Unlikely Alliances

"The most valuable contribution of Grossman's detailed study is that it provides a useful guide for building alliances against environmentally destructive projects and evaluating what strategies have been successful, and which ones have not worked so well, in defending rural land, resources and cultures."—Al Gedicks, Race & Class

"Unlikely Alliances is particularly salient in a contemporary context of both political gridlock and increasing environmental threats. With specific attention to each rural context, Grossman acknowledges complexity and the dynamic intersecting factors that allow Native/white alliances to thrive or, conversely, to erode and dissolve. The lessons he offers from rural Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Nevada, and beyond support the place based work of constructing collaboration across lines of historic conflict."—Native & Indigenous Studies Journal

"Unlikely Alliances offers a prescription about how cooperation between rural Native and non-Native communities and environmental organizers can be extended and encouraged. It is intended as a roadmap for the future, based on past experience."—David Rich Lewis, author of Neither Wolf nor Dog: American Indians, Environment, and Agrarian Change

"Tribal nations' fight for treaty rights has always been on the frontlines. We will build bridges with our neighbors to find common ground, but cannot compromise our future. As place-based societies, we can no longer allow business as usual."—Brian Cladoosby (Speepots), Chairman, Swinomish Tribe

"Unlikely Alliances demonstrates that our ongoing fights for climate justice are not isolated struggles, but are founded upon a legacy of collaborative resistance. This book is an essential read for all organizers, water protectors, and land defenders who wish to build healthier, more sustainable communities and native nations."—Dallas Goldtooth, national organizer, Indigenous Environmental Network

"When Indigenous peoples united with ranchers and farmers to stop the Keystone XL pipeline, they blazed an electrifying new path away from climate catastrophe. Such alliances to defend land and water have been taking shape for decades—and they have much more to teach us. Grossman draws out the key lessons from these stories with great skill and care."—Naomi Klein, author of This Changes Everything and The Shock Doctrine