Copenhagen, Dec 12, 2009

Tom Goldtooth spoke this evening near the conclusion of the Copenhagen climate march on Indigenous Peoples rights and climate justice.

Text of Statement:
“Hej Kobenhavn!”

“It’s good to be here and it’s really good that you welcomed the Indigenous Peoples of the world. Our mother Earth is all of your mother Earth. As we came here as Indigenous People from every region of the Earth to demand that our rights be recognized by these governmental leaders, because if were going to have climate justice it’s that they have to recognize the collective, the human rights with an ‘s’ as people so that our rights will be recognized. Because we come from different parts of the world where we know that global warming is real, we know that climate change is real.”

“We come from people from South America, people from Africa, people from Australia, the Adivasi from India, the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific, from Asia, and Indigenous Peoples near the Artic areas. They are experiencing the reality that their ice is melting and that their ice culture is on the verge of destruction. So that’s why we are here asking for your support, as people here at Copenhagen, people of the world to stand up, not only for the rights of Indigenous Peoples, but your rights as people of the world, people of civil society.”

“We are witnessing something here in this Conference of the Party fifteen, where a lot of our world leaders are not negotiating for you, but they are negotiating for the corporations. I come from the reality of the belly of the beast. Our Indigenous Peoples from the United States. We know what it means to go without. We know when we talk about an energy system that is unsustainable. We know when were talking about climate that affects our food systems so when we demand food security, food sovereignty as a result of climate change, we know what were talking about. We know when there’s drought and we have no more water. We have Indigenous People who have the smallest carbon footprint in this world, but yet we are having the highest level, the highest level of health imparities. We have the highest level of environmental destruction as a result of a fossil fuel industry that is killing our people. We have to turn the fossil fuel system and make a transition away from that into a clean renewable energy system. ”

“We are talking about systemic change – systemic change away from a system that is killing the world. Our Indigenous Peoples and our elders they say that there will be a time when the trees will start dying from the top down. So we are here as Indigenous Peoples demanding that rights to be recognized, but we are also standing here with you, the people of the world, that it’s time for us to take over these negotiations and give these negotiations humanity, and respect for your mothers, respect for our brothers, respect for our elders and our youth, and our future generations, whatever they don’t do or do do is going to affect our younger generation. So I’m proud to be here from our people in Minnesota, and in New Mexico, our Navaho Indian Nation, our Lakota, our Sioux people, … to stand with all our relations. ”

Brief Interview with Tom Goldtooth:

“We’re here as people of the world, the planet,our mother Earth – and who best can speak for mother Earth but the Indigenous Peoples, and we’re here to demand justice, not only for ourselves, but also justice for humanity”

Report by James George