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Building a Sustainable Future by Brandon Barela
B U I L D I N G A SUSTAINABLE
F U T U R E
BY BRANDON BARELA - NAVAJO NATION, AIGC MAJOR GIFTS OFFICER
Prior to westernization, native communities lived harmoniously with the land. This was due to accumulated knowledge and understandings that were refined over hundreds or thousands of years of experience with the land.
Today, AIGCS Alumni Brett Isaac (Navajo Nation) and Tyson Jeannotte (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indian) are incorporating that knowledge and Indigenous tradition in their business practices in an effort to respect and preserve the land while empowering their communities.
Now, more than ever, it is pertinent for companies in the energy and resource preservation industries to apply Tribal Ecological Knowledge (TEK) to rebuild the relationship with the land and integrate knowledge that will benefit the environment and population. Irresponsible energy production has impacted the world in a negative way and now industries are looking to backtrack on generations of destruction to restore balance to the environment.
Both Isaac and Jeannotte agree traditional practices that have been known in Native communities are now being acknowledged by industries that have exploited or altered our land. Jeannotte has seen it through the alteration of natural rivers that polluted the water while Brett has noticed
it by the extraction of natural resources on Navajo land and the destruction it has left behind. As a water resource engineer, Jeannotte’s work focuses on water quality projects and designing mechanisms to trap destructive contaminants, so they won’t have a negative impact on other water sources. He aims to promote solutions to water issues such as the exporting of nutrients and how it affects water quality.
Jeannotte shared that nutrients have been exported for agricultural fields and are currently affecting water quality by developing algae. His plan is to restore the water sources back to the natural setting to halt the spread of harmful nutrients, as well possibly preventing natural disasters.
BRETT ISAAC NAVAJO NATION, AIGCS ALUMNI
“If farmers never dredged the rivers in the early 1900’s we might not have had the devastating flood of 1997 in Fargo and Grand Forks,” he explained. “Those dredged rivers forced water rapidly into the flooding basin.”
As he pursues a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering, Jeannotte said he is working on research on Tribal lands and once the study is complete, he can apply TEK by protecting resources and restoring the land back to what would have been familiar to his ancestors.
“We are forced to accept the ways of the western world but we also have to look back at our stories and understand as Native Americans this is how the land used to look, and we need to restore it back to what it once was,” he shared.
As the founder and CEO of Navajo Power, Isaac’s goal is to bring energy to citizens of the Navajo Nation in a way that would not leave a large negative impact behind. He is drawn to alternative energy since it allowed easier access to power while lessening the carbon footprint that is currently contributing to climate change – a critical issue that has been around for decades but is only now being recognized around the world as a serious threat.
“Indigenous communities have been sounding the alarm for decades for the need of land preservation and conservation, and now that knowledge is valuable as the impacts of climate change are at our doorsteps,” Isaac said.
In order to see the positive impact on his homeland, Isaac knew that he had to build a clean energy company: “To accelerate a positive transition in industries that are having a negative impact on the environment, you cannot only talk about what you can do as alternatives, but you have to actively participate in it,” he said.
Incorporating traditional practices is key to Navajo Power’s success. In addition to corporate advisors, Isaac made sure to bring medicine people to his team to ensure the organization properly acknowledged and respected the land through their work.
“Past industries have left ruin; the land needs to be acknowledged before work can be done,” he said. “You must take out the money factor
(LEFT) TYSON JEANNOTTE - TURTLE MOUNTAIN BAND OF CHIPPEWA INDIAN
(RIGHT) ALEXIS ARCHAMBAULT - STANDING ROCK SIOUX, AIGC SCHOLAR
“You must take out the money factor and ask what you can do for the land. If you take care of it, it will take of you.” - Brett Isaac
and ask what you can do for the land. If you take care of it, it will take of you.”
By combining the traditional beliefs he grew up with to a western way of thinking, Isaac knows he can add balance and encourage a more sustainable future for the Navajo Nation.
“We want to interpret and blend these worlds by taking a little bit of Silicon Valley’s aggressive nature to business but applying an indigenous touch to it so it reflects us.” Such ideas that would have been dismissed not too long ago are now being heard and taken into consideration. Jeannotte attributes this to younger generations securing more prominent positions in companies. He is seeing it first-hand as his professional opinion is becoming established in the Midwest while publications from his master’s program are being used by other environmental experts in the region.
“In today’s world, millennials have a spot at the table where we can speak our opinions and show what we are made of. That’s why more of our ideas are being accepted and adopted into western culture,” he said.
Isaac and Jeannotte know that applying TEK with western knowledge to energy production and resource management can benefit the environment and human health.
Isaac exclaimed: “We inherited and participate in the western system; we need to apply parts of our knowledge. It’s going to be important for the future.”
