Climate Change and Native American Culture

This quarter in my Environmental Health class, we were supposed to do a research paper on the effects of climate change among tribes. After doing some research, I was saddened though not entirely surprised to find out the negative consequences of global warming on Native American culture and traditional environmental knowledge, among other things.

First of all, global warming is one of the biggest crises of the 20th century. Global warming is the theory that the world's average temperature is increasing due to the burning of fossil fuels and other forms of energy resulting in higher atmospheric concentrations of gases such as carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide traps the Sun's heat near the Earth's surface, causing Earth's temperature to rise. This greenhouse effect is seen as an environmental hazard as average temperature rises, resulting in changes in weather patterns that disrupt once stable ecosystems and communities. Global warming affects all of us no matter our location on the globe. However, indigenous people are especially vulnerable to climate change because they highly depend on their environment for sustenance.

The primary impacts of climate change on indigenous communities are prolonged droughts, excessive rainfall, diminishing sources of freshwater, increase in fires, and changes in habitat for wildlife. The disruption of plant and animal habitats results in significant economic losses to indigenous people who depend on hunting and fishing as their main source of livelihood.

Most importantly, climate change has resulted in the loss of culturally important animal and plant species, on which traditional environmental knowledge depends. This makes it more difficult for elders to practice and pass knowledge to the new generation. The immigration of native youth seeking economic opportunities in outside domains further aids in the destruction of tribal economy, culture, and community.

Native Americans have always been close to the land on a deep, spiritual level and have always treated the land well. However, the exponentially increasing threat of global warming have resulted in Native Americans reaching out to other non-indigenous communities to help in the conservation and recovery efforts of healing Mother Earth. An article in The Boston Globe "Indians Speak Forcefully on Climate" illustrates the efforts of Native Americans in spreading the word about the unhealthy effects of global warming on the land through the media and political actions.

Overall, unless preventive measures are implemented to delay the onset of the catastrophic effects of extreme climate change, tribal cultures and natural resources could be lost forever. Control climate change and you preserve Native American culture and traditional environmental knowledge of the land that future research could take advantage of and benefit society.

-Sharmin Dingle