In recent years, there have beenhas beenAincreasingAppreciation forAboriginal peopleLand stewardship and traditional knowledge. But what is overlooked is that successfully managing those lands means indigenous peoples have already survived extreme climate events and extreme weather.
Now, indigenous communities are leading the way in climate adaptation — from living alongside rapidly melting ice to coping with rising seas and building community support networks.
Indigenous knowledge does not mean a return to “traditional” ways; It means to evolve, a feature that has always been a part of tribal life. There are no easy solutions for the planet. But the natives have a simple solution deep in their knowledge.
Recently we launched Changing With Our Climate, a limited-run series that explores the roots of history and Indigenous solutions to future extreme climates. This summer and fall, we’ll release five features that focus on an indigenous community facing extreme weather on the front lines.
The series did not mythologize indigenous communities with myths, improprieties, or mysterious traditional practices and solutions—but instead underscored humility as a throughline. Adivasis understand that we cannot bend the world to our human will. We are much better and more resilient when we tune in and lean into change when possible.
By showing the connections between storms, climate disasters, and issues of tribal sovereignty, Through Our Climate Change will explore what we really mean when we say climate change is an existential threat — and how we can work together to find a way out.
This coastal tribe has a radical vision to combat sea level rise in the Hamptons
Next to some of the world’s most valuable real estate, the Shinnecock Nation simply refuses to retreat from its fragile coastline.
We are in a vicious cycle of mega fires. The way out is to burn more.
How a do-it-yourself fire crew leader is putting our relationship on fire.
What does 6 degrees of warming mean for a community built on ice?
Alaska is warming much faster than the rest of the world. For Aboriginal people on the front lines, adaptation can be surprisingly easy.
Our most meaningful solutions to the climate crisis are hiding in plain sight
There are no easy solutions for the planet. But the natives have a simple solution deep in their knowledge.