John Muir is hailed as an environmental hero. He wrote & advocated to protect the “wilderness,” including Yosemite. But the land, Ahwahnee, was already named & loved by the Ahwahneechee people.
Muir wasn’t interested in the original inhabitants. He was a pioneer in the environmental movement, but he was also racist & friends with prominent eugenicists. His complicated legacy is just one of many examples in American #history when environmental protections were at odds with environmental justice.
elizabeth veldon
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •there's a walking route here in scotland named after him. I walked about 20 miles of it, i was not impressed.
i felt i was walking on the bones of indigenous people.