Indigenous Lifeways

Climate change is wreaking havoc on traditional foods used by Indigenous communities for sustenance and medicine. In the PNW, sea-level rise, drought, and wildfire have been among many climate-related injuries to Indigenous lands. Indigenous communities find it increasingly difficult to perform the labors and ceremonies that maintain cultures ravaged by centuries of colonial violence.

For nearly a decade, the Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples (CCIP) Initiative, led by Kathy Lynn and Carey at UO, has fostered intergenerational dialogue among Indigenous leaders, undergraduates, and the general public about the impact of climate change on Indigenous cultures, resources, knowledge production, and traditional lifeways through an annual lecture and related activities. Approximately 200 UO undergraduates have presented their research, as well; some have published their research in peer-reviewed journals or presented at national conferences.

The CCIP Initiative also contributes to the Tribal Climate Change Project (TCCP), part of ENVS since 2009. The TCCP works to understand and address the impacts of climate change on tribal sovereignty, traditional knowledge, and indigenous cultural resources through research, resource development, and policy engagement. The TCCP helps mentor both undergraduate and graduate students, including many Native students.

Mellon funds will foster a greater opportunity for the TCCP to contribute to the CCIP Initiative through increased Native student involvement and broad connections with indigenous communities, by bringing five students from tribal colleges to the CCIP and employing a graduate student to facilitate research dissemination and outreach to PNW tribes.

Team