Indigenous, Place protection, and ‘NIMBYism’

By Lynda Sullivan, An Taisce Minerals Extraction Policy Officer

In October 2025, An Taisce joined forces with Trocaire and Friends of the Earth NI in Belfast to welcome a delegation of environmental human rights defenders from Guatemala and the Sperrin mountains in the North West of Ireland. (Photos courtesy of Lynda Sullivan)

The topic was ‘Indigenousness and Place: sharing stories of hope and solidarity'. The visitors from Guatemala were from both the Xinka Parliament and the Council of the Mayan People (CPO). The Xinka people are the second largest Indigenous group in Guatemala, and the Parliament is their autonomous governing body.  

Since 2009, the Xinka have been fighting to protect their land from dangerous extractive industries that threaten their health, environment and cultural survival. The main threat is one of the largest silver mines in the world – El Escobal (owned by a Canadian multinational), and one that has led to massive resistance. Yet this resistance has come at a cost – for some, their lives, for others, their liberty (Trocaire). But in 2018 they won a court case that halted the project – there had not been the Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) that is required in international law when a project lies on Indigenous land. They are now in the process of collectively deciding if they want the project on their land.  

The issue of indigenousness and the importance of territory and place in connection with identity and culture was discussed. For the Xinka people it is clear – their territory is part of their cultural identity, and so if their territory is destroyed, this is a direct attack on them as a people.  

Here in Ireland, the issue of indigeneity is more murky. After 800 years of colonisation and a few hundred years of capitalism, few of us live as our ancestors did. Some are also worried about how that concept can and is being used by far-right elements to exclude newcomers. This worrying development is ironic as the Irish are also known for our immigration, particularly to Australia and the Americas, and in their new home many Irish became involved in brutal oppression of that land’s Indigenous peoples.  

As Chas Jewett, a Lakota water protector involved in the Making Relatives Collective between Ireland and Dakota, explained to me; if the claim of indigeneity is being used to ‘other’ anyone then it becomes shallow and untrue – as being indigenous entails being in ‘right relationship’ with the land and her people.  

When it was time for the protectors from the Sperrins to speak, they noted this relationship in terms of care of place, revival of language, protection of waters, and reaching out the hand in solidarity – the opposite of 'othering'. These solidarity connections have characterised the campaign to save the Sperrins from a mega gold mine, by another Canadian company – Dalradian Gold (now owned by US-based Orion Finance). See our blogpost on the conversation An Taisce hosted with Save Our Sperrins and the Atrato River Guardians from Colombia. The label of ‘NIMBYism’ (Not In My Back Yard) falls flat when we’ve the privilege of being part of these conversations. It’s not a bad thing to love your place and want to protect it, especially if you’re also supporting the protection of other places, and acknowledging that it’s all just one place – our place, our Earth.  

The event ended with Chris O’Connell from Trocaire reminding everyone of the campaign for a Global Treaty on Business and Human Rights, and to get involved to make it happen. Fidelma O’Kane from Save Our Sperrins also brought into the conversation the Rights of Nature campaign as another mechanism that could guard against these destructive projects – ‘we need something to ensure that our grandchildren don’t have to do this all over again.’ 

We thank our partners Trocaire and Friends of the Earth NI, interpreters Chris and Yasmary, and the brave protectors from the Xinka Parliament, the Council of the Mayan People and Save Our Sperrins.