Wounding Mother Earth: Stopping the Pebble Mine and Urban Indigenous Los Angeles

American Indian Airwaves

Part 1 On September 6, 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency concluded the public comment period for its proposed Clean Water Act determination (known as Section 404c) for protecting Bristol Bay, Alaska from the proposed, massive Pebble Mine Project. More than 500,000 Americans weighed in on the proposed determination, bringing the total comments in support of protecting Bristol Bay from the Pebble Mine to nearly 4 million. Northern Dynasty, a junior Canadian company, is the company behind the Pebble Project. The Pebble deposit contains the largest undeveloped copper and gold resource, plus other minerals - estimated volume is over 6.5 billion tons. The proposed Pebble mine in Bristol Bay, AK is home to the Yup’ik, Dena’ina, and Alutiiq peoples and 15 Native American Nations and the Pebble mine threatens their traditional ways of life in Southwest Alaska that depend on the pristine Bristol Bay Watershed and all it sustains. The region is roughly the size of the state of Ohio and the EPA decision determining whether to protect Bristol Bay or not is expected to happen by end of the 2022. Our guest for the first segment of today’s program provides listeners an update, a history of the two-decade struggle, and how people can help stop the Pebble Mine project and protect the Yup’ik, Dena’ina, and Alutiiq peoples, their traditional ways of life, and the homelands of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay members include: Togiak Traditional Council, Twin Hills Village Council, Manokotak Village Council, Curyung Tribal Council, Ekuk Village Council, Clark’s Point Village Council, Aleknagik Traditional Council, Portage Creek Village Council, New Stuyahok Traditional Council, New Koliganek Village Council, Levelock Village Council, Nondalton Village Council, Pilot Point Tribal Council, Pedro Bay Village Council and Chignik Lake Tribal Council. Guest: Delores Larson (Aluiiq Nation), Deputy Director of United Tribes of Bristol Bay (https://www.utbb.org/). Part 2: Los Angeles County has the largest urban Indigenous population compared to any other county throughout the settler-colonial United States. Today, as part of our Urban Indigenous Los Angeles we interview a long-time Indigenous activist, organizer, spoon keeper, life-giver, great-grandmother, mother, and so much more. Our guest has been instrumental and a bedrock within the urban Indigenous Los Angeles area for several generation. Tune in to hear her story, who she is, what her contributions are, and more. Guest: Helen Herrera (Apache Nation), Indigenous activist, organizer, spoon keeper, life-giver, great-grandmother, mother, and so much more. Click here to listen on the SoundCloud platform. Click here for archived American Indian Airwaves programs on the KPFK website within the past 60-days only or click on (below) after 8pm for today’s scheduled program.