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Righting Names
The Importance of Native American Philosophies of Naming for Environmental Justice
in Environment and Society
Author:
Rebekah Sinclair
Rebekah Sinclair
University of Oregon rsinclai@uoregon.edu
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ABSTRACT
Controlling the names of places, environments, and species is one way in which settler colonial ontologies delimit the intelligibility of ecological relations, Indigenous peoples, and environmental injustices. To counter this, this article amplifies the voices of Native American scholars and foregrounds a philosophical account of Indigenous naming. First, I explore some central characteristics of Indigenous ontology, epistemic virtue, and ethical responsibility, setting the stage for how Native naming draws these elements together into a complete, robust philosophy. Then I point toward leading but contingent principles of Native naming, foregrounding how Native names emerge from and create communities by situating (rather than individuating) the beings that they name within kinship structures, including human and nonhuman agents. Finally, I outline why and how Indigenous names and the knowledges they contain are crucial for both resisting settler violence and achieving environmental justice, not only for Native Americans, but for their entire animate communities.
Contributor Notes
REBEKAH SINCLAIR is a PhD student in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Oregon. Her research, teaching, and writing focus on Environmental Philosophy, Native American (and decolonial) Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy, and Poststructural Philosophy, with particular delight in and attention to the ways in which these intersect. Email: rsinclai@uoregon.edu