Across the globe, Indigenous people who oppose large-scale development projects face harassment, wrongful arrest and prosecution, and, in some cases, lethal violence. In 2024 alone, more than 150 environmental defenders were reportedly killed in circumstances linked to their work against powerful commercial and government interests. Under international human rights law, many “frontline” defenders, who disproportionately come from poor, Indigenous, and rural communities, are recognized as vital actors in environmental and climate protection efforts. At the same time, critics argue that some forms of activism challenge democratic processes or market outcomes in troubling ways.

These competing narratives are not merely rhetorical. They shape public understanding, legal responses, and the safety of those involved. Recent litigation arising from the 2016 Standing Rock protests, including a civil judgment against Greenpeace for its support of pipeline resistance, illustrates how conflicts over land, protest, and sovereignty continue to reverberate years later.

Yet public debates about activism can sometimes obscure deeper questions: Who are environmental defenders? What do they defend land, water, sovereignty, identity, history, or spirit? And how well do existing legal frameworks account for these layered commitments? Such perspectives can expose tensions between lived realities and the categories recognized by environmental and human rights law.

In this panel, Dakota elder and historian Tim Mentz Sr., the first certified Tribal Historic Preservation Officer in the United States, will share stories and conversation with renowned Liberian environmental and Indigenous rights lawyer Alfred Brownell, a 2019 recipient of the Goldman Environmental Prize.

More info: https://heli.law.uiowa.edu/defendingdefenders
Registration: https://uiowa.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3DV30Gx7ofsyeRU

Food will be provided for those who register in advance before April 3, 2026.