Indigenous Peoples and Cultural Losses

Abstract

This article discusses a variety of experiences and philosophical reflections on cultural loss under an environmental justice framework, wherein ‘environmental justice’ is broadly construed as the conceptual connections, causal relationships, and strong correlations that exist between environmental issues and social justice. Environmental justice frames social issues as environmental issues. Social and environmental issues are inseparable, co-causally related, and always in a context that requires a political interpretation; in particular, such a consideration of justice accounts for power dynamics and socio-environmental practices that maintain historical relations, as well as the remedies for injustices. The primary argument of this article is that the environmental justice framework is a proper theoretical and practical approach to understanding the cultural loss among indigenous peoples caused by climate change. It emphasizes restorative justice philosophies and procedures that can address the future consequences of cultural loss.