For Native American activist Clayton Thomas-Mueller the Environmental Justice movement is not just about human rights, it’s also a deeply spiritual quest.

“Our power as native people is in practicing our responsibility our creator gave us to be stewards of Mother Earth,” he says.

As a member of the Indigenous Environmental Network, which links some 250 indigenous communities throughout Canada and the United States, Cree activist Thomas-Mueller and his colleagues help native peoples prevent the usurping of their resource-rich lands while also empowering them to demand “clean air, clean water, and clean Earth.”

As he tells Simran Sethi, because roughly 35 percent of U.S. fossil fuels are located either directly on or near indigenous lands, those communities face a constant battle with powerful energy companies, who have the backing of both the Canadian and U.S. governments.

“In Indian Country basically what we’re seeing is the building of North America’s energy infrastructure on the backs of our people.”

His current battle seeks to prevent the extraction of oil in the tar sands of northern Alberta. Though rich in oil, the extraction would require wasteful—and destructive—strip mining methods. For more information on the destructive practice, log on to Tar Sands Watch.

In this interview, Thomas-Mueller discusses a wide range of topics, from his skepticism toward carbon trading programs to his fascinating thoughts on environmental racism and what he calls the current practice of “energy colonialism.”

Artist, activist, spiritual seeker, Clayton Thomas-Mueller’s work defies categorization. Fittingly, he says his inspiration comes from a greater source.

“Many of our indigenous prophecies talk about this time as a time of great change, so I feel very much like a soldier of our creator—who has the gift to work and fight for our peoples’ rights, and that to me is very inspiring.”

By Ranjit Arab