What Will Become of Us? The Impact of Extractivism on Future Generations
November 22, 2020
By Virginia Fifield, Mercy Associate
There is a spiritual bond between Indigenous people and the land.
The Earth is our mother, and she cradles the bones of our ancestors. The land has memory, and it remembers the steps of past generations that are alive in us still. When we are on our ancestral grounds, we are home. We can feel the land welcome us home. We can lift our heads a little higher and breathe a little deeper, because we are home and at one with the land.

How long will this be true for Indigenous cultures if extractivism continues as it has? The deforestation, pipelines, mining, overgrazing and GMOS are destroying the lands of our people. The waters are no longer drinkable and are not safe to bathe babies in. Greed and disregard have left most Indigenous people with nothing but broken spirits and little hope.
We are losing lands to mining, industry and deforestation. This means losing our languages, our way of life and the wisdom and knowledge of the elders because so much energy has to be put into just surviving.
This is a tragedy that goes far beyond losing a homeland. It is a tragedy that robs a people of their culture, their connection to the past and the future. It is robbing whole populations of hope and their spirit.
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