ࡱ> >@=b )jbjb{x{x ":Z#%XXXXXXX 8  $f ($"FFF!!!,RX X!!!!! XXFF !jXFXFlD,XXXX!:U,XX Y; r 60fR..X  Addressing ClimateChangeat a Tribal Level By Steve Robinson and Michael T. Alesko Teaching Notes Issues/Topics Case Includes: This case study presentsa macro examination of how and why climatechange is a global issue affecting indigenous peopleseverywhere, with a micro focus on what that means to NativeAmerican Tribes, and how they can respondlocally as seen by the efforts of one Washington State tribe, the Swinomish. It includes:An overview of climatechange, tribalimplicationsof climate change;climatechange as a universalindigenous peopleschallenge;bringing the challenge home, with pointing the way to localizedresponses; and a focus on the Swinomish Tribal ClimateChangeInitiative. The Swinomish focus includesits framework,efforts of the SwinomishOffice of Planningand Community Development, the partnershipeffort and model employed in the initiative,the Initiative's workproducts, and concluding questions Learning Objectives: Students will: Understand why climate change is an issue in general. Discuss the role of greenhouse gases in climate change. Understand how and why climate change is an indigenous peoples issue. Understand how climatechange is a tribal issue and the implicationsof that reality. Discusshow tribescan best come to seethe relationship of climatechange to indigenous peoples, including Native American tribes. Examinethe process by which one tribe takes the initiative to assess climatechangeeffects on itself. Examine how climate change can particularly affect a tribe's cultural and economic resources. Examinehow the tribe proceeds toplanning for its own adaptation and mitigation steps. Strategizehow any tribe might best approach climatechangeadaptationand mitigationplanning. Intended Audience: This case study is suitable forcollegeundergraduate and graduatestudentsat any level. It isan especially appropriate resourceforclasses in the areas of Native American studies,environmentalstudies, natural resource policy,and public administration. It should also be appropriate for upper level high school classes dealing in generalwith these subjectareas.The discussion questionsundertaken herecan be modified for high school classesat the teacher'sdiscretion but should be approachable at their level. Implementation: Thiscase study lends itself well to small group discussion followedby wholegroup amplification on thestarting points elicitedin thesmall groups. Groups of three to five students can be assigned several questions to discuss with the task of presenting their discussion and conclusions to the larger class. A moderator can track and post salient points from all of the small groups. The wholegroup can thenexamine the discussion questions in total for further inputand conclusions. Modificationsto this model can be made according to the size of the class. Itcan also be modified accordingto the length of the class. It may work well as a two-class undertaking, with the first class devoted to reading the case study and holding the small groupdiscussions, then the whole class taking notes on the small group summaries and being prepared to discuss them all at the next class. Discussion Questions: 1. Why isclimate change in generala vital topic for study and action today? 2. Is climate change a global issue? Why or why not? 3. Do you agree that greenhouse gases are the primary cause of climatechange? How does this occur? 4. Can greenhouse gasses be effectivelyoffset in theface of global politics and emerging industrializations? 5. Do you think climate change is or is not necessarily a topic of particularrelevance to indigenous peoples? Amplify in detail. 6. From what you have read in this case study, do Indigenous peoplesseem to be ahead of the curve in proposing actionsand commitmentsto climatechange solutionsamidst the global political impasses on this issue? Do you think they being heard and heeded? If not, why not? 7. Is climate change a topicparticularlyrelevantto Native American tribes? How and why? Or why not? 8. Does it have particular implicationsfor NorthwestNative Americantribes? How so? 9. How might climate change effects differ for different Northwest tribes depending on their history, geography, culture, economies and other factors? What might be those other factors? 10. Do you think it is incumbent upon Northwest tribes to make their own climatechange assessmentsand adaptationand mitigation plans? 11. How does a tribe go about identifying its issues of concern and what would or should they be? 12.What are the resources, from human ones to financial, that a tribe needs to addressclimate change? 13.What are the health implicationsof climate changefor a tribe? What might they be in the areas of water-borne, food-borne and vector borne? 14. Do you think tribes should pursueclimate change actions alone or in concert with other tribes? 15. For many Northwest tribes, salmon are a corepart of their historicalcultural identity, and their sustenance. For others, such as coastal tribes, shellfish are a keystone natural resource. How does climate change threatenthese resources? 16. The Swinomish Climate Change initiative has identifiedover 1,100 acres of Swinomish Reservation lands (or approximately 15% of reservation uplands)potentially at risk of inundationfromincreasingsea level rise, includingthe tribe's soleagriculturallands, its primaryeconomicdevelopmentland and sensitiveshorelineareas. How does a tribe address such imposingimpacts? How does a tribe communicate to the world how an impact like sea level rise has particularimplicationsfor a tribe, givenits very finite resourcesand land areas? 17. Realistically, will climatechange assessment and planning make a meaningful difference for a tribe given the global nature of the issue and the political, economic and social implications of the issue globally? Questions for Discussion Based on Additional Research 1. Go to the University of Washington, Climate Impacts Groups Site:, HYPERLINK "http://cses.washington.edu/cig" \o "blocked::http://cses.washington.edu/cig" \t "_blank" http://cses.washington.edu/cig.On the site,access the "about Pacific Northwest Climate" link, then "ClimateIssues in Brief" under that link. You will find separatebriefingson PacificNorthwest water resources, salmon, forests and coasts, as each relates to climatechange. Read and discuss one or more of these briefings relative to how the identified impacts affect your tribe, or a tribe of your choosing. What can your chosen tribe do to adapt and mitigate for these impacts? 2. Go to the National Congress of American Indians site,  HYPERLINK "http://www.ncai.org" \o "blocked::http://www.ncai.org/" www.ncai.org. Access the policy link on the site.Read and discuss the NCAI Policy On ClimateChange. How do you see it relating to the national political,social, and economicarena on climate change issues?Will it be/is it being heeded by non-tribal audiences?How realistic is it? How does it relate to Northwest tribal climate change issues? On the same site's policy link,go to thelink for Tribal Priorities for Senate Climate Legislation. Do you think these prioritiesare in line with the mainstream ones of the Senate on this issue? Are they realistically achievable?What are thebarriers to their adoption and/or implementation? What opportunitiesdo they presentfor educatingthe public and our elected leaders onthe unique relationships of tribal history, cultures, economicsandlifestyles to climate change issues? 3. Go to the Northern Arizona University, Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals, Tribesand Climate Change site: www4.nau.edu/tribalclimatechange/index.asp. Go to the "take action" link on the site.Do at least two of the actionitems indicated as a group and/or individual exercise. Also, go to the "resources" link on the site, then to "impacts" then to "Pacific Northwest." Link to, read and discuss the article "Northwest Coastal Nationsat Risk of Climate Change Disruptions," from News From Indian Country, 1/8/09. Included in the discussion should be what particularrelevancies the article has for your tribe or organization. Questions for Research Papers 1. Compare and contrast adaptation and mitigation. What do you see as the main elements of each in a tribal climate change plan? Is one more important than the other? Provide examples. 2. For tribes, how does addressing climate change also mean addressing cultural sustainability? What are the critical cultural resources involved? What is the role of traditional knowledge? Can you find examples of this? 3. Find an example of another indigenous group that has addressed climate change. Can other indigenous peoples learn and benefit from the example of proactive climate change and mitigation efforts such as those of the Swinomish?     PAGE  PAGE 4 -Wgi   +<  rs &7&&&Y)Z)[)])^)`)a)c)d)f)g)m)n)o)q)r)x)y)丯丯䛓 h#0Jjh#0JUh#jh#U h 5h#h 5h#0JB*phh 5h#0Jjh 5h#B*Uphh 5h#5B*phh 5h#B*CJaJphh 5h#B*ph h 5h#5B*CJaJph1-Vgi " [ K     ) & Fgd#gd#$a$gd#Z)))+<>"Y35J94Y Z gd#Z :"<"%$'$Q%S%&&&&'r(X)Y)Z)\)])_)`)b)c)e)f)o)p)q)h]hgd# &`#$gd#gd#y)z){)|))) h 5h#h# h#0Jjh#0JUh#0JmHnHuq)|)})~)))gd#h]hgd# &`#$gd# 1h/ =!"#$%@@@ NormalCJ_HaJmH sH tH DA@D Default Paragraph FontViV  Table Normal :V 44 la (k(No List 4U@4 I Hyperlink >*ph.X@. IEmphasis6]B'@B RComment ReferenceCJaJ<"< R Comment TextCJaJ@j!"@ RComment Subject5\HBH R Balloon TextCJOJQJ^JaJF^@RF R Normal (Web)dd[$\$PJ4 @b4 FXFooter  !.)@q. FX Page Number#: z z z z{4 #f-Vgi"[K) + < > " Y 35J94YZ:<%'QS !r"X#Y#Z#o#p#q#|#}##isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen isen 00000000000000000000n $$$'y)))Z q))) r#XX  '!!8@0(  B S  ?Y#Z#Z#\#\#]#]#_#`#b#c#e#f#q#{#~##"ZJ u ! " & ] 269O94Y#Z#Z#\#\#]#]#_#`#b#c#e#f#q#{#~##DB :d"(rbNh^`OJQJo(hHh^`OJQJ^Jo(hHohpp^p`OJQJo(hHh@ @ ^@ `OJQJo(hHh^`OJQJ^Jo(hHoh^`OJQJo(hHh^`OJQJo(hHh^`OJQJ^Jo(hHohPP^P`OJQJo(hH^`o(. ^`hH. pLp^p`LhH. @ @ ^@ `hH. ^`hH. L^`LhH. ^`hH. ^`hH. PLP^P`LhH.DB "(                  @`:#@ @UnknownGTimes New Roman5Symbol3 Arial5 Tahoma7Calibri? Courier New;Wingdings"1hq&q&0R&>F@!4#Z#A 3qHP ?I,Addressing Climate Change at a Tribal Level  Steve RobinsonThe Evergreen State College   Oh+'0$ HT t   '0Addressing Climate Change at a Tribal Level  Steve RobinsonNormalAV2Microsoft Word 11.5.6@@8M@ @ & ՜.+,0 hp  'NWIFC># -Addressing Climate Change at a Tribal Level Title  !"#$%&'()*+,./012346789:;<?Root Entry F A1TableBWordDocument":SummaryInformation(-DocumentSummaryInformation85CompObjXObjectPool   FMicrosoft Word DocumentNB6WWord.Document.8