vision for the future to address the climate crisis. The Red Deal: Indigenous Action to Save Our Earth" details the centuries of Indigenous resistance that created the movement at Standing Rock against the Dakota Access pipeline and what movements centering justice for Indigenous people must look like. The book offers a people's program to prevent extinction," says Melanie Yazzie, assistant professor of Native American studies and American studies at the University of New Mexico and co-author of The Red Deal." The plan is really clear. The stakes are really clear," Yazzie says. We draw centrally from Indigenous movements over the last couple of decades for decolonization." We also speak with Uahikea Maile, an assistant professor of Indigenous politics at the University of Toronto-St. George and one of the book's co-authors.