

Indigenous Spirituality
in Climate Work
Author: Dr. Angele Alook
This forthcoming article explores the intersection of Indigenous spirituality, environmental justice, and international law through the lens of the Indigenous Climate Futures Project. Drawing on an interview with Wilton Littlechild, a Cree leader, residential school survivor, and key architect of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, conducted at COP29, it examines how spirituality and ceremony are not separate from Indigenous social justice work, but central to it. Several themes are woven together: the sacred nature of treaties as living; Indigenous spiritual frameworks for understanding the environment; the role of Indigenous law and legal traditions in challenging colonial systems; and the urgent need for spirituality to be recognized within governance, justice, and international policy spaces. Ultimately, the article argues that true reconciliation and climate justice require more than policy reform. They require a structural shift that honours Indigenous spiritual sovereignty, centers Indigenous knowledge and leadership, and restores dignity to communities that have long been excluded from the decisions shaping their futures

