Last Updated on January 23, 2026
The Colorado River Indian Tribes took a key step in Indigenous environmental law by designating the Colorado River — the life source for millions across the Southwest — as a “living being” with legal rights under tribal law. The move, approved by the tribal council late last year, reflects both a cultural worldview and a strategic tool to protect dwindling water supplies amid prolonged drought and growing demand.
The resolution describes the river as an entity with inherent value and rights comparable to those of a person, a legal concept known as the rights of nature. Tribal leaders said the designation gives them a stronger foundation to steward and defend the river for future generations.
“There is no greater expression of sovereignty than protecting, stewarding, and securing for future generations what our Ancestors handed down to us,” the tribes wrote in the resolution. “That personhood status is a reflection of our values as a people and our spiritual, cultural, and religious connection to the Colorado River from the beginning of time through the end of time.”
For the Colorado River Indian Tribes — a confederation of the Mojave, Chemehuevi, Hopi and Navajo peoples — the river is both sacred and essential for life, cultural practices and agriculture. Chairwoman Amelia Flores noted in a recent commentary that the tribe holds senior water rights in Arizona and faces frequent proposals to lease water allocations. By recognizing the river’s rights to restoration, habitat protection and sustained flow, the tribes aim to ensure that future transactions align with ecological health. “We must think beyond terms of what it can provide to us; we must think of what we can provide to it,” Flores wrote.
The designation places the river within a broader rights-of-nature movement that recognizes ecosystems and natural entities as holders of rights, including the right to exist, flourish and regenerate.
While the approach is growing globally, its practical application in court systems within the U.S. remains largely untested. A 2020 federal ruling struck down a rights-of-nature law for Lake Erie adopted by voters in Toledo, Ohio, as unconstitutional under state law, underscoring legal uncertainties outside tribal jurisdictions.
The Colorado River designation comes amid a series of tribal initiatives that have woven Indigenous stewardship principles into contemporary legal rights frameworks. Legal scholars and rights-of-nature advocates note that Indigenous nations have been at the forefront of this movement in North America. Several tribes have adopted laws or resolutions recognizing nature’s inherent rights, including:
Supporters of the Colorado River designation say it enhances tribal sovereignty and fills gaps in state and federal water law, which critics argue have failed to stem environmental degradation and crisis conditions in the Southwest. Skeptics, however, raise questions about how rights-of-nature designations will withstand legal challenges or influence broader water management regimes that involve multiple states and federal interests.
As tensions over Western water rights intensify, the move underscores how Indigenous legal innovation continues to shape environmental policy dialogues across the United States.
Across the world right now, Indigenous peoples are facing a renewed assault on their lands, rights, and ways of life.
From extractive industries pushing deeper into ancestral territories, to governments rolling back hard-won protections,
the threat is global—and it is growing.
What makes this moment especially dangerous is how little attention it receives.
Stories like this are disappearing in real time. Mainstream media
barely covers it and the coverage is fragmented. The public is left without the context
needed to understand what is truly at stake.
That is exactly why IC Magazine exists..
For more than 20 years, IC has reported on Indigenous struggles worldwide — consistently, independently, and without compromise.
We don’t follow news cycles; we trace patterns. We don’t sensationalize; we provide context.
And when the world looks away, we stay focused.
But this work is increasingly difficult to sustain.
We refuse to lock our reporting behind a paywall. We don’t sell access through subscriptions.
And we don’t answer to advertisers. IC Magazine survives solely because readers like you choose to
support independent Indigenous journalism.
Please donate today if you can. Every contribution helps us to continue this crucial work.
Thank you,
John Ahni Schertow
Founder and Editor in Chief
