Tribal Climate Change Guide

The Tribal Climate Change Guide is part of the Pacific Northwest Tribal Climate Change Project (TCCP). The TCCP is part of the L.I.G.H.T. Foundation (LF), is an independent, Indigenous-led, conservation 501(c)(3) nonprofit established on the Colville Indian Reservation in the traditional territory of the Nespelem Tribe in present-day north central Washington State. LF supports the restoration and cultivation of native Plant and Pollinator Relatives and the culturally respectful conservation of habitats and ecosystems which are climate resilient and adaptive. For more information about LF, visit: https://thepnwlf.org/. For more information about the Tribal Climate Change Project, visit: https://tribalclimate.uoregon.edu/. If you would like to add information to this guide, please email kathy.lynn.or@gmail.com.

Climate Change and Unalakleet: A Deep Analysis

Type

Literature

Publication

Mustonen, T.; Van Dam, B. Climate Change and Unalakleet: A Deep Analysis. Sustainability 2021, 13, 9971. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179971

Year Published

2021

Description

This multi-disciplinary science and Indigenous knowledge assessment paper reviews over 20 years of research materials, oral histories and Indigenous views on climate change affecting Unalakleet, Alaska, USA and Norton Sound. It brings a historical review, statistical analysis, community-based observations and wisdom from Unalakleet Iñupiaq knowledge holders into a critical reading of the current state of climate change impacts in the region. Through this process, two keystone species, Pacific salmon and caribou, are explored as indicators of change to convey the significance of climate impacts. We rely on this historical context to analyse the root causes of the climate crisis as experienced in Alaska, and as a result we position Indigenous resurgence, restoration and wisdom as answers.

Geography

Alaska

The Tribal Climate Change Guide is supported through partnerships between the University of Oregon Environmental Studies Program and the North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative, the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals and the Environmental Protection Agency Region 10 Tribal Program.
Questions about this Guide should be directed to kathy@uoregon.edu.