SE CSC Partners with United South and Eastern Tribes for Climate Change and Cultural Heritage Workshop

Tribes and native communities are some of the most vulnerable populations to climatic changes. The mission of the climate science centers includes making sure that tribes and native peoples have the tools, data and resources to plan and adapt to climate change. A workshop was held in the Oneida Nation of New York for tribal environmental staff on November 9-10, 2016, through a grant from the Bureau of Indian Affairs Climate Program and awarded to The United South and Eastern Tribes (USET). This grant was part of a bi-coastal initiative together with another tribal organization, The Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, who earlier in 2016 held a Tribal Climate Change Boot Camp in McCall Idaho.

USET requested the collaboration of the SE CSC and NC State University to help weave in climate science expertise and programming assistance for the workshop recently conducted in Oneida Nation. This also brought in specific staff expertise from the SC CSC and the NE CSC which were required to meet the needs of the workshop.
The Goals of the workshop were:  obtain a basic understanding of climate change science and potential climate impacts to Tribal values and areas of concern. Participants will gain insight, with both western and traditional knowledge considerations, about how to incorporate knowledge into potential climate adaptation plans and learn from each others’ perspectives. The workshop was also attended by members of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians.