Indigenous Resource Management and Environmental Contamination

Abstract

Heavy metals are potential contaminants which can produce negative impacts on human health which vary from metal to metal, and are also dependent upon concentration and duration of exposure to the contaminant. This study lists the human health effects of 5 heavy metals; copper, arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury, and discusses the need for studies to identify potential exposure pathways that are associated with a Native American / Indigenous Lifeways. Gaps in the data include exposure pathways associated with wild edible / medicinal plants as well as understanding of the pathways through which many culturally relevant plants may uptake and store metals. Native American / Indigenous peoples around the world have developed an extensive amount of knowledge of their surroundings. Knowledge of plants, animals, and ecological processes, combined with a non-destructive philosophy based on understanding relationships between species, continues to enable these Indigenous peoples to interact with their surroundings while at the same time, these ways of living may lead to exposure risks from heavy metals through increased water consumption, dust inhalation, and consumption of meat including organ meats that concentrate contaminants and plants that may uptake contaminants as part of their physiological processes.