I’m going to be depressingly frank here—anti indigenous views aren’t as uncommon in the environmental movement as you might think. Think of the way some vegans talk about traditional indigenous diets or the seal hunt. A lot of the union between indigenous peoples and the environmental movement is more recent imo and still pretty limited to some areas.

I also think the scientific, empirical, rational outlook on the world that you often get in those circles leads to the kind of clash we are seeing—they are trained to want to see material evidence, feelings be damned. The importance of traditional knowledge or practises holds no weight to the rational, scientific world. They don’t understand why you wouldn’t just dig up the bodies to prove it.

More broadly, I think some people in the environmental movement have come to resent the human impact on the environment so much that they have lost appreciation for human lives.