Native America Calling

Today, April 17 – Indigenous resistance to deep-sea mining

Researchers and environmental advocates don’t know much yet about mining minerals off the bottom of the ocean floor, but the race to learn is on because large mining companies will soon start scooping up unrefined cobalt, manganese, copper, and nickel from the sea bed to help satisfy growing demand for such metals for things like batteries. The environmental activist group Greenpeace lists Indigenous groups from at least 34 nations that have come out against the practice. We do a deep dive with Dr. Brittany Kamai (Native Hawaiian), astrophysicist, water woman, and ocean advocate, and Noah Paoa (Rapa Nui), Ph.D candidate with a focus on sea level rise at the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology.