DC Regulators Are Welcoming Indigenous Knowledge—and the Right is Freaking Out
- July 22, 2024
Juliana Broad, Mother Jones
Last September, when the Biden administration canceled several oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, it cited in its decision the expertise of the Native “original stewards” of the land. The move was the fruit of government-wide guidance issued in late 2022 encouraging the incorporation of what Biden policymakers broadly referred to as “Indigenous Knowledge”—a wide array of observations, oral and written records, innovations, beliefs, and practices of various Native communities—into science-based federal decision-making.
As the Washington Free Beacon warned, the lease cancellations were just “the latest example of how ‘Indigenous Knowledge,’ a pseudoscience which posits native people possess unique insights into the laws of the universe, has pervaded the federal government.”
Much of the outrage can be traced back to two former Trump administration officials who have used freedom of information filings and lawsuits to draw attention to the battle. One, Michael Chamberlain, directs Protect the Public’s Trust.