Tom B.K. Goldtooth
| Tom B.K. Goldtooth | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Bruce Kendall Goldtooth July 27, 1953 Farmington, New Mexico, US |
| Residence | Bemidji, Minnesota |
| Nationality | Diné |
| Citizenship | American |
| Occupation | Executive Director of Indigenous Environmental Network Environmental and Climate Justice activist Filmmaker |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Organization | Indigenous Environmental Network |
| Known for | Activism on environmental, climate, energy, water and food justice; and on the indigenous rights and rights of Mother Earth |
| Website |
Indigenous Environmental Network |
Indigenous Environmental Network
Tom B.K. Goldtooth (born July 27, 1953) is a Native American environmental, climate, and economic justice activist, speaker, film producer, and Indigenous rights leader within the climate and environmental justice and indigenous movement. Tom is active in local, national and international levels as an advocate for building healthy and sustainable Indigenous communities based upon the foundation of Indigenous traditional knowledge. Tom has served as executive director of the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) since 1996 after serving as a member of the IEN National Council since 1992.
Tom (Dibe'lizhini' Clan) is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. He is also huŋka Bdewakaƞtoƞwaƞ Dakota from Minnesota. He is known by his Dakota name of Mato Awaƞyaƞkapi, given to him by Pete Catches Sr. (Petaġa Yuha Mani), a Lakota holy man of the Spotted Eagle Way of the Oglala Lakota Nation. Tom currently resides near the small town of Bemidji, Minnesota. Bemidji is located close to the headwaters of the Mississippi River in northern Minnesota.
Goldtooth was born in Farmington, New Mexico, near the Navajo Nation. His mother is Norma Bell Lee, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and daughter of Melvin Lee (Dzi l t l'ahnii Clan) and Virginia Peslakai (Dibe'lizhini' Clan). His birth name is Bruce Kendall Goldtooth. His mother was the first Navajo and possibly the first Native American woman nationwide to obtain an undergraduate degree in microbiology, becoming a professional laboratory scientist (medical technologist). His biological father is unknown, but is said to be a Native American, possibly from a northern tribe. His step-father is Dennis Wesley Goldtooth, a member of the Navajo Nation from the Coal Mine Mesa/Tuba City area of Arizona, and one of many sons of Frank Goldtooth Sr., a renowned medicine man, known as Bȅȅsh Biwoǫ (Iron-Metal [Gold] Tooth). Tom was raised by Dennis W. Goldtooth, who retired after a long history as a Navajo policeman and self-employment as a contractor and rancher.
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