From left: Joshua Dedmond (LNS), Nona Chai (JTA), Lara Aumann (JTA), Ananda Lee Tan (JTA), José Bravo (JTA), Liz Ratzloff (LNS) at the IEN PME.

The Just Transition Alliance spent four days on the Qualla Boundary of the Great Smoky Mountains as part of the Indigenous Environmental Network’s (IEN) 18th Protecting Mother Earth Conference, Aug 1-4, 2024. Reflecting on Indigenous Just Transition, the overarching theme of the event, we deepened our commitment to supporting decades-long Indigenous organizing on just transitions.

During the opening panel event, Mary Crowe (IEN’s Indigenous Just Transition Organizer) delineated the difference between mainstream just transition and Indigenous just transition. The former frames shifting toward regenerative local economies as the creation of new systems. The latter frames just transition as the restoration of traditional ways of being and of right relations with each other, Mother Earth, and all life. While Mary weaved context around the creation and importance of Indigenous Just Transition through storytelling, Tom Goldtooth (IEN’s Executive Director) delved into the concept’s details by describing IEN’s Principles of Indigenous Just Transition. These principles demonstrate years of careful thought on the themes of responsibility and relationship, Indigenous sovereignty, and transformation for action.

Opening panel on just transition at the IEN PME. Photo credit: Lara Aumann

We built off the momentum from the opening session with another panel on just transition which featured our ED José Bravo, Liz Ratzloff and Joshua Desmond (Labor Network for Sustainability), Robert Nutlouis (Nihikeya), and Rose Ann Hamilton (Cahuilla), and Mary Crowe. The speakers discussed just transition from different perspectives, including labor, people of color movements, Indigenous organizing.

José also participated in a roundtable discussion which centered on building Indigenous-people of color solidarity, and our Strategy Advisor Ananda Lee Tan was featured in a panel discussion on Hoodwinked in the Hothouse, which details false solutions to the climate crisis and real community-based solutions.

From left: Tamra Gilbertson, Rose Ann Hamilton, Anne Petermann, Laura Langner, Ananda Lee Tan featured on the Hoodwinked Panel Discussion. Photo Credit: Laura Langner

Overall, the 18th Protecting Mother Earth Conference was deeply intentional and grounding, from the preparation involved in growing food well in advance of the event to the warm welcome we received from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The cross-movement, cross-cultural dialogues at this beautiful event resonate with the aims of our just transition vision. JTA seeks to build connections at the rich and diverse intersections of labor, environmental justice, and Indigenous movements. For that reason and much more than can be described in words, we thank Indigenous Environmental Network for cultivating the incredible experiences we had at this conference.