Readings in Indigenous Perspectives on Climate Change

Earth Science Extras

by Russ Colson

 

Modified from artwork by Russ Colson published in "Topics for Debate", Issues in Earth Science, Vol 11, Aug 2019, http://earthscienceissues.net/topics_for_debate

 

Excerpts from "Linking Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge of Climate Change" by

Alexander, Bynum, Johnson, King, Mustonen, neofotis, Oettlé, Rosenzweig, Sakakibara, Shadrin, Vicarelli, Waterhouse, and Weeks, 2011, The American Institute of Biological Sciences, Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/bio.2011.61.6.10

Abstract:

We explore the connections among indigenous climate-related narratives, documented temperature changes, and climate change impact studies from the scientific literature. We then propose a framework for enhancing synthesis of these indigenous narratives of observed climate change with global assessments. Our aim is to contribute to the thoughtful and respectful integration of indigenous knowledge with scientific data and analysis, so that this rich body of knowledge can inform science and so that indigenous peoples can use the tools and methods of science for the benefit of their communities if they choose to do so. Improving ways of understanding such connections is critical as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report process proceeds.

Side-by-side approach (part of ending summary)

We next identified places where the indigenous knowledge observations were located within 250 kilometers (km) of data points from peer-reviewed studies. The stars on the map in figure 2 indicate the central location but do not cover the full extent of the region occupied by the indigenous groups and described in their narratives. For instance, the Iengra region, which is occupied by the 12 nomadic and seminomadic Yukaghir tribes, is a vast area covering multiple cells with significant warming (each cell being about 500 × 500 km). These examples further demonstrate how the two knowledge systems can complement each other (box 2). In Russia, changes in the ice and water content of lakes and streams, along with detrimental impacts on reindeer herders, coincide with climate-induced changes in seasonal freeze and thaw depths of permafrost (Frauenfeld et al. 2004). Further investigation into the relationships among these and other collocated reports is likely to yield more correspondences.

Indigenous narratives have also been linked with scientific data sets in other geographic areas (figure 3, box 3; Sakakibara 2009). In several Iñupiaq indigenous narratives, the changes in sea ice and whale migrations that have affected hunting success were described. This effect influences the Iñupiaq's spiritual and physical ties with the whale in relation to traditional musicmaking (Sakakibara 2009). These narratives were linked to NASA Earth Observations Records (NASA 2007). As time series of remotely sensed data become longer, further links between narrative and scientific observations may be found.

Fostering connections (part of ending summary)

We found that indigenous knowledge can provide complementary information about climate change that has value in determining patterns for regions in which there are limited instrumental records. Furthermore, these narratives promote an expanded and multidimensional picture of the impacts of climate change by placing these changes in the context of a human landscape. Our indigenous knowledge assemblage is still at an embryonic stage, but we find these preliminary results promising and such linkages important to understanding climate change. Collating indigenous narratives in parallel with peer-reviewed studies represents a valuable approach to deepening assessments of the impacts of climate change and to sharing adaptive strategies. Indigenous knowledge, especially from remote areas, can contribute to a significant expansion of global knowledge and understanding of warming and sea-level rise that are already under way. This method of knowledge assemblage could also offer a voice to the larger universe of other resource-dependent communities beyond indigenous ones.

Currently, indigenous narratives are minimally included in the IPCC or other global assessments of climate change, because changes observed by local people are not frequently documented in peer-reviewed studies and are thus subject to the bias against non-peer-reviewed evidence. Yet indigenous narratives provide a rich source of information based on multi- generational knowledge about local climate that can contribute a great deal to science assessments, such as the IPCC, that provide policy-relevant information. Indigenous knowledge often deepens understanding about what climate change means for livelihoods, cultures, and ways of life beyond the understanding provided by statistically significant changes reported in the scientific literature. These narratives show that global climate change has already affected integrated physical, biological, and social ecosystems, especially in the northern high latitudes.

Guidance for the process of integrating indigenous narratives may be provided by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which has advanced a code of ethical conduct (a) to respect, preserve, and maintain the knowledge, innovations, and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles relevant to the conservation of biological diversity and sustainable use of natural resources; (b) to promote the wider application of indigenous knowledge with the approval and involvement of the holders of such knowledge; and (c) to encourage the equitable sharing of the benefits that arise from the utilization of such knowledge.

The IPCC could similarly provide guidance for how to include traditional knowledge in its assessments. Such a process of inclusion would enhance the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report process, which is now under way. Following and adding to the principles set forth by the CBD, this process could include (a) the full participation of indigenous and local communities in the detection and description of climate change impacts; (b) consideration and valuation of indigenous knowledge alongside scientific data obtained using statistically analyzed records; (c) a holistic approach that respects the spiritual and cultural values of the communities and allows indigenous knowledge to be brought forth in the form and format identified by the communities themselves; (d) an appreciation that indigenous knowledge can involve an integrated awareness of the stewardship of land, water, and living resources and that this knowledge can contribute to conservation and the sustain- able use of resources; and (e) an understanding that access to indigenous knowledge will entail informed participation and approval from the holders of such knowledge.

We believe that it is crucial to foster linkages among indigenous and scientific knowledge systems. For example, in remote areas that do not have temperature data, indigenous knowledge narratives may be able to serve as proxy records. On the other hand, point data and remote-sensing measurements may aid in explaining phenomena that may be difficult to observe through tactile or visual means (e.g., ocean current strength and direction changes, ocean temperature, atmospheric oscillations). Our hope is that the relationship between the two knowledge systems can be strengthened and that there will be wide benefits both to indigenous communities and to scientific study. In the examples shown in this article, temperature and sea-ice records provide links to the global climate system, which is inarguably changing. The indigenous narratives resonate with human voices and with deep understanding and concern for our changing planet.

 

Excerpts from "Bridging indigenous and scientific knowledge, Local ecological knowledge must be placed at the center of environmental governance"

by By Jayalaxshmi Mistry and Andrea Berardi, Science, New Series, Vol. 352, No. 6291 (10 JUNE 2016), pp. 1274-1275, Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24748076

Initial Summary:

Indigenous land use practices have a fundamental role to play in controlling deforestation and reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Satellite imagery suggests that indigenous lands contribute substantially to maintaining carbon stocks and enhancing biodiversity relative to adjoining territory (1). Many of these sustainable land use practices are born, developed, and successfully implemented by the community without major influence from external stakeholders (2). A prerequisite for such community-owned solutions is indigenous knowledge, which is local and context-specific, transmitted orally or through imitation and demonstration, adaptive to changing environments, collectivized through a shared social memory, and situated within numerous interlinked facets of people's lives (3). Such local ecological knowledge is increasingly important given the ·growing global challenges of ecosystem degradation and climate change (4).

 

Ending Statements:

A major reason for the limited engagement with indigenous knowledge is the persistence of epistemological differences, and the associated politics of representation, within the social and governance context. Local ecological knowledge is seen as subjective, arbitrary, and based on qualitative observations of phenomena and change. Scientific knowledge, by contrast, is viewed as objective and rigorous, with precise measuring and empirical testing of events and trends confirming credibility and legitimacy. Attempts to evaluate local ecological knowledge thus often use scientific methods to prove its validity. However, all forms of knowledge, including scientific knowledge, are produced by socially situated actors and are value-laden (12).

Furthermore, the scientific approach, with its imperative for precise categorization and abstract generalization, rapidly loses its ability to provide useful guidance to the general public when faced with increasingly complex situations typified by uncertainty, nonlinear dynamics, and conflicting perspectives (13). Indigenous knowledge can circumvent some of these problems by generating a systemic understanding of a complex environment and integrating a large number of variables qualitatively over an extended period of time. Through collective and adaptive dialogue, indigenous knowledge can lead to simple rules that can be easily remembered and locally enforced through social means (14).

Conservation and development ideologies worldwide are heavily influenced by politically dominant Western agendas, and the structures in which indigenous knowledge is used and applied are determined by science. The danger is that in these places, indigenous knowledge will change in its use and application, and, most critically, in its ability to deal with complexity. For example, the institutionalization of indigenous fire management has focused on protective early dry-season burning at the expense of regular and sometimes opportunistic burning throughout the dry season and in the wet season (11). This could lead to a loss in the complexity of fire knowledge, amplified by a general loss of traditional knowledge (especially among young people), which has serious implications for future indigenous cultures and their linked ecosystems.

Indigenous knowledge systems, and the processes for their evolution over time, can support rapid adaptation to complex and urgent crises (15). Rather than encouraging these knowledge systems to become more "scientific;' we urge a respectful acknowledgment of their distinctiveness and epistemology (16). We suggest that any effort to solve real-world problems should first engage with those local communities that are most affected, beginning from the perspective of indigenous knowledge and then seeking relevant scientific knowledge-not to validate indigenous knowledge, but to expand the range of options for action. This would make scientific knowledge more acceptable and relevant to the societies that it seeks to support, while critically promoting social justice and establishing self-determination as a key principle of engagement.

 

Excerpts from "Health Disparities. Climate Change and Health: A Native American Perspective"

by Bob Weinhold, Environmental Health Perspectives , Feb., 2010, Vol. 118, No. 2, pp. A64-A65, Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25614968

Initial Summary:

The intricate, intertwined forces driving global climate change are mirrored by similar complexity in the human response to it. That makes it nearly impossible to anticipate the stance of any one group based solely on a label such as nationality, race, or economic class. But there is ample evidence that the raw drive for survival-the ultimate environmental health perspective-is a common thread that often compels people to change their behavior. That is the case today for some Native Americans who are feeling the effects of dislocation and food shortages they attribute to climate change.

Image below is from the article, with the caption: Tribal lands are Indicated In pink. Sources: map-www.nationalatlas.gov; climate change effect predictions-Hanna JM. 2007. Native communities and climate change: protecting tribal resources as part of national climate policy. Boulder, CO: Natural Resources Law Center/ NWF. 2007. Overview of recent research: effects of global warming on the Great Lakes [fact sheet). Ann Arbor, Ml: National Wildlife Federation

Selected excerpts

The mindset of Native Americans who prefer a lifestyle that reflects traditional, lower-impact ways of living on the land and who take a dim view of those who pursue energy-intensive, consumer-oriented lifestyles is captured in the Mystic Lake Declaration, released 21 November 2009 following a Minnesota workshop sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in conjunction with several Native American groups including Honor the Earth, a grassroots advocacy group. Among the many recommendations in the document, education of tribal members and their communities "is the number one thing," says Carrie Billy, a Navajo from Arizona and president of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium.

For Winona LaDuke, executive director of Honor the Earth and a member of the Ojibwe tribe in Minnesota, one of the highest priorities is to continue battling the fossil fuel and nuclear power industries, some of which are all too familiar to her. "Tribal governments are some of the biggest carbon dioxide producers in the world," she says. Other high priorities include restoring indigenous seed varieties that are more tolerant of drought and other climate extremes, and developing wind power, a technology already advancing rapidly throughout the Great Plains, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

"Environmental issues are at the bottom," says Pete Homer, a member of the Mojave tribe in the Southwest and president of the National Indian Business Association. "We've got too many other problems, like poverty and a lack of jobs. We got to create that economic base on the reservations. We hear about climate change. But our members tell us it's not much of a problem. They haven't seen anything that is going to hurt them." In fact, on 29 September 2009 The Arizona Republic reported the Hopi Tribal Council had adopted a resolution condemning several environmental advocacy groups for pushing for closure of the coal-fired Navajo Generating Station.

But simply negotiating good deals with Congress and federal agencies isn't the only challenge for Native Americans. "Many tribes do not have the organizational infrastructure and capacity to address the impacts of climate change upon their natural resources and physical infrastructure," Aguto says. "Although thirty-two states have adopted or are in the process of developing climate change action plans, only one tribe has formally done so, although additional tribes have taken some related measures. Some of these circumstances can be attributed to historical neglect and a lack of funding from the federal government. The tribes are working to change this template through the proposed climate legislation."

It will take several years to see how organizations such as tribes, federal agencies, and Congress decide how to address climate change. Meanwhile, those who are feeling the heat already likely will continue to follow their basic instincts. "I don't have anything better to do than to try to survive," LaDuke says.

 

 last updated 11/18/2022.   Text and pictures are the property of Russ Colson, except as noted.