Transformative Visions Presidential Speaker Series – Dina Gilio-Whitaker, “Indigenized Environmental Justice”
The Transformative Visions presidential speaker series returns this Tuesday evening, October 27, at 7 p.m. We are proud to present Dina Gilio-Whitaker, who will present a talk on “Indigenized Environmental Justice.” Ms. Gilio-Whitaker is a member of the Colville Confederated Tribes, an award-winning journalist and writer, a lecturer of American Indian Studies at California State University San Marcos, and an educator on environmental justice, Indigenous rights, and the relationship between the environmental movement and Indigenous peoples. Gilio-Whitaker is the policy director and senior research associate at the Center for World Indigenous Studies. She is the author of As Long As Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice from Colonization to Standing Rock and co-author with Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz of ‘All the Real Indians Died Off’ and 20 Other Myths About Native Americans.
Gilio-Whitaker’s research focuses on environmental justice and policy reform from an Indigenous feminist standpoint. She uses the example of Standing Rock to demonstrate that environmental justice movements often fail to address oppression against Indigenous and minority populations, thereby perpetuating injustice in various forms. To use her term, Gilio-Whitaker argues that the field of environmental justice needs to be “Indigenized” — which requires accounting for ongoing settler colonialism and centering Indigenous experiences, which can in turn promote more inclusive and holistic legal and policy solutions.
Please join us for this important, timely, and provocative presentation. The link to join the event can be found at: www.niagara.edu/speakerseries102720.