Tribal Profiles, Fact Sheets and Climate Planning Tools

The Tribal Green Building Toolkit is an assessment tool, with tribal case studies, for identifying and prioritizing structures your community wants to build. It provides detailed information and code references on:Land UseMaterials and Resource ConservationHuman Health: Radon, Mold and other Hazardous PollutantsEnergy Efficiency and Renewable EnergyWater Access, Management and SanitationResilience and AdaptabilityCode Implementation and ComplianceUpdating, Adapting or Adopting Codes or Developing New Codes

Categories: green building, tribal homes, green infrastructure, energy efficiency, renewable energy, resilience, planning

Concerned about the effects of climate change on their homeland and surrounding environment, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians have taken numerous steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address the impacts of climate change on tribal peoples, land, and resources. This profile describes the climate change programs implemented by the Santa Ynez Chumash Environmental Office and the Chumash Casino Resort to address climate change adaptation and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

Categories: habitat management, tribal profile, greenhouse gas emissions, climate adaptation

The Kalispel Resident Fish Project-Habitat (NWPPC Program Measure 10.8B.14-16, 18 and 19) was designed to assess and determine the habitat conditions in Pend Oreille River tributaries that limit native bull trout and cutthroat trout populations. Based on the assessments, recommendations are made to enhance measures that will increase the quality and quantity of habitat for native salmonids. All enhancement measure sites are subjected to an intensive pre-assessment of habitat and fish populations. This data is then used to determine the most benefit to habitat conditions. Enhancement measures include riparian fencing, in-stream habaitat enhancement and bank stabilizaiton. Please view our annual reports on our reports page.

Categories: Habitat Restoration, assessment, river tributaries, bull trout, cutthroat trout, salmonids

"Chemşhúun Pe'ícháachuqeli, Pala’s Tribal Psychosocial Climate Resilience Framework, is designed to help Pala and other communities consider how to safeguard mental and emotional wellbeing when preparing for the impacts of climate change. This report is part of Pala’s National Indian Health Board (NIHB) funded Climate Change Adaptation Plan, which incorporates health and wellbeing strategies." 

Categories: health, resilience, mental health, climate change impacts, framework, adaptation plan

The scientific and policy literature on climate change increasingly recognizes the vulnerabilities of indigenous communities and their capacities for resilience. The role of gender in defining how indigenous peoples experience climate change in the United States is a research area that deserves more attention. Advancing climate change threatens the continuance of many indigenous cultural systems that are based on reciprocal relationships with local plants, animals, and ecosystems. These reciprocal relationships, and the responsibilities associated with them, are gendered in many indigenous communities. American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians experience colonization based on intersecting layers of oppression in which race and gender are major determinants. The coupling of climate change with settler colonialism is the source of unique vulnerabilities. At the same time, gendered knowledge and gender-based activism and initiatives may foster climate change resilience. In this literature synthesis, we cross-reference international literature on gender and climate change, literature on indigenous peoples and climate change, and literature describing gender roles in Native America, in order to build an understanding of how gendered indigeneity may influence climate change vulnerability and resilience in indigenous communities in the United States.

Categories: Indigenous peoples, climate change vulnerability, resilience, gender, identity

The Lummi Intertidal Baseline Inventory (LIBI) project was undertaken in order to document the baseline conditions present on Lummi Reservation tidelands. The intent of the project is to provide a pre-disaster ecological assessment that might be used to contrast with conditions following a catastrophic event, such as a large oil or chemical spill.

Categories: intertidal habitat, data, inventory, ecological assessment, biological resources

Our efforts bring together a diverse group of natural and cultural resource partners (including tribes)  to create landscapes and ecosystems that represent commonly held community values, use the best available science and knowledge, with a goal for a connected, resilient region for years to come. CCLC offers habitat connectivity tools, spatial mapping tools, and partner assessments.

Categories: land management, spatial mapping, communication, conservation, networking, data, cascades, coasts, ecosystem services

The word imiq means “freshwater” in the Inupiat language of Northern Alaska. The Imiq Data Portal provides a snapshot of available hydroclimate data: a map-based view shows where, what, and when data have been obtained. Users can submit a custom data query, specifying variable of interest, geographic bounds, and time step. Imiq will aggregate and export data records from multiple sources in a common format, with full metadata records that provide information about the source data.

Categories: language, hydroclimate, data records

In January 2016, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded Louisiana $48,379,249 in Community Development Block Grant funds for the Isle de Jean Charles Resettlement. The grant was part of the state’s successful application to the National Disaster Resilience Competition.¹ With Resettlement funding in place, Louisiana can proceed with a structured and voluntary retreat from Isle de Jean Charles that is thoughtful and equitable, while maximizing opportunities for current and past island residents.

Categories: literature, hazard mitigation, community

The Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians resides in the northeast corner of Minnesota along Lake Superior. The dynamic environs of the region host a wide array of birds, fish, mammals, amphibians and reptiles. Unprecedented warming of Lake Superior in recent years suggests that climate change is taking effect around Grand Portage and is threatening local wildlife species. One of the Grand Portage Band’s major concerns is that climate change may lead to the loss of culturally significant subsistence species including moose and brook trout in the Lake Superior region. The tribe hopes that by investing in mitigation projects it can accomplish environmental and natural resources goals, achieve energy and food independence, contribute to carbon solutions, and reduce expenses to community members. In addition to existing mitigation projects and initiatives, the tribe is currently developing a comprehensive climate change adaptation and mitigation plan for tribal lands and resources. The plan addresses water quality, air quality, sustainable forestry, adaptation to shifts in fisheries and wildlife, sustainable food ventures, alternative energy development, and energy conservation programs.

Categories: Mitigation, Adaptation, Tribal

A consortium of dedicated Oglala Lakota programs and organizations was awarded nearly a million dollars in the form of a HUD Sustainable Communities Planning Grant to pursue a path towards creating a Regional Plan for Sustainable Development for the Oglala Lakota Nation in South Dakota. The planning effort is being led by the non-profit Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation and includes numerous partners from within the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Tribe, as well as many non-governmental public and private partners. The Tribe also became the first official Tribal member of ICLEI USA–Local Governments for Sustainability. By joining, the Tribe made a voluntary pledge to mitigate climate change, seek adaptation measures, and promote sustainability. Ultimately, a Climate Action Plan for the Tribe will be developed and with the goal of inclusion in the overall Oyate Omniciyé | Oglala Lakota Plan.

Categories: Mitigation, Adaptation, Tribal

"The Tribe is engaged in climate change mitigation (efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions) and adaptation (responding to current and future issues caused by a changing climate) from a local to a global scale, and everything in between. Locally, the Samish Council has committed to creating a climate resilient community and reducing the Tribe’s carbon footprint through energy efficiency and renewable energy development."

Categories: mitigation, ITEP, adaptation, climate resilient, carbon footprint, energy efficiency, renewable energy development

The Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation is located east of Phoenix in central Arizona. Not surprisingly, the large deserts of Arizona, including those in the Phoenix area, "offer some of the highest solar power potential in the country" according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In addition to the greenhouse gas reductions associated with renewable energy, the Fort McDowell Yavapai Tribe long ago realized the tremendous financial incentives posed by solar power. The profile provides an overview of several solar photovoltaic projects that the tribe has been implementing.

Categories: Mitigation, Renewable energy, Solar, Tribal

The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, located in northeastern Minnesota, is striving to reduce its carbon footprint and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Sustainability, energy efficiency, and the development of renewable energy are key goals, and the Band aims to protect the reservation and its resources for the cultural, spiritual, and physical well-being of its people.

Categories: Mitigation, Renewable energy, Tribal

Algaaciq Native Village (also known as St. Mary’s) is a predominantly Yupik village of approximately 500 people. The village lies near the confluence of the Andreafsky and Yukon Rivers, upstream from the delta into the Bering Sea in southwest Alaska. This profile describes observed impacts of climate change on the village and a woodstove changeout project that has Increased air quality and provided environmental benefits.

Categories: Mitigation, Tribal

The Northern Cheyenne Tribe of southeastern Montana takes climate change seriously and is doing something about it. The tribe has been progressing on a showcase demonstration project on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30 metric tons CO2e annually through energy retrofits of the Tribal Environmental Protection Department (EPD) building. This project is supported by a $200,000, two-year grant provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2010 through its Climate Showcase Community Program.

Categories: Mitigation, Tribal

Held at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Conservation Training Center in West Virginia, the Congress is a week long interactive conference, attended by a diverse mix of Native American students. It is designed to reach out to emerging leaders in tribal nations and communities, and provide a setting where they can learn about climate change and other environmental issues, and how these issues affect them, their own communities, and neighboring communities.

Categories: Native American youth, community, adaptation, leadership, climate change, training

The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) developed the Seven Generations (7G) manual, training, and outreach program to assist Alaska Native communities to adopt an environmental planning process to recognize climate impacts and build community capacity for resilience from which other Tribal Nations may also benefit. The Tool is called “Seven Generations” because many Tribal Nations hold in common a policy to consider many future generations in community decision-making to focus on long-term sustainability.

Categories: outreach, training, sustainability, generations, tribal nations

Provides information regarding forestry risks and crises for tribes, and suggests climate adaptation initiatives for tribal use.

Categories: parasites, invasive species, wildfire, precipitation, forest assessments, climate adaptation, fact sheet

The Tribal Pesticide Program Council (TPPC) is a tribal technical resource and program and policy development dialogue group, focused on pesticides issues and concerns. The TPPC assists tribes in building tribal pesticide programs, providing pesticide education and training, and researching, developing and presenting a broad range of tribal pesticide-related issues and concerns. It is the intent of the TPPC to focus on pesticides and be as inclusive as possible for all tribes and tribal organizations that have pesticide issues and concerns. The TPPC facilitates communications between tribes, tribal and intertribal organizations, tribal communities, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as other federal and state agencies on pesticides and pesticide-related issues.

Categories: pesticide management, policy, education, training, communication, EPA, health

This "toolkit" is a collection of templates and other resources developed by the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) to assist tribes in their climate change adaptation planning process. The materials provided are not "one-size-fits-all" solutions, and users are encouraged to modify the materials to better represent the needs and priorities of their own tribe. The primary users of these materials will be the tribe’s climate change working group.

Categories: Planning Guide

CIER has developed a series of climate planning guidebooks designed for First Nations. This guidebook, the first in the series, details how to begin a planning process.

Categories: Planning, Climate Adaptation

CIER has developed a set of guidebooks designed for First Nations communities to aid in the development of climate planning documents. This is the second guidebook in that series.

Categories: Planning, Climate Adaptation

CIER has developed a set of guidebooks designed for First Nations communities to aid in the development of climate planning documents. This is the fourth guidebook in that series.

Categories: Planning, Climate Adaptation

CIER has developed a set of guidebooks designed for First Nations communities to aid in the development of climate planning documents. This is the fourth guidebook in that series.

Categories: Planning, Climate Adaptation

The NCAI Resource Library offers a wide array of searchable resources to support and inform tribal leaders and citizens, and to educate the general public and media. The Resource library is updated frequently, providing the latest and most relevant information on American Indian and Alaska Native policy matters.

Categories: policy, resolutions, consultation, resources, information

As temperatures across the Arctic rise at twice the global average, the impacts of climate change in Alaska are already being felt (IPCC 2007). Alaska Natives are among the most impacted in this region, and, according to the Government Accountability Office in 2004, flooding and erosion affected 86% of Alaska Native villages to some extent, and by 2009, the GAO reported that flooding and erosion imminently threatened thirty-one villages. This profile examines the challenges of relocation and offers examples from three Alaska Native villages working to protect their people, culture and natural resources.

Categories: Relocation, Sea Level Rise, Erosion, Tribal

The mission of NASA’s Western Water Applications Office (WWAO) is to help solve important and pressing water-resource problems that the western United States faces today. To do this, WWAO equips water decision-makers with useful, accessible and sustained remote-sensing-based information. Read more about their work from NASA Western Water Application Office's 2019 Report here.

Categories: remote-sensing, data collection, groundwater, drought, water management

"Nations, states and communities around the world are establishing rapid decarbonization goals, including Colorado, which declared a target of 90% carbon-free energy by 2050. With increased pressure for immediate, large-scale changes to energy infrastructure, international policies for expanding renewables have played a critical role in increasing solar technology’s accessibility and efficiency. By combining this evolving technology with local knowledge, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe is generating energy solutions rooted in its community."

Categories: renewable energy, carbon-free energy, decarbonization, energy efficiency, sovereignty, solar panels, infrastructure, local knowledge

The Pueblo of Jemez in New Mexico is engaged in several renewable energy projects, including developing a four-megawatt solar power plant, exploring the feasibility of developing its geothermal resources, and designing a biomass boiler for its visitor center that will use waste from forest thinning projects. The tribe is also providing education and training to its youth and community members about renewable energy.

Categories: Renewable energy, Education, Tribal