The Affiliated Tribes of NW Indians (ATNI), National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), United South and Eastern Tribes (USET), and Pacific Northwest Tribes are hosting the National Tribal Leadership Climate Change Summit from October 2020 to May 2021. The Summit is convening Tribal Leaders, youth, and staff from Tribal Nations, First Nations, and Indigenous communities worldwide and will begin with a series of virtual sessions focused on critical climate change topics. Collectively, participants will have an opportunity to engage in presentations and discussions around three goals:

1. Build on the knowledge and shared experiences of climate change impacts.
2. Learn how to use our traditional knowledge to develop approaches that assert Tribal leadership and perspectives in climate change adaptation, mitigation, and resiliency.
3. Foster pathways to influence climate policy regionally, nationally, and internationally. 

The Summit includes internationally renowned plenary speakers, participatory breakout sessions, youth sessions, climate solution exhibition, and more. The Summit will culminate in developing a platform to ensure that Tribal Nations, First Nations, and Indigenous communities are leading in moving climate policy forward in the United States and worldwide. 

>> JUNE 8, 2021 – SESSION IV: TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGES & TRIBAL SOVEREIGNTY

Join our forum to learn about how Traditional Knowledges are defined, preserved, transmitted to future generations, and applied in ways that advance Tribal natural, cultural, and community goals related to climate impacts and resiliency. Explore how Tribal rights and sovereignty form a unique basis for applying Traditional Knowledge and Tribal world views. Weave together learnings from previous summit discussions on climate policy, community resilience, and youth empowerment.

Agenda:

>> Hear from Elders: Perspectives on Traditional Knowledges, sovereignty in climate response, importance of community and cultural resiliency, and the role of youth in future leadership. Keynote addresses from Tribal Elders on Traditional Knowledges.

1. Ilarion (Larry) Merculieff (Unangun, Aleut): President of Global Center for Indigenous Leadership and Lifeways
2. Rose High Bear (Alaskan Athabaskan): Founder; Wisdom of the Elderberry Farm

>> Panel Discussion: Traditional Knowledges (moderator: Davis “Yellowwash” Washines, Yakama Nation Fisheries Department). How to define, collect, protect, and apply. Learn from case studies through panel presentations and moderated discussions. Highlight regional examples, including work internal and external to Tribal communities. Panel moderated by

>> Roundtable discussion on Tribal rights and sovereignty (moderator: Kyle Whyte, University of Michigan, Citizen Potawatomi Nation). Nation to nation interactions, exercising sovereignty internationally, nationally, inter-tribal and inter-regional agreements; collaborations with local governments; Tribal powers at different scales.

REGISTER TODAY