How Tribes Are Leading the Way in Responding to Climate Change
How Tribes Are Leading the Way in Responding to Climate Change - Warigia Bowman
There are 566 federally recognized tribes across 33 states and at least 34 state-recognized tribes.[1] Climate change threatens indigenous peoples’ livelihoods and economies.[2] I am going to try to be specific whenever possible, but we need to acknowledge the diversity and scope of the various native communities, and each geographical region and ethnic group will be affected somewhat differently.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has found that Indigenous Peoples of North America are disproportionately affected by Climate Change.[3] Pressures from white settler colonialism forced Native Americans off of their ancestral lands in many cases, and onto more marginal lands.[4] Indeed, all public lands that the U.S. government owns and manages were stolen from Native Americans and Alaska Natives, often through violence, genocide, and forced removal.[5] In fact, indigenous nations across the US have lost as much as 99% of their historical land base.[6] Indigenous people are forced to live in areas that are, on average, more exposed to climate change hazards like the extreme heat and decreased precipitation.[7]
Native Americans have warned mainstream American society for decades, or even centuries that the industrialized way of life is not sustainable. According to Talking Hawk, a Mohawk Indian, “Earth Mother is fighting back. Not only from the four winds but also from underneath. Scientists call it global warming. We call it Earth Mother getting angry.”[8]
To overgeneralize, you can summarize a Native point of view with regard to nature as “Use Nature respectfully, never take more than you need.”
Issue 1: Broad Overview of Climate Change Impacts
· According to NASA and NOAA, 2018 marked the fourth warmest year on record since 1880.[9]
· Regardless of location, climate variability and change are likely to result in or are resulting in increased temperatures, changes to precipitation regimes, increases in extreme weather events.
· Ecosystem changes will result in habitat loss and can shift the geographic ranges of species.
· Pack ice is vanishing earlier and earlier each spring in Alaska and northern Canada.[10] Permafrost is thawing. In addition, lake ice is thinning, glaciers are retreating, the snowpack is melting, lake levels are dropping. Arctic sea ice extent, volume, and thickness have declined rapidly.
· Precipitation is increasing nationwide, especially in the Midwest and the Northeast. Heatwaves are increasing in the West, and the intensity of Atlantic hurricanes is increasing.[11]
· In addition to rising temperatures, though, there is a tremendous increase in anarchic, unpredictable, and extreme weather. Weather in the Great Plains is getting more variable, erratic, and destructive with events such as wildfires, drought, bomb cyclones, and tornadoes.
· In drier areas, the changing climate is likely to increase the demand for water, but make it less available. Soils are likely to become even drier. Increased evaporation and decreased rainfall are likely to reduce the average flow of rivers and streams. Although summer droughts are likely to become more severe, floods may also intensify in the Great Plains.
· Sea levels are rising, posing a serious threat to saltwater intrusion on the coasts.
· I live in Oklahoma. So how will climate change affect Oklahoma? According to the EPA, Oklahoma, which is home to many, many tribal nations, will become warmer.[12] Both floods and droughts may become more severe. Summers are likely to be increasingly hot and dry, which will reduce the productivity of farms and ranches. Hot weather causes livestock to eat less, and grow more slowly.
Issue 2: How is Climate Change Affecting Native People?
Native Americans and Alaska Natives often live in small, rural communities, under low socioeconomic conditions. They tend to be more dependent on subsistence livelihoods and have deep spiritual and cultural connections with their waters and lands.[13]
Indigenous health is based on interconnected social and ecological systems. Native American communities are tied to place.[14] Accordingly, climate change threatens sites, practices, and relationships of cultural, spiritual, or ceremonial importance. Some native coastal communities are being forced to relocate to higher ground after experiencing more extreme storm surges, flooding, and sea-level rise, which can impact cultural integrity and access to vital resources.
Alaska Natives
Of the 566 federally recognized tribes in the United States, 40 percent (229 tribes) live in Alaska Native communities. The rapid pace of rising temperatures, melting sea ice and glaciers, and thawing permafrost in Alaska is having a significant negative impact on critical infrastructure and traditional livelihoods in the state.[15] The melting permafrost is affecting the structural integrity of buildings in the frozen north, including schools.
Life for many Arctic Alaska Natives revolves around the hunting of sea mammals. Thinning sea ice can create hazardous conditions for both humans, and other mammals such as polar bears. Timing shifts alter hunting patterns. Permafrost thawing makes underground food storage less reliable. Some native villages are having to relocate due to riverine erosion and coastal erosion.[16]
Pacific Northwest
In the Pacific Northwest, coastal erosion and storms are degrading the lands of tribes such as the Lummi.[17] Key climate change impacts include effects on salmon spawning degradation of shellfish hatcheries. Intense storms can flood, scour habitat, and wash away salmon eggs. Warmer summer temperatures can affect salmon migration. The Swinomish are struggling as shellfish are affected. Sea level rise can increase salinization and interfere with soil quality on the coast, as well as washing away tribal lands. As species move due to climate change, tribes may struggle to use access locations.[18]
Southwest
The Southwest contains 170 federally recognized tribes with small and large landholdings set in ranching, agriculture, mining, tourism, and other economies. Key climate change impacts stem from drought and flooding that affect livestock, agriculture, water supply, water rights, soil quality, and aquatic species. Increasing aridity and drought threaten South-Western tribal cultures. On Navajo and Hopi lands in Arizona, lack of moisture has extended sand dune growth, covering housing, causing transportation problems, and harming endangered native plants and grazing lands. Residents of the Navajo Nation are running out of water. On the Navajo Reservation, 25-50% of residents haul water for household use at costs 20 times more than for non-Navajo water users. The average trip was 14 miles one way. In Arizona, the Hualapai tribe depends on tourism, big game hunting, cattle grazing, and forestry.[19] The Southwest is currently in a megadrought the likes of which have not been seen for half of a millennium. As a result, the tribe has had to sell cattle and has experienced wildfires, invasive species, and losses of wetlands.
Great Plains
In the Great Plains, which extend from Montana to Texas, there are 70 federally recognized tribes, which engage in subsistence, agriculture, ranching, tourism, energy extraction, and renewable energy production. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe depends on one sole intake pipe from the Missouri River for water. A 2003 drought caused water levels to drop so low the pipe was clogged with silt. For example, One striking story occurred in March 2019, when residents of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota experienced weather that is extreme, even for them. A huge snowstorm was followed by rapid melting, which resulted in major flooding. For the Lakota people, in South Dakota, winter and spring precipitation are likely to increase, which will make spring flooding more likely.
The Southern great plains comprise Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Temperatures are projected to increase as much as 5 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century.[20] In 2011, Oklahoma and Texas experienced a historic drought and heatwave, hurting livestock, and forcing tribes to sell off livestock prematurely. Fish die-offs and algae blooms also occurred due to low water levels. Hydropower failed. The Cherokee are struggling to grow traditional heirloom crops. Excessive heat, drought, and the disappearance of native species are disrupting ceremonial cycles in Oklahoma such as the Sun Dance ceremony, as willow branches become harder to fine.
Midwest
In the Midwest, thirty federally recognized tribes live near the Great Lakes. These tribes often depend on waters for subsistence and commercial fishing, and for crops used in traditional crafts and artwork. They also fish, hunt, and gather, and so are affected quickly by species habitat loss. Midwestern tribes face impacts to flora and fauna. Wild and cultivate crop losses are increasing, noticeably in wild rice which is of great importance to the Ojibwe.
East
The eastern US extends from Maine to Florida and along the gulf coast. Twenty seven federally recognized tribes live in the region and often engage in fishing, hunting, gathering. They rely on diverse water resources including riverine, estuarine, and oceanic ones. In particular, species such as lobster, shrimp, and moose are important. Tribes may also gather blueberries and medicinal plants. These tribes may experience higher incidences of flooding as a result of increased snowfall and rapid snowmelt. High river flows from flooding can scour fish habitat, and destroy nesting sites, increasing fish mortality. Louisiana tribes are experiencing land loss which may lead to relocation, and saltwater intrusion is a concern all up and down the east and southern gulf coast. Ocean acidification interferes with shell development in shellfish.
Issue 3: How are Native People Responding to Climate Change?
Indigenous people have a long history of adapting to environmental changes. Their traditional knowledge of ecosystems has informed sustainable land management practices. In Maine, the Wabanaki Nations worked with researchers and landowners to prevent the spread of the invasive forest pest, the Emerald Ash Borer. In 2007 representatives of the Passamaquoddy, the Mohawk, Blackfoot, Micmaq, Lakota Sioux, and Abenaki tribes gathered near the Baker River in New Hampshire to discuss the impact of climate change on their communities.[21]
Native American communities in the US have been assertive, proactive, and thoughtful in their responses to climate change. Michigan tribes hold biannual meetings between the state and tribes to discuss responses to climate change. Nearly fifty native communities have created climate assessment and adaptation plans. For example, the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa in Wisconsin developed a plan to detect potential climate change impacts to the ecosystem and natural resources found on their tribal lands. The Blackfeet Nation of Montana has developed an adaptation plan to protect their communities as well as diverse ecosystems from the impacts of climate change. The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon have created a Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment to assess climate related vulnerability of key resources and assets that are important to tribal life. The Karuk Tribe of California developed an Eco-Cultural Resources management plan to help restore balanced ecological processes. The Navajo Nation has created a vulnerability assessment for priority wildlife and plant species and habitats in the Navajo landscape. At least 15 tribal communities in Alaska are doing planning around climate change. In Nuisqut, Alaska, the community conducted an assessment of climate change related health effects in Nuisqut, which is a traditional Inupiat community on 18 miles from the Inlet of the Beaufort Sea.[22] In 2011, Oklahoma held an Inter-Tribal Meeting on Climate Variability and Change at the National Weather Center in Norman, Oklahoma. The Muscogee Creek nation is in the early stages of developing a climate resiliency plan.[23]
Issue 4: What Can the Biden Administration be doing to help protect tribal communities against climate change impacts?
Since taking office in January 2021, the Biden-Harris Administration has taken steps to support Tribal communities overcome a variety of challenges utilizing the concept of Nation to Nation engagement.[24] In March 2021, the President signed the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act, which made the largest single federal financial investment in Native communities in the history of the United States. One of the big ideas championed by both Rep. Haaland and President Biden is 30×30, a goal to protect 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.
The Center for American Progress lauds these efforts, yet emphasizes the need to prioritize Native voices.[25] The lessons from Tribal efforts should inform nationwide climate policy.[26] In addition, tribal self-determination and leadership should be key elements in creating responses to climate change. As noted above, tribal leaders have been at the forefront of planning on how to respond to climate change. The Biden Administration could provide tribes block grants to do climate change planning specifically appropriate to their nation.
Aid to Indian reservations has never been adequate, but it has been slashed from this inadequate amount even lower under the last presidential administration. A counter-intuitive yet obvious thing the Biden Administration could do to help native people combat climate change would be to help native communities get up to a reasonable level of comfort in terms of health, wealth, and security.
For example, the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation under the best of conditions boasts temperature and weather extremes. Yet climate change will increase these challenges. Pine Ridge, has experienced dramatically extreme weather in the past decade, but also boasts some other sobering statistics. Oglala Lakota County is one of the poorest counties in the nation.[27] Further, as sovereign nations, state disaster agencies and county extension offices will often not provide aid to areas like Lakota County.
Fifty percent of Pine Ridge reservation residents live in poverty, often in overcrowded homes, with poor access to health care, inadequate running water supplies, and inadequate access to health care. In addition, food insecurity is prevalent.[28] It is extremely difficult for residents to afford and consistently access healthy food. Pine Ridge Reservation only has one grocery store. One obvious response to food insecurity is to reduce the prevalence of food deserts on the reservation by supporting locally run grocery stores and reducing dependence on imported processed food. This should go hand in hand with increasing access to locally grown food as well as culturally appropriate food. This concept is called food self-sufficiency, but it is a long term goal. Further, people on Pine Ridge, Navajo, and many other rural reservations only have dirt roads, which makes it difficult to deliver aid throughout the reservation, difficult to get to the health care center, and difficult to get access to food.[29] Dealing with climate change means preparing for disasters, which may be more frequent, and more dramatic.
Further, sub-freezing temperatures take a toll on roads, bridges, tribal vehicles, and maintenance buildings. If each nation could take an inventory of what aspects of its infrastructure need repair, it would help them apply effectively for the numerous grants included in the infrastructure bill.
The Lakota leadership believes that community strength in the form of culture, food, language, and politics will help them better adapt to climate change. For the Lakota, language is a communication method, but also a source of culture, history, and tradition.
As mentioned above, Navajo have dramatically, unacceptably, shockingly low access to water on the reservation. The Biden Infrastructure Bill does have some amazing opportunities for community grants, but it strikes me that it would be desirable to just fix some basics quickly on some of these areas where infrastructure is truly unacceptable. Ensuring that all tribes have adequate access to potable water would be a start.
The State of California actually has a thoughtful approach with the Biden Harris administration could learn from.[30] First, they aim to engage and support local and tribal communities in their climate adaptation planning process. Second, they partner with Native American tribes to benefit from traditional knowledge of prescribed fire and forest management. Third, they provide financial and technical assistance to Native American tribes to increase capacity for biomass utilization. Fourth, they safeguard cultural and archaeological resources threatened by sea rise and engage tribes and other affected groups, to work on participatory mapping, planning, and decision-making. Finally, they increase outreach to environmental justice communities and tribes to address water related impacts of climate change.
[1] Cozzetto, Chief, Dittmer, Brubaker, Gough, Souza, Ettawageshik, Wotkyns, Opitz-Stapleton, Duren, “Climate Change impacts on the water resources of American Indians and Alaska Natives in the US,” July 16, 2013, Climatic Change.
[2] US Climate Resilience Toolkit. Available at toolkit.climate.gov/topics/tribal nations
[3] National Congress of American Indians, Climate Change. https://www.ncai.org/policy-issues/land-natural-resources/climate-change
[4] NYT Climate.
[5] https://www.americanprogress.org/article/biden-administrations-conservation-plan-must-prioritize-indigenous-leadership/
[6] How Loss of Historical Lands Makes Native Americans More Vulnerable to Climate Change, Rachel Treisman, November 2, 2021, NPR.org. https://www.npr.org/2021/11/02/1051146572/forced-relocation-native-american-tribes-vulnerable-climate-change-risks
[7] NPR.org, Treisman.
[8] UNPO p. 1
[9] Elbein at 6.
[10] UNPO p. 1
[11] Appendix 3. Climate Science Supplement. Walsh, Wuebbles, Hayhoe, Kossin, et al. October 2014. US Global Change Research Program, “Climate Change Impacts in the US,”
[12] “What Climate Change Means for Oklahoma,” August 2016, EPA 430-F-16-038.
[13] Cozetto, et. al at
[14] https://publicintegrity.org/inside-publici/newsletters/watchdog-newsletter/indigenous-solutions-climate-change-policies/
[15] Disposessed, Again. Climate Change Hits Native Americans Especially Hard. Christopher Flavelle and Kalen Goodluck, New York Times, June 27, 2021.
[16] Cozetto at 4.1
[17] https://publicintegrity.org/inside-publici/newsletters/watchdog-newsletter/indigenous-solutions-climate-change-policies/
[18] Cozetto at 4.2
[19] Cozetto at 4.3.
[20] Josh Dulaney, “Climate change report: Native Americans face unique challenges,” September 18, 2019.
[21] UNPO p. 1
[22] These examples are all drawn from the NCAI Policy Research Center which contains a table entitled “Climate Action: Tribal Approaches.”
[23] Josh Dulaney, The Oklahoman, Climate Change Report, Sept. 19, 2019.
[24]https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/11/15/fact-sheet-building-a-new-era-of-nation-to-nation-engagement/
[25] https://www.americanprogress.org/article/biden-administrations-conservation-plan-must-prioritize-indigenous-leadership/
[26] https://publicintegrity.org/inside-publici/newsletters/watchdog-newsletter/indigenous-solutions-climate-change-policies/
[27] Saul Elbein, July 1, 2019, “As climate chaos escalates in Indian Country, feds abandon tribes.”
[28] Scientific American Blog Network, “How Oglala Lakota People are Standing Up to Extreme Weather,” Gabi Serrato Marks, December 11, 2019.
[29] “Lakota, Leaders against climate change,” Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organizations, June 18, 2007. https://unpo.org/article/6848
[30] Climate Adaptation and California Native American Tribes.