Nowhere Else to Go

As Beth Walker observes in her post at Minorities in Focus, the proliferation of conflicts over mining on tribal peoples lands isn’t just a reflection of growing network awareness of market theft and institutional impunity; it’s also a reaction to the sizable increase in the scale of operations and intensity of extraction by transnational corporations. With their backs to the wall, Indigenous nations are fighting back because they have nowhere else to go.

As Walker notes, over the last ten years, iron ore production has doubled, coal mining is up 45%, and metals like lithium are up 125%. Fueled by rising prices and commodity speculation, Indigenous lands, rivers and aquifers across Africa, Latin America and Asia are being devoured by mining.

This rapid growth of mining, oil and gas development is threatening Indigenous communities and destroying their food and water systems. Is it any wonder they are becoming more militant in their opposition?