Indigenous perspectives on climate mobility justice and displacement-mobility-immobility continuum

Abstract

ABSTRACT For millennia, Indigenous Peoples around the world have prepared for, coped with, and survived disasters and environmental change, and human-induced events. Along the way, these experiences – and a keen understanding of the environment in which they live – have borne what we refer to today as Indigenous Knowledges. Among the most significant of the human-induced events, colonization has disrupted Indigenous strategies of self-determination and resilience. Indigenous-led climate change adaptation holds a transformative potential for addressing the impacts of the unnatural disasters of colonialism, land dispossession, and the climate change crisis. Yet, community-led research in this urgent research area remains limited. To ensure that Indigenous Peoples’ right to self-determination is protected and the horrific legacy of government-forced relocations is not repeated, communities must lead and define research on climate-forced displacement and planned relocation.