Ponca Nation (USA) Tribal Resolution: Rights of Nature

Summary

In 2017, the Ponca Nation of Oklahoma passed Resolution (No. 01-01092018) formally incorporating into Tribal law the Rights of Nature and creating penalties for crimes against nature, becoming the first in North America to recognize Rights of Nature in tribal law.

The resolution codifies the Tribe’s long-standing recognition that Nature is an indivisible, self-regulating community with inherent rights, including the right to clean water as a source of life. The resolution also provides that violation of Nature’s rights constitutes a Crime Against Nature which may be prosecuted in Ponca Tribal Court as specified by the resolution.

It also declares that “each being has the right to a place and to play its role in nature, which may include the responsible and ethical taking and consuming of living beings as is traditional, ethical, just and proper for sustenance and the perpetuation of life” and “every being has the right to well-being and to live free from torture or cruel treatment by human beings.”

The resolution also acknowledges that one of the largest oil companies in the world began in the heart of the Ponca Tribe and that the Ponca people feel it necessary to take every step possible to ensure prudent care for nature.

Background
Beginning in 2015, Movement Rights began working with the Ponca Nation to elevate Indigenous-led Rights of Nature in North America. Casey Camp Horinek, Ponca tribe of Oklahoma elder and former Tribal Councilwoman, led the Ponca Nation of Oklahoma to recognize Rights of Nature in tribal law. Since then, several tribes in the US and Canada have also recognized the Rights of Nature in tribal law.

In 2022 the Ponca Nation of Oklahoma adopted a law recognizing the legal rights of two Rivers in their territory: Ní’skà, (the Arkansas River) and Ni’ží’dè, (the Salt Fork River).

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