Maya B Henderson

My work attends to the ways that urban Indigenous realities remain largely invisible, despite the prominence of Indigenous people in urban and city spaces. Since Indigenous people are some of the most impacted by the ongoing climate crisis, and cities are increasingly key sites for advancing climate action, my work sits at the intersection of Indigenous self-determination and urban climate justice. I aim to uplift and center Indigenous leadership in urban climate solutions by highlighting community needs and goals, and employing a scholar-activist lens. Despite the ongoing project of settler-colonization and the creation of settler-colonial cities, cities remain Indigenous lands. Therefore, I assert that Indigenous leadership and self-determination are essential for creating real urban climate justice solutions. My dissertation project’s guiding question asks: how do Indigenous lifeways and self-determination confront the ongoing climate crisis in and through settler-colonial cities?