Rooted in Nature: Indigenous Knowledge and Climate Resiliency

online Speaker Series

Rooted in Nature: Indigenous Knowledge and Climate Resiliency is a web series consisting of five thematic sessions, showcasing experts from indigenous communities in Massachusetts. This series offers an exploration of indigenous perspectives on climate resilience and sustainability, spotlighting practical examples and case studies rooted in the local context of Massachusetts.

By integrating indigenous knowledge into climate resiliency efforts, municipalities can learn from the rich insights and practices developed by local indigenous communities. This inclusive approach enhances the effectiveness of climate adaptation strategies and fosters understanding of indigenous cultures, creating opportunities for collaborations and cross-municipality projects focused on collectively addressing the impacts of climate change.

Schedule

Speaker Ryann Monteiro

Session 1: For Our Mother, For Our Children: Introduction to Indigenous Worldviews on Climate Resilience

Attempts to engage Tribal Nations are generally well-intended but under-informed. A general lack of understanding of Indigenous worldviews and tribal sovereignty has often led to “one size fits all” solutions that do not fit the needs, wants, or desires of that community. Layered with a history of non-indigenous entities utilizing extractive practices in their relationships, the result has been a legacy of distrust. In response to this, many tribes are highly selective in who they work with and why as they seek to protect the very things that have been, and currently are, under threat: their land, language, culture, families, and sacred teachings.

This session serves as an introduction to indigenous kinship systems and how it informs how Tribal Nations and Peoples perceive climate health and how it informs the approach to solutions.

Speaker Bio: Ryann Monteiro

Ryann Monteiro, MPH, CHES is an educator, public health practitioner, and indigenous health advocate who is a citizen of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah. Being raised with her Cape Verdean mother's religion and her Wampanoag father's culture, she learned to navigate distinct worlds made up of their own cultures, values, and worldviews from a young age. With this upbringing, she honors and acknowledges that these various worldviews serve as a foundation for how cultures define and respond to health and well-being. Ryann describes the three pillars that drive her work are: community, culture, and connection and believes that the foundation for a thriving community is one that values relationships and responsibility to the land and each other. She aims to add value by creating and holding space for historically marginalized communities to be active participants in the health system by voicing and advocating for community-specific needs and values.

Speaker Leslie Jonas

Session 2: Indigenous Land Conservation, Water Preservation and Cultural Respect

Friday, September 29, 2023
12:00 – 1:30 p.m.

This talk focuses on the power of indigenous land management practices that have taken place for thousands of years, and the importance of traditional ecological knowledge in the preservation of these native ecological systems that have been severely damaged by human and industry impact for hundreds of years. Currently, the condition of the water is critical as our waterways are sick and dying. This current condition threatens the lifeways of the local indigenous people who have lived and thrived in these natural environments for millenia. Concepts like Rewilding were introduced to reverse biodiversity loss but can exclude the local traditional ecological knowledge systems that have kept the natural world in balance since time immemorial.

Speaker Bio: Leslie Jonas

Leslie Jonas is a native Cape Codder and eel clan member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. She is an experienced senior planning development strategist with a demonstrated history of working in tribal governments and non-profits in senior level administration and planning.

As a founding board officer, Leslie has spent the past 12 years helping to build the first, native-led land conservation trust east of the Mississippi, the Native Land Conservancy. During the past few years, she has been researching and focusing on Climate Change from the Indigenous Perspective. Currently, this work has led to her co-teaching and co-advising environmental courses in social/environmental justice at UMASS Boston and MIT, speaking publicly on Climate Change, Rewilding, Cultural Respect and Environmental Self-determination while producing educational environmental video tools for audiences across many disciplines.

In 2021, she was invited to sit on the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) Advisory Board for the state of MA. where she helps to advocate for human rights to land and clean water in MA. Leslie was recently chosen as a Keystone Cooperator/Fellow by UMASS Amherst to join “Women on the Land” in the Fall where community opinion leaders come together for a 3-day retreat which focuses on forest ecology and management, wildlife management, invasive plants/insects, and land protection. Les is a “green” native of Cape Cod whose interests have always been in the rescue, restoration and preservation of our precious lands and water.

Speaker Linda Coombs

Session 3: Wampanoag Ecological Perspective, Historical Resilience, and Climate Adaptation

This session is presented in collaboration with the Accelerating Climate Resiliency Speaker Series.

Thursday, October 12, 2023
12:00 – 1:30 p.m.

This presentation will delve into the intricate connection between traditional ecological knowledge and the Wampanoag perspective. It will trace the evolution and expression of their worldview up until the time of initial contact. The discussion will cover how the Wampanoag people managed to preserve certain traditions despite colonization's challenges. Moreover, it will emphasize the critical contemporary implications of these dynamics, particularly underscoring the pivotal role of the Wampanoag perspective in strengthening climate resiliency efforts in the present day.

Speaker Bio: Linda Coombs

Linda Coombs is a citizen of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe on Martha's Vineyard and has lived in Mashpee for more than 40 years. Her two grandchildren are enrolled with the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, as was their father and grandfather.

Linda has worked for 49 years as a museum educator and spent 11 years total at the Boston Children's Museum, 30 years in the Wampanoag Indigenous Program at Plimoth Plantation, and 9 years at the Aquinnah Cultural Center. The ACC is one of the old homesteads in the Aquinnah community, built by an Aquinnah Wampanoag man, now a museum regarding Aquinnah Wampanoag history. She has been an interpreter, artisan, and researcher; led workshops and teacher institutes; written children's stories and articles on various aspects of Wampanoag history and culture; and developed and worked on all aspects of a wide variety of exhibits. Linda has also worked extensively with her own Wampanoag communities as well as with the public.

The goal of Linda’s work continues to be the communication of accurate and appropriate representations of the history, cultures, and people of the Wampanoag and other Indigenous nations.

Speaker Bio: Bret Stearns

Bret Stearns is the Director of the Natural Resource Office of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), where he spearheads the design and oversight of various environmental projects. In this role, he skillfully navigates the delicate balance between traditional use and knowledge, and the advancements of emerging science. Bret's diverse responsibilities extend beyond his directorial position, as he also serves as a police officer for Aquinnah and Chilmark, Assistant Harbormaster and Shellfish Constable in Aquinnah, a Massachusetts Hunter Safety Instructor, holds a Captains License, and dedicates himself to serving as a Tri-Town EMT.

Speaker Kristen Wyman

Session 4: Restoring Indigenous Foodways for Climate Resilience

Thursday, October 26, 2023
12:00 – 1:30 p.m.

This discussion will lead us beyond land acknowledgments to a more collaborative and rights-based approach to climate resilience. Learn how indigenous land back efforts in both private and public lands are benefiting municipal efforts to restore and manage forests and waterways for increased biodiversity, greater productivity and resilience to shock and disturbance. Specifically, we will explore the historical characteristics of local indigenous foodways and consider how a transition to an alternative food system grounded in indigenous knowledge and leadership can support a more robust and resilient ecosystem in the context of our rapidly changing climate.

Speaker Bio: Kristen Wyman

Kristen Wyman is Co-Founder of Eastern Woodlands Rematriation, a grassroots collective of tribal peoples restoring indigenous foodways in the Northeast. In her full-time position as Co-Director of the Global Movements Program with WhyHunger, Kristen supports and nourishes connections between global movements and initiatives led by indigenous peoples, especially processes of agroecology, food sovereignty and climate justice. Prior to joining WhyHunger, Kristen worked as consultant and program manager to several youth and Native American organizations at local, state and national levels. She holds a BA with a concentration in Legal Studies, Political Science and Native American Studies from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

Speaker Leslie Jonas

Session 5: Climate Change from the Indigenous Perspective

Friday, November 3, 2023
12:00 – 1:30 p.m.

Our world is changing and it’s evidently clear that our Earth Mother is screaming for help.

Centuries of impact and extraction, fossil fuels and pollution have caused a dire situation called Climate Change. Indigenous people have lived very closely to the land and have witnessed Climate’s impact for over 50 years now. This presentation will examine more recent evidence, and effects of Climate-related environmental destruction and how it is impacting the lives of Indigenous people who have lived off of the land and water for millennia.