A Look at the Current Significance of Environmental Justice in Canadian First Nations Oral Literature

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The concept of Environmental Justice attracts attention as an idea which indicates the need for the simultaneous investigation of social justice and the maintenance of the natural ecosystems. I studied how this important concept was represented in the oral literature of the First Nations. I also investigated how their myths, which may seem initially wildly fanciful, are "proactive" and demonstrate both sociological and scientific consistency. Furthermore, my research shows that the First Nations ecological vision has had a profound effect on Canadian writers. At the present time, when environmental disruptions seem to be rapidly increasing, the wisdom of the indigenous people who give priority to unity with the earth and seek justice for the natural world can been found in not only the works of contemporary Native Canadian writers but others, like Margaret Atwood. Since there have been only a few studies to analyze literary works through the lens of Environmental Justice, my studies may be influential as a new approach to reading First Nations and Canadian literature.