Dina Gilio-Whitaker: Centering American Indians in the Question of What is Environmental (In)Justice

HMM producer Anna Steltenkamp speaks with Dina Gilio-Whitaker. Dina is a member of the Colville Confederated Tribes, an award-winning journalist, and a lecturer of American Indian Studies at California State University San Marcos. Anna speaks with her about her recent book: “As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock.” Dina also co-authored “‘All the Real Indians Died Off’: And 20 Other Myths About Native Americans” with Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz.

This is the first segment in a multi-part dialogue with Dina Gilio-Whitaker. In this segment, Dina speaks about her personal experience as an Urban Indian in the United States, as well as her background as an activist and journalist, and how these experiences influenced her work. Further, she addresses how the defining of “environmental justice” by the United States Government creates issues for American Indians, and she discusses her argument for why American Indians need to be centered in the question of what is environmental (in)justice.