On the Swamp - Fighting for Indigenous Environmental Justice by Ryan Emanuel

We will be discussing the book On the Swamp by Ryan Emanuel, I chose this book because it sews ancient and current history of indigenous people of coastal Carolinas. Their current struggle to thwart land grabbing by huge corporations and haphazard development.

Please feel to invite your friends along to discuss our local history.

Below is the description of the book -

Despite centuries of colonialism, Indigenous peoples still occupy parts of their ancestral homelands in what is now Eastern North Carolina—a patchwork quilt of forested swamps, sandy plains, and blackwater streams that spreads across the Coastal Plain between the Fall Line and the Atlantic Ocean. In these backwaters, Lumbees and other American Indians have adapted to a radically transformed world while maintaining vibrant cultures and powerful connections to land and water. Like many Indigenous communities worldwide, they continue to assert their rights to self-determination by resisting legacies of colonialism and the continued transformation of their homelands through pollution, unsustainable development, and climate change.

Environmental scientist Ryan E. Emanuel, a member of the Lumbee tribe, shares stories from North Carolina about Indigenous survival and resilience in the face of radical environmental changes. Addressing issues from the loss of wetlands to the arrival of gas pipelines, these stories connect the dots between historic patterns of Indigenous oppression and present-day efforts to promote environmental justice and Indigenous rights on the swamp. Emanuel’s scientific insight and deeply personal connections to his home blend together in a book that is both a heartfelt and an analytical call to acknowledge and protect sacred places.

You can purchase the book online or ask your local library
https://uncpress.org/book/9781469678320/on-the-swamp/