This book examines how Indigenous peoples are imagined as uniquely responsible for environmental stewardship and repair, while also being held accountable for delivering livable futures in conditions of ecological crisis. Drawing on ethnographic research with the Ikalahan communities of the Caraballo Mountains in the Philippines, the book traces how these expectations reshape social relations, reorganize community life, and generate ethical and material pressures. By shifting attention from empowerment to burden and obligation, it reveals the costs of making Indigenous people responsible for environmental conservation, offering a critical rethinking of Indigeneity and responsibility in an age of ecological uncertainty. This book is key reading for scholars and students in Indigenous Studies, Anthropology, Cultural Studies, and Environmental Studies.

Macario Lacbawan is an environmental anthropologist and postdoctoral researcher at the Humanities Centre of Advanced Studies Futures of Sustainability, University of Hamburg