Global Warming Affects Indigenous Religious Practices

I dare you. Can you link religion and climate change? Well if you can't, this article will do it for you. According to the reporting on The Conversation UK, the Colorado River in the US is shrinking, and indigenous peoples will no longer enjoy an ancestral sacred place.

Harvard scholar and specialist in Native American religions and the environment, Rosalyn R. LaPier, clearly contextualizes this threat:

“For the past 100 years, indigenous peoples have been forced to adapt to changes in their environments and modify their religious rituals in the United States. The U.S. government made certain Native American religious practices illegal in the 19th and early 20th century. Although these policies have since been rescinded, they led to changes in many indigenous practices”

The article questions the ability of indigenous peoples in the US to adapt religious beliefs and practices due to the consequences of global warming. For example, this could include moving the dates of religious ceremonies and festivals and changing the use of certain natural resources.

Religious freedom: The less expected victim of climate change

Indigenous peoples are the most affected by global warming because their religious practices are closely linked to nature. Their religious calendar is tied to natural seasonal cycles of weather, plants and animals.

Recently, the Sioux tribe in North Dakota defended their right to religious freedom against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Even though this argument was not strong enough, indigenous peoples achieved an unprecedented victory when a federal judge considered that the extractive project failed to adhere to the national environmental law.

Is this a question of resiliency? Get examples and details of this untold climate change challenge facing indigenous communities.