ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the environmental impact of the process of extracting bitumen from the ground. It begins by drawing out some of the conceptual contours of ‘cultural loss’, giving consideration to the ‘land–culture’ relationship maintained by Indigenous peoples more broadly, and the First Nations of Canada more specifically. Next, this chapter illuminates the more substantive aspects of the harm through an exploration of how contamination of the water, air and culturally significant species affects the traditional land-based practices of First Nations in and around the oil sands. The chapter concludes by calling for a green criminology more attentive to this relatively clandestine pattern of Indigenous environmental victimisation.
