On the Swamp: Fighting for Indigenous Environmental Justice

American Indian Airwaves

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 and nations worldwide, we continue to assert our rights to self-determination by resisting legacies of colonialism and the continued transformation of their homelands through pollution, unsustainable development, and climate change. Today’s guest is Environmental scientist Ryan E. Emanuel, a member of the Lumbee Nation and he provides listeners some highlights from his new book, On the Swamp: Fighting for Indigenous Environmental Justice (UNC Press, 2024). On the Swamp includes shared stories from North Carolina about Indigenous survival and resilience in the face of radical environmental changes. From addressing issues such as the profound loss of wetlands to the arrival of gas pipelines, Dr. Emanuel connects all the stories together and shows the relationships between historic patterns of Indigenous oppression and present-day efforts to promote environmental justice and Indigenous rights on the swamp. All that more, on today’s episode. Guest: Dr. Ryan Emanuel, Lumbee hydrologist and community-engaged scholar from North Carolina. A tenured faculty member at Duke University, Ryan leads a research group based at the Duke River Center that studies how humans and our non-human relatives affect (and are affected by) water and environmental processes. His work promotes environmental justice and Indigenous rights through research, teaching, and public engagement. He has written or co-authored more than 50 academic articles. Archived AIA programs are on Soundcloud at: @burntswamp American Indian Airwaves streams on over ten podcasting platforms such as Amazon Music, Apple Podcast, Audible, Backtracks.fm, Gaana, Google Podcast, Fyyd, iHeart Media, Mixcloud, Player.fm, Podbay.fm, Podcast Republic, SoundCloud, Spotify, Tunein, YouTube, and more.