washington — tribal leaders and experts called on lawmakers thursday to invest much more money in tribal climate resilience efforts and elevate indigenous knowledge in climate change decision-making.

indigenous people across the country have lost nearly 99% of their historical lands through forced displacement, which has left them in areas that are more vulnerable to climate change, according to a 2021 study published in the journal science. 

while tribal nations have long been stewards of their land, the climate crisis has forced them to develop new strategies for land and environmental protection based on their traditional knowledge and practices, fawn sharp, vice president of the quinault indian nation and president of the national congress of american indians, told the house select committee on the climate crisis.

tribes need significantly more funding to protect their communities from droughts, floods, fires and more, sharp said. 

“we are chronically underfunded. without the added support of addressing climate change,” sharp said. “we would see our lands, our resources, our territories, even our traditional foods and plants disappear and they’re already disappearing. it would prove to be devastating for indian country.”

without sufficient federal funding for climate resilience and mitigation projects like solar rooftops and methane capture initiatives, sharp said tribes don’t have the resources to understand the scope of the climate crisis on their lands. she also urged lawmakers to establish with indigenous people a federal relocation framework to provide support to communities forced to move because of the effects of climate change, such as rising water levels and drought.

allocating more resources to support small-scale projects would create jobs for indigenous people and tap into the abundance of natural resources on their lands, sharp said. 

most important, though, is that the federal government provide native american communities with direct, long-term funding for climate change adaptation while giving tribes sovereignty over program development, said casey thornbrugh of the mashpee wampanoag tribe and climate change program manager at the united south and eastern tribes inc. 

thornbrugh said tribal leaders need the authority to help shape national climate policy and incorporate native american knowledge and practices into the decision-making process. 

“tribal nations must be afforded the dignity and the means to move to preserve the wellbeing of our nations, as well as our rights to our ancestral places which must be maintained, even if these places become submerged,” thornbrugh said.

in 2010, the national renewable energy laboratory reported that indian country, which makes up 5% of land area in the united states, contains 10% of all energy resources in the country. nrel data shows that many tribal lands are in areas with abundant renewable energy resources, including wind, solar power and biomass.

pilar thomas, former deputy director for the office of indian energy policy and programs at the department of energy, said indian country has an outsized amount of clean energy resources that can be used in climate resilience efforts. effectively using them will require federal investment in tribal climate projects and relevant technology, she said.

acquiring funds is a challenge for many native american communities, thomas said, because the process is too complex. she said there are around 75 federal renewable energy programs across nine agencies that tribes can apply for, which can cause confusion.

thomas said aligning federal programs and consolidating funding sources for climate resiliency projects would help more tribal nations to implement these initiatives within their communities.

“the big opportunity for the administration, as with any administration, is, how do we better coordinate amongst ourselves?” thomas said. “part of that really should start with asking the tribes who are trying to develop projects: what do you need from us, and what can we do from the federal government perspective to support that effort?”

“kashia culture and identity is strongly rooted in the natural world. managing our natural resources and lands in a way that increases their resiliency and productivity ensures our traditional practices and cultural values are passed to future generations.”

—abby gomes, kashia band of pomo indians tribe member

before colonization, the kashia band of pomo indians lived along california’s vast sonoma county coast. by 1915 the kashia only owned .007% of their original territory on a reservation called stewarts point rancheria, or as the tribe calls it “su nu nu shinal” (meaning “huckleberry heights”). this drastic decrease in territory caused equally drastic changes for the kashia’s livelihood, diet, and culture forcing many tribe members to live off-reservation. today, with the help of numerous organizations, the kashia’s reservation and territories span around 1,230 acres, including the kashia coastal reserve. with this increase in territory, kashia land management and cultural practices also resurged.

i had the opportunity to learn about the reintroduction of such practices from kashia tribe members abby gomes, hannah banuelos, and otis parrish. kashia traditional practices teach invaluable lessons on living in harmony with the environment for ourselves and our local ecosystems.

sustainable land and resource management

the dense pine forests we see today did not exist prior to european settlement. in fact, many of the trees and shrubs that now litter the coast are invasive species which have taken over without indigenous land management. the kashia previously managed such species through burning the brush, maintaining the iconic california “golden hills” landscape. “periodic cultural burnings maintained these coastal grasslands and openings from encroachment by bishop pine forest and coastal scrub,” kashia member gomes said. the cultural burnings also encouraged seed germination of native plant species as well as the presence of large populations of deer and elk through maintaining their natural grazing areas. “the land and natural resources were managed in a way that ensured their continuance and productivity into the future.”

this cultural burning is being reintroduced to the area by the kashia to manage invasive species, reduce forest fires, encourage native species growth, and restore natural habitat.

beyond periodic burning, the kashia are also taking a traditional-turned-modern approach to maintaining their ecosystems through formally surveying and monitoring their reserve with their planned kashia coastal reserve tribal citizen science monitoring program.

according to gomes, the program “includes kashia values and is modeled after the greater farallones association’s beach watch program.” the kashia program plans to engage tribe members in monitoring human use activities and resources important to the tribe including marine mammals and bird species.

one large problem the tribe faces is the lack of marine resources upon which they depend. private land ownership of the tribe’s former territory, restrictions made by government, and overharvesting by those outside the tribe cause this scarcity.

maintaining the ability to gather these coastal resources ensures the continuance of cultural traditions and practices,” gomes said. “returning back to the coast, (the) kashia (tribe) now has an opportunity to reconnect its tribe membership with the ocean and revitalize its cultural traditions, practices, and land management values.”

despite hindrances that have developed post-colonization, the tribe manages its coastal reserve through these practices as a gateway for educating the public about kashia history and practices.

seasonal and native diet

kashia people were migratory in the sonoma region. in the summer they gathered food from the ocean focusing mainly on seaweed but also mussels, “abalone, fish, sea anemone and kelp” according to tribe member banuelos. during the spring, the tribe fished the river for salmon and trout. during the colder seasons, the tribe harvested indian potatoes, clovers, and acorns. however, according to fellow tribe member parrish, european settlement introduced non-native foods including “flour, coffee, pigs…sheep…melons, cabbage, carrots, and apples.”

as a result of adding non-native foods to their diets, and given the reduction in harvesting territory, tribe members have since suffered from assorted illnesses including diabetes.

but, banuelos says, “a lot of elders really rely on their traditional foods…it makes them feel better. they believe in it. it makes their body and their health a bit stronger.” that is to say, tribe members believe in maintaining their health and ecosystems through consuming native food.

there are specific traditions the tribe follows before, during, and after harvesting, processing, and preparing native food.

according to banuelos, “there’s preparation…they do a little ceremony…they pray with clapper sticks…sing songs for thanking the ocean for providing food for us. we only take what we need for our family.” this spiritual connection with indigenous food affirms how the kashia are grateful for their sustenance and take only what is needed — an important concept given the amount of food waste occurring throughout the united states.

continuing kashia practices

to perpetuate kashia sustainable practices through their culture, the tribe also emphasizes financial security for tribal members, and the importance of preserving kashia language.

it is difficult to keep tribe members engaged if they cannot afford to live on or near the reservation, especially with california’s rising housing prices. banuelos emphasizes “more homes on the land for our tribe would be good. (we) try to make sure our people are taken care of first… otherwise, i think our tribe is doing pretty good.”

according to parrish, the loss of language is the largest problem given it is a vehicle for passing on traditional practices. he highlights that when one learns their culture’s stories, “the story becomes a part of them.”

for banuelos and parrish, the key to ensuring financial security and preserving their culture is to focus on kashia youth. parrish said, “to our young people, get an education and come back to our people and do something constructive for everybody. that’s the message my generation has given to the next generation coming up.”

by improving financial security, teaching the kashia language, and focusing on the next generation, kashia could flourish and continue to be an example of a society living in harmony with the environment through sustainable land, resource, and food management practices.

the other day, i asked chris hornsby (sewanee class of 2019), left, to tell me his story. here’s what he had to say:

when asked to define my purpose in life, i have stated it as such: may i live with vision of a world which i may work to create, and ensure that the work of my hands may always be building this future. to explain this vision, let me begin with a bug.

this is the larvae of a black soldier fly (or bsf), raised in sewanee, tennessee, at the university farm that i work for.

using this insect, we can convert large quantities of food waste into a feed for chicken and fish. the bsf is native to most of the western hemisphere, and in its two week larval stage, it has the capability to eat twice its weight in a day. they are fed food waste from our dining hall and, in peak production, we plan to be taking 500 pounds of food waste a day.

after this two week phase, the larva will eclose into an adult fly with no mouth, so it is neither a disease vector nor a crop pest. before eclosion, we will feed a majority of these larva to chicken and fish being raised on the university farm, which in turn will be a food source for the students in sewanee. this closed-loop system has the capability to fulfill a service and create an agricultural product.

my dream, however, extends beyond sewanee. consider this: at a bare minimum, two people are required to run this system. one with a knowledge of bsf waste management, and one with a knowledge of how to finance and run a successful business. these two people will support themselves off the income of the business, deciding together what their allowable expenses are and where to reinvest profits. now, in the current status quo of entrepreneurialism and corporate hierarchy, these two individuals would become managers, and hire wage-labor employees. minimum wages flow downward, and maximized profits flow to the top.

i challenge this system as a fundamental source of capital inequality in our society, which produces an impoverished labor force, and a politically influential corporate elite. this is the nature of a consumerist society, as to further our own progression, we must constantly be encouraging economic growth and consumption of goods. this system has created a workforce surviving paycheck to paycheck, told to invest in the economy and buy useless goods in order to foster economic growth, while the elite enjoy the true profits of a subdued workforce.

rather than following this path toward inevitable inequality, the onus placed on any member wishing to join this model will be such: how will you work as a member to expand the income of this group to support your own financial needs? the possible answers to this question can be diverse, meeting a range of needs of the pre-existing group. an applying member may offer access to a wider customer base (those paying for waste service removal), thus increasing the monetary income of the group. or, they may offer the service of food preparation or cultivation, thus providing a non-monetary source of income.

at a time when this group continues to grow, they may decide to purchase some land, and grow their own food. thus a self-reliant community is born.

if any member of this group does not perform their function to the best of their ability, the community will fail. for example, if the individual running the business puts in foul labor, the community will have no monetary income. if the agriculturalist does not grow adequate food, the community will be hungry. if the home-builder fails to build adequate living space, the community will have no shelter. the interdependence of such a community is reinforced through mutual need.

therefore, all roles hold equal importance in overall success, and all members hold an equal voice in the decision-making process of where to allocate scarce resources, and what the needs of the community are. such a horizontal democracy extends beyond arbitrary divisions of race, class, and gender. through this model, the inequality and hierarchy of corporate america could be virtually eradicated. with communities producing their own food, the industrial agricultural complex will die, as its consumer base and workforce disappear into their own communities.

this model is applicable with any skilled trade as a means of providing income — imagine a community of doctors, trading with a community of waste managers to meet mutual needs. goodbye to the monopolistic healthcare industry. communities of educators teaching the children of america skilled trades, and how to live in a society that values wellbeing and happiness over success and wealth. goodbye to the state-sponsored education of robotic and bureaucratic laborers.

i wish to note, that purposefully, this community will not have great amounts of excess wealth, for this is not a get-rich-quick scheme. the needs of the community will be met, and nothing more. there can be no desire to waste precious resources on the unnecessary overconsumption of goods and services which meet no need. a community of this type also lacks the financial wealth to pay for swaths of land to be deforested for timber harvesting, or for oil to be mined, or for residential or commercial development, protecting the integrity of our land, our watersheds, our forests, or lifeblood, which we share with the diversity of creatures on earth.

to conclude, i would like to warn those who are seeking some glorious revolution to herald in a new age of equality and justice. refer to a history book on the subject, and you can clearly see (the) perpetual unfolding of such revolutions, in which the middle class usurps the lower class in order to establish themselves as the elite, then abandons their promises of liberty and freedom, and a new demographic is found to be oppressed. when power is used to disrupt power, control is lost. the victim of power is annihilated, and the user is intoxicated. thus, a true revolution will be a complete rejection of power as a means to dominate others, and total investment in the power of the tribal community.

rather than use violent means and political warfare to establish itself, community power will spread like wildfire with the strength of vision. this is not a revolution of words, but one of action. i invite you to invoke your own vision, and work with others to create a powerful, self-sustaining community.