Indigenous people from around the U.S. and Canada convened in Auburn last week, for a summit meeting on tribal climate leadership. Hosted every other year by the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, the event also includes tribal partners such as environmental groups, researchers and energy developers.
The summit aims to amplify and empower Indigenous leaders as they navigate the cultural, economic and social challenges of climate change, said planning committee member Amelia Marchand, a citizen of the Colville Confederated Tribes and tribal climate resilience liaison for the Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center.
"Not just what is currently occurring in tribal communities, to share information, but to also inspire others, and to find allies and partnerships — because together we're always stronger," Marchand said.
This year’s conference took place at a time when there is more recognition of the need for action on climate solutions than ever before – and more government funding available, from both state and federal programs. Marchand said she’s hopeful that will result in more climate action, and that tribal voices will actually shape that action.
“These are issues that that need to be addressed urgently,” she said. “Because it's not just something that's impacting one species, or one habitat, or one geographic region. It's impacting everything everywhere, all at once.”
Youth voices
One of the first panel discussions showcased stories from young tribal leaders. Among them was 27-year-old Aeon Albert from the Hopi Tribe in northern Arizona, who works with the Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps.
She said as the pressure for climate solutions builds, it may be tempting to look for new technologies, but it’s important to recognize the power of ancestral knowledge. For example, she said look at the way Hopi have traditionally grow corn in what looks like barren landscapes.
“It was really a mixture of both ingenuity and faith that helped us to keep our corn growing. And that's what continues to keep it growing today. And it's even being studied in universities. So, how does Hopi corn grow in such an arid environment, an environment that it's not supposed to be in, but it's thriving,” Albert said.
She said having faith in traditional teachings and recognizing their power — even before fully understanding the science behind them — is important as tribes and young people face climate change.
Keynote speaker Brook Thompson told the story of growing up on the Klamath River, where her family life revolved around salmon fishing, and eating, pretty much every season of the year. They were commercial fishermen. But in the summer of 2002, when she was just 7 years old, she said dam operators suddenly dropped the water levels. Her family rushed to the scene. What they saw changed her life.
“I witnessed over 60,000 dead salmon lining the shores of the Klamath River,” Thompson told the crowd.
Thompson told the audience that Klamath River salmon never fully recovered. And she was traumatized.
“Because not only was this the fun thing I was doing with my dad in the summer, not only was this one of my main food sources, but this was my connection to my relatives, my ancestors too," she said.
It led her to become a water resources engineer and to join the movement that successfully pushed for dam removal on the Klamath River. She’s now a PhD student of Indigenous knowledge and water policy in the face of climate change.
'Laughter is good medicine'
Other shared stories of climate impacts in the Northwest included the immediate devastation of wildfires and the slower moving crises of sea level rise and drought.
As necessary as the sharing of these stories may be, none of it is easy. That’s why the main day of the conference started with a breakfast keynote from actor and standup comic Tatanka Means, according to Marchand.
“One of the things that many Indigenous communities recognize is that laughter is good medicine. And so recognizing the perilous times that we're in, we also have to find space for self-care,” she said.
Marchand noted that the conference also offered various ways of processing the information. These ranged from a table for makers, with coloring pages and a variety of crafts, to group brainstorming sessions to a climate game corner.
The aim is to ensure there is space for tribal leaders to come together not just in shared pain and frustration, but also in joy and laughter, she said.
“Because climate grief and climate anxiety are real. And those of us that work in this field deal with it every day. So as long as we can find space and time to have a little bit of that joy, that that'll just help us be more resilient for our communities.”
The hope is that the shared information, networking, and possibly even new friendships, sustain these leaders as they venture home and get back to work.
Produced with assistance from the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.
