Dams and the Indigenous

I found this wonderful quote on dams in the book "The Indigenous Voice."

"Development" plans which destroy Native peoples and lands are often rationalized on the basis that "a few sometimes have to make sacrifices for the larger population." Aside from the questionable morality of placing the "right" of a large people to electric toothbrushes and air conditioners over the right of a small people to survive, there are other considerations which are usually not mentioned. The "6,000 Crees vs. 6,000,000 Quebeckers" rationalization is used to hide the fact that "development" is not promoted for the good of the larger population but for the power and profits of a few, and that in the long run, the larger population pays the penalties as well.

Gayle High Pine, referring specifically to the James Bay hydro-project in Quebec, quoted from Akwesasne Notes, Akwesasne, late Spring 1978, p. 24.

As CAFTA has been ratified and the United States is extending its grasp on the resources and economies of our southerly neighbors, please take this message into account as you consume and as you vote. Hundreds of dams from Mexico to Panama have been proposed and/or are in the works to provide electricity for exportation to the United States. Instead of building new dams, we should implement energy conservation/reduction strategies. Just a little food for thought.