Asserting Native Resilience
Asserting Native Resilience
Pacific Rim Indigenous Nations Face the Climate Crisis
Indigenous nations are on the frontline of the climate crisis of the 21st century with cultures and economies that are among the most vulnerable to climate-related catastrophes. Native peoples around the Pacific Rim are also demonstrating historical resilience by developing responses to climate change that can serve as a model for Native and non-Native communities alike.
Native American nations in the Pacific Northwest and Indigenous peoples around the Pacific Rim have been deeply affected by droughts, flooding, reduced glaciers and snowmelts that harm fish habitats, seasonal shifts in winds and storms, the northward shifting of species on the land and in the ocean, and many other factors that affect tribes’ ability to continue cultural lifeways and treaty rights. Native peoples have survived the deep historical trauma and ecological wounds inflicted by colonization, epidemics, industrialization and urbanization. Indigenous peoples are creating defenses to harden their communities, mitigate losses, and adapt where possible, using tools of resilience that can have historically enabled tribes to respond to sudden environmental changes.
This anthology reflects different perspectives on Indigenous responses to the climate crisis, including the voices of traditional tribal leadership, Native and non-Native scientists, scholars and activists from the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia, Alaska, and Aotearoa / New Zealand. The book will be an important reference for students of Environmental Studies, Native Studies, geography, rural sociology, and other disciplines examining climate change.Tribute to Renée Klosterman
Foreword: Looking Ahead: Northwest Tribes’ Responses to Climate Change / Billy Frank, Jr. (Nisqually), Chair, North West Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC)
Volume Introduction / Alan Parker (Chippewa-Cree), Evergreen faculty, NIARI Director; Zoltán Grossman, Evergreen faculty, NIARI senior research associate
Part 2: Cultural Perspectives
Part Introduction
Indigenous Declarations on the Climate Crisis
Anchorage Declaration of Indigenous Peoples Global Summit on Climate Change;
International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change policy paper;
Mystic Lake Declaration of Native Peoples/ Native Homelands II workshop 2009;
Native Peoples/Native Homelands 1998 North American Indigenous Concerns
Alaska: Testimony from the Frontlines / Mike Williams (Yupiaq), co-chair of the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council
Sharing One Skin / Jeannette Armstrong (Okanagan Syilx), En’owkin Centre executive director, Penticton, British Columbia
Where Words Touch the Earth: Tribal Students Produce a Climate Change Video on the Coast Salish Moons / Greg Mahle (Upper Skagit) and Lexie Tom (Lummi), Northwest Indian College, Lummi Nation
Watching for the Signs / Chief Willie Charlie, Chehalis (Sts’Ailes), First Nation Chief; Vice-President of Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs
Different Ways of Looking at Things / Larry Merculieff (Aleut), Seven Generations Consulting, Pribilof Islands, Alaska
Part 3: Effects of the Climate Crisis
Part Introduction
Impacts on Northwest Tribes / Terry Williams (Tulalip) and Preston Hardison, Tulalip Tribes natural resources staff
Climate Change Implications for Quileute and Hoh Tribes of Washington / Chelsie Papiez, Evergreen graduate student; NOAA Fellow.
Maori Perspectives on Climate Change / Brett Ata Stephenson (Maori), Senior Lecturer in Environmental Sciences at the Maori university Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi
Impacts of Global Climate Change / Brad Burnham, Evergreen graduate student
Effects of Climate Change on Women's and Children's Health / Debra McNutt, Evergreen graduate student, for the Community Alliance and Peacemaking Project
Part 4: Current Responses
Part Introduction
Indigenous Responses to the International Climate Change Framework / Zoltán Grossman, Evergreen faculty, NIARI senior research associate
On Our Own Adapting to Climate Change / Rudolph C. Rÿser (Cowlitz), Chair, Center for World Indigenous Studies
Swinomish Climate Change Initiative / Excerpts from Draft Impact Assessment Technical Report and Climate Adaptation Action Plan
Honorable Community Engagement / Shelly Vendiola (Swinomish/Lummi/Filipina), Swinomish Climate Change Initiative’s Climate Change Education and Awareness Group
Native Renewable Energies / Articles on the national overview and Tulalip’s Qualco Energy biogas project
Part 5: Possible Paths
Part Introduction
Kaua e mangere — Do Not Be Idle: Maori Responses in a Time of Climate Change / Brett “Ata” Stephenson (Maori) environmental scientist
Potential Paths for Native Nations / Laural Ballew (Lummi) and Renée Klosterman, Evergreen graduate students
No Longer the “Miner’s Canary”: Indigenous Nations’ Responses to Climate Change / Zoltán Grossman, Evergreen faculty, NIARI senior research associate
Recommendations to Indigenous Government Leadership / Alan Parker (Chippewa-Cree), Evergreen faculty, NIARI Director
Back matter/Resources
Native Climate Change Resource Directory / Jamie Bown, Evergreen student, NIARI research associate, and Zoltán Grossman
Listing of Indigenous governments, NGOs and communities researching and responding to climate change
Northwest Tribes: Meeting the Challenge of Climate Change
Community Organizing Booklet, edited by Debra McNutt, NIARI research associate
Contributors’ Biographies
