News of Note 10/17/25: Typhoon Devastates Alaska Villages, Peru Considers Stripping Indigenous Protections, Manifest Destiny in US Law
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Typhoon Halong devastates western Alaska Indigenous villages (ICT News)
“The remnants of Typhoon Halong have ravaged the Yukon-Kuskokim Delta in western Alaska. More than 1,000 people are seeking shelter in schools in the largely Yup-ik villages of Kwigillingok and Kipnuk, according to the Yukon-Kuskomwim Health Corporation. [...] The Association of Village Council Presidents, a nonprofit tribal consortium composed of the 56 tribes in the Yukon-Kuskokim delta, wrote a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to declare a national emergency.”
Peru considers stripping protections for Indigenous people and their territories (Mongabay)
“Several bills working their way through Peru’s Congress would loosen restrictions for oil and gas drilling, and make it harder for Indigenous people to obtain protected status for their land. One of the laws gives Congress the power to reevaluate the legal categorization and reserve status of Indigenous peoples living in isolation and initial contact, or PIACI. Some advocacy groups called for the suspension of international climate financing to several parts of the Peruvian government until they implement concrete PIACI protections.
The racist edict that allowed Columbus to colonize and slaughter Indigenous people is still the law in the U.S. today. (Welcome to Native America)
The Doctrine of Discovery was codified into U.S. law by the Supreme court in 1823. That year, in Johnson v McIntosh, the Court ruled that Indigenous nations did not own their land, but were “occupants” or tenants–making the United States their landlord. After the Revolutionary War, the theory went, the U.S. inherited the land from the British, and the British had owned it by right of “discovery.” This Supreme Court decision has never been overturned or struck down. McIntosh is still taught in law schools as one of the building blocks of U.S. property law and the Doctrine of Discovery is still a foundational part of American law. Without it, the United States’s existence on Indigenous land would be illegal.
Resources & Reports
2025 Renewable Energy and Human Rights Benchmark (Business & Human Rights Resource Centre)
New Investor Guide Launches to De-Risk Energy Transition Projects on Indigenous Lands (US SIF)
Native Economic Trends: Visualizing Indian Country data across time and place (Center for Indian Country Development)
Mining and Money: Financial Faultlines in the Energy Transition (Forests & Finance)
Federal Investment in Energy and Environmental Infrastructure Benefit Tribes in All 50 States (Portland State University)
Reconciliation Action Plans In Canada: Origins, Issues and Opportunities (Reconciliation & Responsible Investment Institute)
Banks make $26 billion in a decade of financing deforesting companies (Global Witness)
Nickel mining threatens Raja Ampat ecosystems, communities & conservation: Report (Mongabay)
Debt Traps: Predatory Microfinance Loans and Exploitation of Cambodia’s Indigenous Peoples (Human Rights Watch)
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