Elder Rosina Philippe, Vice President of the Lowlander Center Board, was recently awarded the Bob Gough Award for Climate Justice in Action. The Bob Gough Award for Climate Justice in Action was created to recognize an individual from within the Rising Voices community for their long-term and dedicated service to climate justice. The Award was presented at this year’s Annual Bob Gough “Climate Change is Inevitable, Adaptation is Optional” Fest, which is held as part of the Rising Voices workshop. This year’s award honored Elder Rosina Philippe (Atakapa-Ishak/Chawasha, Grand Bayou Indian Village) for her leadership in climate action and lifetime of dedicated work and advocacy. As longtime collaborator, Kristina Peterson (Lowlander Center) shared:
“Elder Rosina has and continues to be a fighting light of justice and hope for the lifeworld of the [Mississippi Delta] and all that dwell within. The fight increases each day as industrial exploitation enhanced by government policy violence challenge the very existence of the lifeworld, history and future. Rosina does not back down nor will she be deterred from standing up against the powers and principalities. With every fiber of her being she educates, advocates, leads and inspires.”
Elder Rosina is one of the founding members and leaders of the First Peoples’ Conservation Council of Louisiana (FPCC), which provides a forum for State- and non-federally Recognized Native American Tribes in Coastal Louisiana to identify and solve natural resource issues on their Tribal lands, in partnership with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. She has hosted or traveled to 100+ universities to present on environmental planning and cultural integrity, and partnered with many universities to do low-carbon and sustainable innovative designs that will help water communities adapt in place. She has shepherded local Tribal youth to represent and have their voices heard at distinguished venues, such as the UNFCCC Conference of Parties and Youth Climate Summits, and helped many doctoral students come to those ‘aha moments’ in their academic pursuits. Elder Rosina has also helped create Indigenous-community ‘declaration of principles’ protecting Indigenous intellectual property rights and helped people understand the power of traditional knowledges and Indigenous peoples’ intense connection-science of place. She has a keen ability to communicate across diverse networks of agencies, organizations, communities, and scholars and connect across ways of understanding and knowledge systems. Through her actions, voice, and handling of politically and socially complex situations, Elder Rosina is an exemplary leader and advocate for her community and all coastal Peoples.