The Tribal Climate Change Guide is part of the Pacific Northwest Tribal Climate Change Project. For more information, visit: https://tribalclimate.uoregon.edu/. If you would like to add to or amend information included in this guide, please complete this Google Form. If you have additions or suggestions for this website, please email kathy@uoregon.edu.

 

Quinault Indian Nation Plans for Village Relocation

Type
Tribal Profiles
Organization
U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit
Description

The homelands of the Quinault Indian Nation (QIN) are located on the Pacific coast of Washington's Olympic Peninsula—the tribe's culture and economy depend on the bounty of the land, forests, rivers, and ocean. With its location on the Pacific Ocean, the risk and uncertainty of tsunami has been, and continues to be, ever-present. Today, though, the Quinault community faces a different type of threat to its daily life: impacts from climate change. With support from the community, QIN leadership made a difficult decision: they would begin planning to relocate the lower portion of Taholah to higher ground. With support from a Social and Economic Development Strategies (SEDS) grant from the Administration for Native Americans, efforts were initiated to develop a master plan by 2016.