Darren Ranco, a Penobscot Indian, spoke last Friday in the Luther-Bonney Auditorium. His speech was entitled “Power and identity in state sanctioned science: Environmental racism and the logic of genocide.” Ranco was the keynote speaker in a series that went on all day.
Darren’s speech was about the Penobscot Indians’ fight for a cleaner place to live. A cancer-causing chemical called dioxin, produced by the Lincoln paper mill, is polluting the water, air, and land in northern Maine. The dioxin affects the Penobscot people the most. The dioxin settles into river algae and then fish eat this algae. There is now a ban on fishing, but for the Penobscot Indians fishing has always been a way a life and part of their religion. Darren argued that the pollution and subsequent legislation translate to environmental racism. He said that the Penobscot Indians are victims of genocide.