Future Eaters: The UN is Wrong about Indigenous People

Tim Flannery’s book shows we won’t solve climate change by following the paths of our ancestors.

Image by Ria Sopala from Pixabay

“Indigenous peoples have the knowledge and practices needed for the global community to implement and scale-up climate action.” — How Indigenous Peoples Enrich Climate Action — UN Climate Change

So begins the United Nations’ stance on climate change. You hear this often from well-meaning people concerned about our industrialized society’s impact on the climate. They look to indigenous people, living in harmony with nature, and think they’ve found a better way. Except…

Human’s haven’t lived in harmony with nature in over 100,000 years. Not even indigenous humans.

The Future Eaters

In 1994 Tim Flannery, Australian zoologist and climate activist, wrote “The Future Eaters”, an incredible book documenting the spread of humans across the earth and the mammals and birds they ate along the way. Rather than paint a rosy picture of indigenous life throughout history, he shows us for what we are: consumers.