Native Americans and Climate Change

Samantha Merry
Ant 190 Midterm
February 26, 2013
Question #1.

Native Americans depend greatly on the environment and their ecological knowledge, as the environment around them continues to warm it causes life threatening changes for Native peoples. For starters, their food sources are dwindling as a result of melting arctic sea ice, causing species like seal and caribou to continue to deplete. The sea ice melting takes lives every year in Native American reservations around Alaska because they’re resorting to taking greater and greater risks when it comes to hunting and fishing on thin ice. Permafrost melting has caused heavy erosion on riverbanks, in some places losing hundreds of feet at a time during minor storms. This erosion is claiming homes along the river bedside forcing Natives to relocate. Relocation efforts have had a huge impact on the Native elders and children because of their lack in physical ability to walk hundreds of miles. Not only does this affect the less physically fit but it impacts the whole tribe costing them thousands of dollars in moving and construction which takes years to plan and build. Climate change impacts continue to threaten the traditional way of life of indigenous people, because of unfair impact distribution the IPCC has made progress in defending them in their struggle to live and adapt without taking away their Indigenous rights to live off the land. Much of the erosion is caused by human activities, which will be a main focus in restoring riverbanks. Fishing, recreation and pollution are a huge cause of the offset river balance and acidity as well as added nutrience and minerals, restoring the human induced damage will hopefully return the ecosystems back to their natural beauty.
Unfortunately there are many nations around the world, which will be unfairly impacted from climate change due to their lack of adaptive capacity. A societies ability to adapt varies greatly within North America. Native Americans for example are unfairly affected because of the extent to which they rely on the land, droughts and floods are now annual and cause extended periods of suffering for those who cannot move or adapt. “Short-term natural extremes, such as storms and floods, inter-annual and decadal climate variations, as well as large-scale circulation changes, such as the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), all have important effects on crop, pasture and forest production”(Tribal climate change adaptation options). Also, lacking in transportation options makes relocating a harsh but necessary struggle in the search for new resources. “Ecosystems provide many goods and services that are of vital importance for the functioning of the biosphere, and provide the basis for the delivery of tangible benefits to human society” (Tribal climate change adaptation options). When considering the Native Americans way of life the naturally working ecosystems are of great importance to their survival. With doubts that the damage that’s already been is reversible the Indigenous people are being threatened to having to abandon their traditional ancestry knowledge and modernize their colonies in ways that deny their inherited culture. Adaptation options are in progress now with the IPCC and others working with climate change in finding alternative corrective methods to save the indigenous life style. Adding to the danger of disturbance within ecosystems is the great fear of extinction within species through “blocked migration routes, fragmented habitats, reduced populations, introduction of alien species and stresses related to pollution” (Tribal climate change adaptation options) all affecting the way of life for which Native tribes depend on. However, because of these observations there are new techniques being introduced into the methods of sustaining the natural ecosystems. For example, ridding an ecosystem of invasive species will allow native species to exist in their natural flowing habitat, which will help restore the order and way of life. The flowing of rivers and streams that have been dammed and blocked within forest ecosystems are going to be restored with hopes of recreating migration paths for species to travel freely and easily. With these methods being prioritized it is considered that we can start to see improvements at a more rapid pace. The most important thing is for everyone to play their part in this on going struggle to correct our mistakes and restore the environment.