Chesapeake Bay Journal: River gains ‘rights of nature’ under Rappahannock tribal law

Fones Cliff, Rappahannock River, Virginia

The Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights (CDER) is proud to have assisted the Rappahannock Tribe in Virginia to protect the rights of nature - specifically rights of the Rappahannock River - in its tribal constitution. It is the first tribe in the U.S. to enshrine the rights of nature in their tribal constitution.

Rappahannock Tribal Chief Anne Richardson explained, “As the Mother of our Nation, who has provided sustenance to our Tribe for thousands of years and continues to nurture us in many ways, both physically, and culturally, as well as spiritually, it is our inherent responsibility to protect her [the river].”

This article highlights the rights of nature protections for the river, and how it can help protect the Bay into which it flows - the Chesapeake Bay is an ecosystem facing serious impacts from human activity. As CDER’s Thomas Linzey explains, “I think folks working on the Chesapeake Bay know more than anyone that we need to transcend what we’ve been doing and stop hoping that it’s going to work and really move into a different kind of environmental paradigm.”

Read the Chesapeake Bay Journal full article here.