Vantage Point: Indigenous Peoples and Environmental, Energy, and Natural Resources Law

Wes Martel, an Eastern Shoshone leader and U.S. Army veteran, has dedicated his career to advancing tribal sovereignty in natural resource management. During his 20 years on the Eastern Shoshone Business Council, he developed vital programs in water, energy, and environmental protection, including the creation of the Wind River Tribal Water and Game Codes. Now, as the senior Wind River conservation associate for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Wes continues to bridge Indigenous and Western approaches to conservation.

I first met Wes while organizing the 150th Anniversary of Yellowstone National Park Symposium in 2022. Our professional collaboration has since evolved into a friendship that has profoundly transformed my understanding of environmental stewardship, guided by two key Indigenous principles: reciprocity and sovereignty. “You take care of us; we will take care of you.” This simple yet powerful expression of reciprocity, as Wes often says, captures the essence of Indigenous environmental relationships. Through our conversations, Wes has taught me to understand how conservation can be strengthened by viewing our relationship with the land as one of mutual care and responsibility rather than just resource management.

Wes’s work exemplifies how tribal sovereignty in environmental management isn’t merely about legal authority—it’s about exercising an ancient responsibility to care for the land that has sustained generations. When he shares traditional ecological knowledge passed down through generations of Eastern Shoshone people, he reveals layers of understanding that transcend conventional scientific approaches.

This issue of Natural Resources & Environment explores these vital intersections between Indigenous peoples and environmental law. Our authors examine critical challenges facing Indigenous communities, from protecting traditional ecological knowledge to addressing environmental justice in current and former U.S. colonies. They analyze watershed legal battles in Navajo water rights, examine how the Supreme Court has used—and misused—historical evidence in recent Native American law cases, and explore innovative international approaches to co-management and personhood in Indigenous land rights. The articles delve into pressing environmental challenges through an Indigenous lens, from the Chippewa Cree Tribe’s consideration of a constitutional amendment recognizing tribal rights to a clean environment, to the designation of Navajo uranium mines to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund Priority List. Throughout these pages, you will find analysis of how Indigenous legal frameworks and traditional knowledge can inform and improve our approach to environmental protection.

My friendship with Wes has taught me that effective environmental protection requires more than just sound science and strong laws—it requires drawing upon the deep wells of knowledge held by Indigenous peoples who have lived in harmony with these lands since time immemorial. For, as Wes reminds us, “If we take care of it, it will take care of us. That’s conservation with an Indigenous flavor.”