Representative Debra Lekanoff, a member of the Tlingit tribe from southeast Alaska, has a traditional name passed down to her over ten generations. Its meaning refers to places where baby frogs live in a cool and clean habitat — the type of habitat close to where young salmon are born.
“When this water is polluted, when these resources are gone, my name, my Tlingit name that’s come from generations and generations, will no longer exist,” Lekanoff said during a webinar on environmental justice. “That is a violation. An environmental justice violation.” ...