Abstract Book of the 3rd Global Conference on Gender Studies
Year: 2025
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She Speaks for the Earth: Climate Change, Indigenous Women and Sustainable Solutions – A Literary Perspective
Swati Mittal, Dr. Swati Chauhan, Dr. Shivani Vashist
ABSTRACT:
The accelerating climate crisis poses one of the most urgent threats to life on Earth. The Earth, often envisioned as a nurturing mother, has cradled humanity in her embrace, sustaining life through her boundless generosity. In this sacred relationship, it is women, particularly Indigenous women, who have long understood the rhythms of the land, the language of the rivers, and the wisdom of the forests. The Earth nurtures women, and in return, women rise as her fiercest protectors. Amidst the escalating climate crisis, it is the voices of Indigenous women that echo most urgently, carrying with them generations of ecological knowledge, stories of resilience, and a profound ethic of care.
In the face of an escalating climate crisis, Indigenous literature highlights the indispensable role of women as Indigenous knowledge keepers, guardians of the environment, and advocates for sustainable futures. Employing a qualitative research methodology through textual analysis and close reading, this research investigates how does the selected literary works, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Potawatomi), Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson (Haisla), and Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King (Cherokee and Greek), highlight the often-overlooked voices of Indigenous women in climate discourse who step forward not as passive witnesses to environmental destruction but as active agents offering sustainable, culturally grounded solutions. The findings of this study reveal that through their leadership in traditional farming, herbal medicine, water protection, and ecological storytelling, Indigenous women weave together ancestral wisdom and contemporary resistance, reaffirming the sacred bond between land and life. The selected novels not only reflect that in their hands, sustainability is not a trend but a lived, inherited, and necessary way of being a promise to both ancestors and unborn generations that the Earth will endure. The findings carry policy implications, advocating for incorporating Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) into environmental governance, climate action strategies, and sustainability frameworks. This research opens important future directions for both academic scholarship and community-based inquiry by encouraging trans-Indigenous literary dialogues.
Keywords: climate crisis, indigenous women, environmental destruction, sustainability, climate action